Guest blogging at In the Pink Texas again: Two Bills That Will Save Public Education
by James Brush
Category: Random Stuff
The catch-all category for random things about life in Austin, food & drink, politics, the occasional rant, whatever else.
I was off Monday for Dr King and then on Tuesday and Wednesday for Dr Freeze, so this is kind of a Monday.
Sort of.
It’s also Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but because of that Mondayesque quality, and because this is a blog, I’m pretending it’s Monday and rounding up movies.
Battlestar Galactica (Michael Rymer, 2003)
Holy Frack! How did I miss that Battlestar Galactica had returned, been reinvented and spun off into a new killer series? The “miniseries,” which plays on DVD like a three hour movie had me hooked.
Much has changed. Starbuck is a woman, but still plays cards and chomps cigars. Baltar is, well not exactly evil, but certainly self-centered and instead of sitting on that throne (what did he do up there all day?) he’s totally in lust with a sexy Cylon who looks just like a human.
The new twist on the Cylons was my favorite part. I love that just before destroying the twelve colonies of man, the Cylons created artificial humans. Creepy as the old robots with the buzzing red eye were (and are) this is scarier in a more existential way.
The miniseries sets up the basic plot from the 1978-79 TV series about the Galactica leading a ragtag fleet in search of the legendary thirteenth colony: Earth. Cmdr. Adama’s revelations about Earth at the end of the show carry a great twist and are wonderfully handled, altogether indicating that this is a show for these times. I can’t wait for Netflix to deliver season one.
The Night Listener (Patrick Stettner, 2006)
Billed as a thriller, The Night Listener sets the viewer up for something, well, thrilling. What we get, though, is a very interesting film about hope and the lengths we will go to know that we matter to someone.
Robin Williams’ performance as an aging radio raconteur is compelling, and I found myself hoping that he would find what he sought, the one listener who understood him. Someone to whom he mattered.
In short, a beautiful film.
Yesterday was MLK day and today and tomorrow are snow/ice days for many people, me included. The last time we had one of these that shut things down to this degree was in February 1996. Two weeks later the mercury hit 100 and it didn’t rain again until August.
Today, though, was a good day of chili and reading and watching the sky fall.
It’s melting a bit now, but will probably refreeze by nightfall.
Snow and ice are fleeting things here, they dust the world in white and then they’re gone. I suppose that’s why so many of us spend so much time just watching the snow drift lazily down or listening as the sleet hisses through the trees.
I’ll fix it in memory, hold onto this wintry interlude before it melts away like a dream barely remembered the next day.
It’s funny. I couldn’t find an old photo since some rearranging has made the Closet of Old Photos and Other Unfinished Projects more difficult to reach, but then sitting back at the desk, I saw this one framed and waiting right where it’s always been. I guess I just haven’t noticed it in a while.
It was taken in March of ’95 somewhere in northern Arizona. That’s me in the middle. The woman on the right is my wife, but not then. We were still just friends. The woman on the left is L. She introduced us, but I haven’t seen her in years. J took the picture.
That trip took us to New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, Vegas and finally to LA where I fell in love as the sun fell into the sea.
Fenced out or fenced in? If I followed every barbed wire strand in Texas it would lead me to the moon and back and I’d still not have gotten any nearer to the other side.
Yes, it’s the same picture as last year, but then it’s the same weather outside too. A tradition, perhaps?
Happy ’07.
Cheers.
And, here’s the tree…
This year we ran out of time so our tree is decorated only with white LED lights. At first I wasn’t sure, but I kind of like the simplicity of it. Besides, what could be greener than white LEDs?
Merry Christmas.
Guest blogging at In the Pink Texas again: Dallas Catholic Schools to Send Students to Pro-Choice Rally.
Recently, my copy of the Austin American-Statesman came with a glossy, shiny, glorious section that documents the doings of Austinites who appear to think prom shouldn’t just be for high schoolers anymore.
It’s called Glossy.
Color (and, yes, glossy) pictures of gentlemen in purple sashes and ladies in formal gowns smiling pretty for the camera beckon to be examined. There are ads for expensive cars and condos. It all looks so nice and elegant and sparkly that I just want to pack up and move back to Dallas where I can be part of that life too.
But, no, this is Austin. This came in my Austin American-Statesman, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Am I supposed to want to put on a tux and go to one of these gala things? Should I be jealous of the men in their sashes (when ma’s in her kerchief and I’m in my cap)? Do I need to know who’s going where? Should I be impressed?
Is this what I should aspire to?
At first I worried about the fate of Austin, but then I found that it only goes to certain neighborhoods, one of them, being mine, I note with a certain amount of horror. Are these my neighbors? Should I find my world tinted green by the lenses of jealousy.
I guess, at the end of it all, I’m left only with that great bloggy exclamation, heretofore unused here: wtf?