Mon Oncle

Exciting and quick news. I've been made an Uncle for the 2nd time! My sister gave birth to her second daughter: Adelaide Grace O'Connor this past Thursday 3/28 sometime around 5:00pm. Mother and daughter are both doing well and I get to go down next weekend to see everyone.

Validation!

Remember this post from just a short time ago? Contrary to what some people have said to me, I am not insane. I just happened to notice today that Film Threat posted a Never Back Down review, and sure enough, their reviewer was also reminded of that classic film, Showdown.

Ah, it's nice to know that there are other people out there with the same tastes in movies as myself. Now, why can't I get a job as a film reviewer? Seriously, what do I have to do?

Happy Easter To All!

They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore

One of my great obsessions is the game show. I had the fortune to grow up during the 1980's, during the last great period of popularity for game shows. Sure, there are a few still on here and there, but I don't count reality shows as true game shows, and most of the rest are hidden in cable or syndicated at strange hours. I love the days when game shows make up most of a network's morning programming. Surprisingly, I have recently came upon a game show thanks to GSN that I've never really thought about, but have quickly added to my TIVO Season Pass. Amazing that this show lasted 18 seasons on the air and still went off before I was born. The premise of the show is so simple, I'm stunned that no one has thought to try and revive it for today's audiences, as it would make perfect family entertainment. So I present for your enjoyment two clips from What's My Line?

American Idiocy: Exercising Your Right Edition

Story Here

*Sigh*

Some people......

GRAH! I'm in a very ticked off mood right now.

While I'm looking for a full time teaching position for the fall, I'm currently working for a local tutoring agency. If a student is suspended or out for medical reasons for a decent amount of time, I get the call to help tutor them. Two hours per week, at $25 per hour, that makes for a $50 session. Obviously, this is nowhere near what I would earn in a school, so I need every assignment that comes my way. The other day I received a call that a student in a nearby town needed two sessions before he went back to school. "Great!", I thought, "that's $100 I could use to pay some bills." I got in touch with the parent on Wednesday and set it up that I would meet the student on Friday (today) at the local library.

I get to the library today (a 30 minute drive from my house) and no student. I wait around a few minutes in the lobby, then wander around the library wondering if the student was already there and perhaps set himself up at a table somewhere. No student, so I wait in the lobby for a few more minutes. Finally, I give the mother a call and tell her that her son has not shown up yet. Her response is that the school decided he could come back starting today so he was there and obviously wouldn't be coming.

WTF! First off, why is the school ending his suspension early? Secondly, the parent had my phone number, so why couldn't she get off her lazy ass and call me sometime before I had to leave for the library? They knew he was going back, and we weren't meeting until 12:30pm, so she had the time to let me know it was cancelled. Worse, the school is going to let him catch up with his missed work there, so no tutoring is required. All I get to do is put down 1 hour for a missed session, since I was there but the student wasn't, reason be damned. So my $100 two session student, became a 90 minute $25 waste of time. The other $75 I'm out for, no chance to make it up, and I could have used that to pay off a bill or two.

I'll live, but how rude can you get? The parent knew her son wasn't going to be at the session, so instead of calling me Thursday or this morning and telling me the news, I have to drive 30 minutes, wait 30 minutes, and drive home 30 minutes wasting time that I could have spent doing something more constructive. Maybe if I'm lucky, she'll get hit by a bus.

Burning Question + Vault of Forgotten Movies: Martial Arts Edition

I am absolutely seeing this movie as soon as possible, I am only human after all.



However, something niggles at me.....this looks familiar. I enjoy a good martial arts movie...even paid to see that Mark Dacascos "Only the Strong" film where Capoeira was the art of choice, but this seems awfully familiar. Hmmmm.....(searches brain....neurons firing....accessing movie knowledge)....AH!



I knew I saw "Never Back Down" before. It was 1993 and it was called "Showdown", not this "American Karate Tiger", I have no idea where that retitling came from. Let's see here.....

Character: New Kid in Town--Brunette

Showdown: Kenn Scott playing Ken
Never Back Down: Sean Faris playing Jake

Charatcer: Arrogant Blond Asshole Jock

Showdown: Ken Mcleod (remember him...ahhhhhhhhhh)as Tom
Never Back Down: Cam Gigandet as Ryan

Character: Worthless female "love interest"

Showdown: Christine Taylor (Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!) as Julie
Never Back Down: Amber Heard as Baja

Character: Wise Black Mentor

Showdown: Billy Blanks (Tae-Bo!) as Billy
Never Back Down: Djimon Honsou as Jean

The plots may differ slightly, in "Showdown" the fights are because the new kid hits on the jock's girlfriend, while in "Never Back Down" I believe they just fight. "Showdown" is the perfect "B" martial arts movie. It's just a giant ball of cheese from beginning to end...it's nice to see that they do still make them like this. I thought the teen martial arts movie died out years ago. I highly doubt "Showdown" is out on DVD, but if it ever crosses your path, it's a fun way to spend 90 minutes. Beyond that, I don't remember too much about it....been over a decade since I've seen it. It might be in my unorganized VHS collection....I hope so. I need more Ken Mcleod.

Which is worse?

1. Getting stuck in traffic for over an hour and nearly missing the event you want to go to, but making it.

2. Driving around the city for 45 minutes unable to find a parking space and missing the event you want to go to.

3. Missing the event you want to go to a second time because an unexpected visitor shows up and you have to spend time with them.

4. Receiving a corrected tax statement from your broker after you've already mailed in your taxes.

FDot composes a Quatrain!

Post-it Notes so small and yellow
Stripe of stickum on your back
I rifle through you to stay mellow
'Till on a wall, one of you I shall tack.

FDot has a realization.....

Ok. So tomorrow is Friday night. I'm a young guy, only 34 at the moment, so what is my plan for tomorrow? Going to a bar? Hanging out with my friends? Video games? No, no and no. On a Friday night, I'm heading into Brooklyn to see this man.



Who is this you ask? His name is Manoel de Oliveira. He is a Portuguese film maker. He is also 99 years old. Yes, 99. His latest film is having it's American premiere tomorrow night and he is going to be there for a Q&A. I believe it's his first time here since 2001. So instead of staying around home or going to be with friends, I'm taking a 50 minute drive into Brooklyn to see a 70 minute film and a 99 year old film maker. This has caused me to have 2 major revelations about myself.

1. I am a huge and obviously irredeemable film geek.

2. Doing things like this is why I am single.

Why Wasn't I Told This?

So I was on one of my Wikipedia whims the other day and ended up checking out the history of the comic strip "Beetle Bailey"



It was then that I noticed a link to the comic strip "Hi and Lois"



Now.....I have been reading both these comic strips for years...so how is it I was completely unaware of the fact that Beetle Bailey and Lois Flagston are brother and sister? I've racked my brain, but can remember no mention of the fact in either strip. I only get "Hi and Lois" as a Sunday strip, so is it possible it's been mentioned during the dailies? The two characters don't even look alike, and besides, even though they're two different strips, you'd think there would be some mention of that fact periodically. I can't stand it when I'm involved with something for years then discover some basic fact about it. Why wasn't I told this?