jim000037

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse on DVD - okay, Superman's cousin arrives on Earth, almost no one knows what to do with her, Darkseid has a Really Evil Idea what to do with her and the will to make it happen, kidnaps Kara and makes her his bitch, a rescue mission is sent to Apokolips, she's brought back home and finally Kara decides what to do with herself.
yeah, simple.
btw, the scene where Wonder Woman and Big Barda are facing off against the Female Furies (Stompa, Lashina, Gilotina and Mad Harriet)? oh yeah, baby - battlin' badass bitches beatdown beauty.
recommended if you've enjoyed the rest of the DC animated video releases. i liked it a lot.

i am LOVING the geek/burlesque mixture:
http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/ladies-of-sci-fi-burlesque-pris-from-blade-runner-aeon-flux-ripley-from-alien-and-more-31115612/
http://io9.com/5652347/the-sauciest-moments-from-the-best-ever-month-of-scifi-burlesque-[nsfw

am debating participating in NaNoWriMo this year - i'm running into my standard issue. if things are going well with another writing project, why stop and change gears simply to say i played well with the other NaNoLemmings? now, if another project isn't going well, if the words are coming like sludge or the giant Writers Block monster is stomping the shit out of my own private Tokyo - then hells to the yeah, i'll gleefully put on my Lemming suit and do NaNoWriMo!
i have a rough idea (okay, really two or three... maybe more) of what i'd write for NaNo if i do participate... and that's without pondering the rewrite and continuation of last year's effort. (the biggest argument against that is that i feel it's antithetical to the spirit of the exercise to work on something that's not new - don't really care what anyone else does or thinks, that's just my humble opinion)
but in the meantime, i need to finish 'Falling Angels' and that necessitates coffee, possibly in massive quantities... time to get my day off the launchpad.

as a final note on the state of my head today, here's the playlist, on repeat.
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
Breathe (2AM) - Anna Nalick
Here It Goes Again - OK GO
Major Tom (Coming Home) - Shiny Toy Guns

so, morning of the 18th, my back - with ample help from my exceedingly uncomfortable and unsupportive bed - decided to wreak its vengeance upon me. the back went into spasms like i haven't felt since i originally injured it in 1982. i got to squirt tears so hard they fuck near knocked my glasses off my face and after, roughly, 14 years of marriage, my wife got to hear me scream - repeatedly. thankfully she has assuaged my fears by assuring me i do not do sound like a little girl when i do so... close to it, but not quite there.
courtesy of good pain drugs, it's in the process of healing - i'm now able to sit up for about two, maybe three hours at a time before i have to go lie down again.
while i'm able to sit up for a while, here are some links and such...

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/we-are-the-rich.html
an economist's response to a post which is apparently no longer available, about just how terrible the deprivation wrought by Not renewing the Bush tax cuts will affect a six-figure income family... i saw red, i saw infra-red... oh, to be so terribly unfortunate!

on a lighter note...
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/21/the-case-of-the-brok.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)&utm_content=LiveJournal
y'know, i think most guys wonder if it can be broken within a month of achieving their first erection. perhaps not 'broken' in the classic sense, more torn maybe... well, here's our answer.

that's really all i have at the moment, except to say 'Thank God' for good friends who share their Serious Pain Reliever stash with folks like me when the back goes on a rampage. first time around, it took me two and a half weeks to get to where i was two and a half days after this most recent bout began. the difference is a back that 'hurts' as opposed to 'HUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRTS'. backs that are in that latter range tend to tense up from the pain - which is of course exactly what doesn't need to happen. this time around has been much easier, and it's all due to a friend who believes in sharing. again i say, Thank God for him.

how long will it be before blogs that aren't one-man operations realize that holidays aren't days off for them? yeah, if it's just you and one or two other guys, that's one thing, but blogs and sites with Staff... folks, your readers check in on holidays - we have Plenty of time to do so - and we get a mite miffy if you've all gone off fishing. rotate coverage but give the hungry monster of internet surfers content! we are bored now, you must entertain us!

a week later...
wow, another Monday morning. in the past two weeks i've finished three short stories - okay, a novelette and two short stories - that were at various stages of completion, gotten out one chapter of the Soap Opera From Hell and steaming along on another...
and this morning i signed the contracts for my story to appear in 'The Ladies of Trade Town'...
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
i've really got to stop doing that - it's most unbecoming in a man of my years.
fuck it.
squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
okay, really, i'm stopping now.

"Machete" in theaters - boom boom bang bang slice slice chop chop bow chicka wow wow wheeeeee! it was even more over the top than i expected, and i expected it to be really over the top.

squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
dammit, no more, i'm serious now! (yes, Serious Jim is Serious)

with a really oddball cast, a lot of comedy, a lot of action, and more than its fair share of overblown exploitation spooge, i am anxiously awaiting the sequels, "Machete Kills" and "Machete Kills Again". it was silly and we really enjoyed it. highly recommended for those who enjoy grindhouse exploitation movies.

squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
no, really, cut that shit out!

China Mieville's wonderful bit on the Ground Zero Mosque bullshit...
http://chinamieville.net/post/968409476/mimby-a-request-for-supporting-visuals

and some more twisted up, idiotic crap about the GZM -
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/commission-international-religious-freedom-ground-zero-mosque

August 24th marked the second anniversary of the passing of my friend Tommie Dunnam. being me, i'd completely forgotten the date... consciously, that is. night of the 24th/morning of the 25th he showed up in a dream of mine. i had died, and he was waiting for me in the "whatever comes after" (i don't remember too many details of where/what that was). he told me we all have someone waiting for us, to help us adjust. i asked if that place (whatever 'that place' was) was all there was, or was it one stage on a longer journey, and if that was the case, shouldn't we get moving? he replied that i had a lot of work to do there before it was time to move on again.
i had no idea of the significance of the date till his sister reminded me of the anniversary of his passing a day and a half later. funny ol' world, innit?

yesterday, the 27th, was my daughter's 29th birthday. i wish her all the best, hope she had a happy one.
in the meantime i shall ponder 29 years and try not to feel too decrepit.

we've actually had a cooling trend the past week. mid-nineties during the day, nice cool evenings... the first signs that, in spite of undeniable global warming, we've almost survived another Texas summer. this is a happy thing to contemplate. maybe, come what passes for winter, poor Conan can recover from his heat rash...

no word yet from Jonesboro, one way or the other. hope continues...

first off, let me say that watching numerous documentaries on burlesque and videos of contemporary burlesque in no way prepared me for the joy of seeing it live.
secondly, praise Jesus, these women were not small, skinny anorexics who shook like meth freaks - these women had mass, they had curves, they had Tee-thank-you-Lord-eye-tee-ess and Ay-have-mercy-double-ess! some of them were more comfortable with their bodies and performing than others, but everyone put on a hell of a good show.
"Hollywood Honeys" featured routines that in some related to movies and there was some real creativity and effort involved.
Sugar von Tassles performed twice, once as Jessica Rabbit to "Why Don't You Do Right?" from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Jump In The Line" from "Beetlejuice". she evoked Jessica and a dinner guest caught in the magic of calypso very well, the second act mixing comedy and dance beautifully.
Sin O' Rita performed to "Hernando's Hideaway" from "The Pajama Game" and a "Tribute to the Hollywood Starlet". she had great choreography and moved through her routines beautifully, tantalizing and teasing the audience.
Whisker Lickins performed "A Tribute to Clara Bow" and as "Tank Girl". both her routines were cute and some damn fine tassle twirling. you think you've seen that kind of thing in film and video but until it's happening ten feet in front of you - you haven't seen tassle twirling.
Smalls McCoy (and yeah, she's tiny - but with some hips!) did "Whatever Lola Wants" from "Damn Yankees" and "Greased Lightning" from, you guessed it, "Grease". while "Lola" was fun, with good choreography and nice costume, the routine from "Grease" was almost perfect burlesque - funny, sexy, teasing, never showing much until the finale.
our friend Jenni, the ever-so-curvaceous Remi Martini, did a lovely routine inspired by the film "Idlewild". lots of attitude, lots of fun. i was hoping to see her perform again but alas, as the organizer of the show, she only had time (and sanity) to perform once.
Frostine Shake rocked my world with a lovely mix of Disney Sleeping Beauty costume and "Once Upon A Dream" from the animated film that once the Princess costume was removed got beautifully down and dirty to Sonic Youth's "Have Love Will Travel". i've rarely wanted to do such evil things with a Disney Princess.
Ginger Rayle, performing before an audience for the first (and second) time, did a "Porgy & Bess" tribute to Billie Holiday's "Summertime" and danced to the Centurians' "Bullwinkle Part II" from "Pulp Fiction". both routines were well-choreographed and well performed.
Miss Chevious made my geeky little heart sing by dancing with very nice costuming to both "Keneda" from the "Akira" soundtrack (complete with very phallic laser rifle) and to the "Clockwork Orange Mix" as a very voluptuous naughty droog - complete with a little bit of "Singing in the Rain" at the very end. she loved her music and it showed, as did her enjoyment of performing.
Andrea von Frankenstein hit all perfect burlesque notes dancing to Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme". she also had absolutely beautiful legs and used them to delightful effect. i wish she'd performed a second routine.
Googhee Gomez was stunning in her "Tribute to Etta James" - lovely woman, beautiful costume and choreography, nice comedy and great use of props. another that i wished would've performed twice.
Pystol Whips danced as Pippi Longstocking to the "Pippi Longstocking Theme" and it was perversely wonderful. i'd never thought of Pippi that way before and now i'm pretty sure i'll never look at her any other way. very cute and charming.

there was a pretty good crowd there, almost filling the (relatively small) venue, including a loud and vocal contingent of Enthusiastic Lesbian Stripping Fans. :D
it was a great night, a lot of fun and, as with most live performances, was a wonderful revelation compared to the pale imitation that is filmed burlesque. i look forward to seeing more.

But I just couldn't ignore it anymore, so now, like so many others, I'm forced to share

most definitely NSFW

at 2 PM USCST today, Dorris has her face-to-face interview with the CEO in Jonesboro. i get the feeling this is pretty much the 'make-or-break' as far as the job is concerned, even though she has a phone interview with someone else, lower in the chain, tomorrow.
please keep the good vibes a-thrummin'

thank you.

Courtesy of "Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse":

( Connecticut's For F**king )

Well, Virginia says they're for Lovers... I guess you just hold hands until you get to Connecticut.

Dorris will be flying/driving to Jonesboro on Tuesday of next week, has a face-to-face interview on Wednesday with a follow-up phone interview, while she's still in Jonesboro, the following day, and will be driving/flying back on Friday. (Jonesboro has no big city airport, so she's flying into Little Rock and taking a rental car.
I wondered why she wasn't driving our car, to be told that the company is paying for her to come up for the interview and it's cheaper if she flies and rents a car.
So yeah, we're Very Hopeful.
That's the good news...

The Depressing News...
The Luxor in Las Vegas, the resort where we experienced the glory that is the Blue Man Group has replaced them with...


wait for it...


prepare to be horrified...


CARROT TOP!?!??!?!?!?!?
Come the fuck on, you don't replace BMG with Carrot-fucking-Top! That's sacrilege, heresy, blasphemy and just downright dumb.

Fucking Carrot Top...

Zach Snyder, a character's unfettered imagination, most genres you can think of pressed together into one lovely pile of action porn juju?
Nerdgasm!