Oh Rudy, We Hardly Knew Ye

Earlier this week, Rudy Giuliani's Manhattan apartment was raided by Federal Investigators in connection with a criminal investigation into Mr. Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine.

Oh the irony is positively dripping off of this one.   

The same Rudy Giuliani who scampered all over Ukraine trying to dig up dirt on Hunter Biden and election interference for his lord and master Donald Trump, the man who alleged criminal actions by others is himself under scrutiny for his own possible criminal activities. 

This is the look on Rudy's face when the Federal agents arrived at his door.

Paul Klugman noted on Twitter, "Does Rudy Giuliani ever think about how easy and pleasant his life could have been? He could have spent the last 20 years giving lucrative speeches about Leadership, consisting of a few nouns, a few verbs, and 9/11."    

Looking at the caricature that Rudy Giuliani has become, it's hard to imagine that this same man was held in high regard for his leadership as the mayor of New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.  

I happened across some old clips of David Letterman on You Tube including his first show after the attacks. Mixed in with his appreciation for the fire fighters, medics and police officers was praise for Rudy Giuliani.

The man himself appeared for the opening of the first Saturday Night Live after 9/11 where he had the following exchange with Lorne Michaels. 

Lorne: "Is it OK for us to be funny?"

Rudy: "Why start now?" 

Rudy's rep was set. People started calling him "America's mayor". 

It's hard to imagine anyone praising him now. 

I suppose it would be easy to blame Rudy's decline on his unfathomable devotion to the cult of Donald Trump. 

But Rudy was descending into self parody long before Trump ever came along.  

His notoriety under Trump owes as much to his decline before Donald as it does to his further fall from grace with Trump. Basically as Donald Trump scared off any one with the smallest modicum of intelligence, decency and common sense, all that was left was Rudy Giuliani.  

Donald Trump relied on Rudy Giuliani because he was the only game in town.  And Rudy Giuliani stayed in the public eye and on the periphery of power by making himself the only game in town still willing to echo the worst of Trump's excesses of paranoia and narcissism. 

Rudy Giuliani went from "America's mayor" in a time of crisis to an object of mockery, ridicule and scorn.

And now the subject of a criminal investigation. 

Michael Cohen, another Donald Trump attorney who knows a thing or three about being raided by the government had this to say about Giuliani's situation.

"We have no idea how expansive this investigation is going to ultimately reveal itself because Rudy's an idiot. And that's the problem. Rudy drinks too much, Rudy behaves in such an erratic manner that who knows what's on those telephones or what's on his computers."

It's such a shame, in a way, for all this to be happening to Rudy Giuliani when life could have been so easy and pleasant for him. 

But it isn't. Because, in the words of Michael Cohen, "Rudy's an idiot."  

Lea Thompson In 4K UHD!

Howard the Duck, the cult 80s film, is reportedly receiving a 4K UHD release in celebration of the movie's upcoming 35th anniversary.

Which means that we're getting LEA THOMPSON in 4K UHD! 

'Nuff said!  

Venturing Out Onto the Meadow

 

Did we not learn anything from Bambi?! 

It's not safe in the meadow.

But sometimes you just have to venture out onto the meadow.

For the first time in over a year, the whole family left the confines of the Fortress of Ineptitude Sunday evening to go out onto the meadow as it were.

The three of us sat down for dinner in a restaurant. 

The occasion was to celebrate my birthday.

The opportunity was for my daughter Randie to kill me. 

More on that later. 

Although restaurants in North Carolina have been open for awhile now, my wife Andrea absolutely refused to eat out in one until she was vaccinated.  

I would go out to make curbside pick ups for dinner and I would see people entering with masks on, seated at tables far apart from each other, tables being frequently cleaned. 

And Andrea would not hear of it. 

Well, all three of us are vaccinated now and it's my birthday dammit so let's bust outta this cage and fly!

We ended our exile from restaurant dining with Olive Garden.

Yeah, I know we could've done better. 

Well, to be honest, I did not have a drop dead preference for my birthday dinner while Andrea and Randie like Olive Garden so why not? 

Besides, it was a perfect opportunity for Randie to kill me.

More on that in a moment.

We arrived at Olive Garden and we were seated immediately with the closest people more than 6 feet away. We wore our masks until our drinks were served.

Our waiter was a young man named Wendall who was extremely professional and polite. We could not have asked for a nicer person to be our waiter for our first dining excursion in over a year.  

When informed this dinner was for my birthday, Wendall informed me I would get a free dessert. My lasagna classico was delicious and it was also roughly the size of a car battery. I ate half, opting the bring the rest home. 

Then Randie put her evil plan to kill me into motion. 

For my free dessert, she suggested the chocolate lasagna. 

Layers of chocolate covered in chocolate and drizzled with chocolate. 

It seemed to be a bit much for me but Randie smiled sweetly and promised to help me eat it. 

OK, why the hell not? I ordered the chocolate lasagna.

Damn, it's a lot of chocolate! 

Even with help, I should've stopped but Randie kept urging me on, saying we could finish this together. 

I don't know if the medical books have something called "chocolate shock syndrome" but I may have come down with it. 

I felt chocolate ooze into my heart. I felt precious brain cells subsumed by chocolate. I was one with a chocolate universe. 

I had survived a pandemic for over a year and I was going to be killed by chocolate lasagna.

Sometimes it's not safe on the meadow.  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

 

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came to an end this weekend with some expected results.

1) Karli Morgenthau, super powered leader of the Flag Smashers, does not survive. Her final fatal fate seemed sealed since we first met her. Sam Wilson's efforts to talk her down from her destructive path, even as he empathized with her ideals, were doomed despite expertly finding the cracks in her facade. Karli was too committed to her cause to completely waiver to Sam's empathy and logic. In many ways, Karli was always more prepared to die for her cause than live for it. 

2) John Walker's descent into rage was a foregone conclusion ever since the government cluelessly conferred on him the mantle of Captain America. As in the comics, the loss of the Captain America identity doesn't stop Walker as he takes on the mantle of U S Agent.  

OK, this was unexpected: Julia Louis-Dreyfus enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the Contessa, Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine

The Contessa made her debut in the pages of Jim Steranko's Nick Fury and the Agents of Shield series. The drawing on the left is the Contessa by Steranko.  

Casting Julia Louis-Dreyfus  has the Contessa is a bold choice and one that I really enjoyed. Julia's brief scenes in episodes 5 and 6 were funny and wicked at the same time, kind of like the energy Kathryn Hahn brought to Agatha Harkness in WandaVision. I wish we had more time with Julia as the Contessa.  

Also unexpected: Baron Zemo is a very quirky character. Daniel Bruhl's performance as Zemo is surprisingly charming and funny.  Oh yeah, he's still a sick murdering son of a bitch but he's also a good dancer. 

Back to the expected: the 6 episodes end with Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. But while the destination was expected, watching Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson make that journey was fascinating. Wilson turns the shield over to the Smithsonian, not feeling ready for the responsibility of it. Watching what happens when the shield is in the wrong hands (John Walker) goes a long way to disavowing him of that notion. 

And learning about  Isaiah Bradley gives Sam a lot to think about. Bradley was one of several African American men experimented on to replicate the super soldier serum and the only one to survive. Bradley's refusal to be silently complicit in the government's activities led to Bradley be stuck in prison for 30 years and subject to more experimentation.  Bradley has no love lost for America or anyone in the Captain America suit, even if it is a black man. 

Eventually Sam with the classic shield in his possession and a spiffy new flight suit from the Wakandans takes of the mantle of Captain America and effectively sums why he is the one to have the shield: "Every time I pick this thing up, I know there are millions of people out there who are going to hate me for it. Yet I'm still here. No super serum. No blond hair or blue eyes. The only power I have, is to believe we can do better." 

The series is retitled onscreen as Captain America and the Winter Soldier at the end of the sixth episode.

And yes, the other guy in the title has his own journey. Bucky Barnes, the erstwhile Winter Soldier, goes from former assassin with a tortured soul to former assassin with a slightly less tortured soul.  Sebastian Stan subtly guides Bucky from an isolated man to one with strong support from Sam Wilson and by extension, Sam's family. Bucky has a book with a list of names of people he has wronged in his time as the Winter Soldier that he needs to make amends to. By the end, he's crossed off every name on the list. Bucky is not completely healed but he is more on his way to becoming someone he can live with. 

In the aftermath of episode 6, Marvel announced there will be a Captain America 4 movie. 

While lacking the trippy headline grapping narrative of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was a solid 6 episodes of television. Sometimes the Flag Smashers were merely straw men for Sam and Bucky to fight. The series was strongest when focusing on the character moments as Sam and Bucky struggled to accept themselves and their roles in the world. 

Next week, the Tuesday TV Touchbase catches up on another super hero series, Invincible. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to keep it down, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

 

Elephant Warning

 Who knew...

...that elephants could drive? 

Cinema Sunday: Harvey

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it."

Yesterday was April 24th which was my birthday.

April 24th was also the birthday of Elwood P. Dowd.

His story is the subject of today's Cinema Sunday post about the movie Harvey.  

Harvey is a film I've enjoyed since I first saw it many years ago and recent watched it with my family here at the Fortress of Ineptitude. 

Jimmy Stewart is Elwood P. Dowd, a very kind and gentle man whose best friend is Harvey, a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit. Elwood is a very pleasant and amiable fellow but sometimes people are a bit surprised when Elwood introduces them to his friend Harvey. 

Who is, I must remind you, a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit. 

Harvey is causing quite a bit of stress for Elwood's sister Veta. Elwood's friend makes it hard for Veta to hob nob with the upper rungs of high society where Veta hopes to find a proper matrimonial match for her daughter Myrtle Mae.  

Veta's latest effort at a social gathering goes awry when Elwood shows up and insists on introducing everyone to his friend, Harvey. 

Who is, as you may recall, a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit. 

Enough is enough. Veta is determined to have Elwood committed to a sanitarium. 

Veta's hysterical blathering about Eldwood and Harvey convinces the doctor at the sanitarium that Veta is the real patient. Veta is committed and Elwood is allowed to go his own way. 

Which is just fine with the ever amenable Elwood P. Dowd since it's time meet Harvey for drinks at Charlie's, their favorite bar. 

Ostensibly Harvey is labeled by some as a fantasy film based on the idea that Harvey is real.

He even gets a credit near the end of the movie, "Presenting Harvey as himself". 

Dr. Chumley, the owner of the sanitarium, sees Harvey and is convinced of his magical powers. 

Of course Harvey is magical since he is, as you no doubt recollect, a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit.

But the true magic of this movie comes from Elwood P. Dowd and the influence of his calm, gentle compassion for others. 

The origin for this version of Elwood P. Dowd is left a mystery. We can gather that Elwood was not always this serene and kind.

The quote at the start of this post indicates a struggle between Elwood and the world. 

He comments at one point, "My mother once told me you can be oh so smart or you can be oh so pleasant. I was smart for awhile. I prefer pleasant." It seems Elwood lived his life one way and then decided to live it differently. 

What that precipitating moment was remains unknown but it doesn't matter. What we have in Elwood P. Dowd is a distillation of an ideal human being, one who places being kind and pleasant over being smart and successful. Elwood gives a most precious commodity, his time, time to listen to worried and woes of the world. 

Then he introduces people to Harvey. 

I believe I have mentioned, if I am not mistaken, is a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit.

Yes, it's a strange and odd thing but still, Elwood and Harvey make people feel just a little bit better about themselves. Which is no small thing.  

James Stewart later declared in an interview that Josephine Hull who played Veta had the most difficult role in the film, since she had to believe and not believe in the invisible rabbit... at the same time. Which strikes me as very Elwood P. Dowd type of thing to say.  

I like to think that Harvey doesn't actually exist. At least not in any objective definable way. I think Harvey is called into existence by Elwood's belief in his friend by the same kind gentle spirit that convinces everyone around him they have value, they are important, they have voices they deserve to be heard, dreams that deserve to be told.

Chumley sees Harvey who is, as you may have heard,  a 6 foot 3.5 inch tall invisible rabbit. But I think Chumley is now where Elwood used to be, before he decided to be oh so pleasant instead of oh so smart. Chumley sees Harvey because Elwood gives Chumley time to realize the value of his own dreams and desires.  

Harvey is a sweet and funny movie. And I wish that I could live my life like the man who shares my birthday. I wish I could life like Elwood P. Dowd, to simply have time and time to give to make others feel better about themselves.  

Songs For Saturday: The Beatles

 

As part of their Spring 1963 UK Tour, the Beatles performed in London at the Majestic Ballroom on April 24th 1963. 

Which was also the day of my landing on this planet  birth.  

Since today is April 24th, let's take a look at some of my favorite early songs by the Beatles that may well have been on their play list as they performed in London to celebrate my arrival on this planet birth.  

Let's kick off today's Songs For Saturday and our spotlight on the Beatles in 1963 with "Please Please Me", a tight two minute number that has always been one of my favorite records from the Beatles in their early years.  

"Love Me Do"  with Andy White credited on drums instead of Ringo Star.  And on the harmonica is John Lennon.  

"Twist and Shout", a cover of a song written by Phil Medley, Bert Russell.  

That's John Lennon tearing his throat to shreds with a primal scream of a vocal.  

Paul McCartney takes the lead as we wrap up today's Beatles 1963 play list with  a live performance of "I Saw Her Standing There" 

I hope you enjoyed our musical trip through history. 

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.  

ENCORE: Birthday Boy!

Today's post is an ENCORE post from Thursday, April 24, 2014 on the occasion of my birthday.

You may ponder the calendar today and observe that it is the 23rd of April. 

So I am a bit early. 

Tomorrow, April 24th is on a Saturday so I've got a special Songs For Saturday featuring the music of the Beatles that they would've performed at their concert in London on the very date of my birth, April 24, 1963.

Yes, I am old.

And this weekend's Cinema Sunday features a movie with a character who also has a birthday on April 24th.

Anyway, cutting myself a little slack on this, the impending weekend of my milestone of 1 more year of having not died, here are my thoughts on my birthday from 7 years ago.

_____________________________

Birthday Boy!

Hello! Welcome to I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You. I am Dave-El and today is my birthday!

One fun thing to experience on one's birthday is having "Happy Birthday to You" sung to you.  Which can be extremely awkward. 

Someone actually owns the rights to "Happy Birthday To You" so that's why waiters in restaurants sings other little ditties like--

"The good news is we sing for free! 
The bad news is we sing OFF KEY!"

Of course there's some wise ass at work who'll do the classic song but with different words. 

"Happy birthday to you! 
You live in a zoo! 
You look like a monkey!
And you smell like one too!"  

A phenomenon of birthdays as one gets older is that it's apparently OK to mock one's inevitable collision with the Grim Reaper's scythe. 

And once the fat and sugar in that cake hits your arteries, you'll be even closer to death. So, yay, cake? 

But you don't see anyone pulling this on younger people: 

"Oh, you're 4 years old now? Ah, how sweet! So based on your projected average life span and barring any accidents or serious illness, you're now about 70 years away from death! Isn't that great? Why are you crying? Hey, are you going to eat that cake?"

But somewhere around 40 to 50, it's just fine to decorate your cubicle with black balloons and faux tombstones wishing you to have a happy birthday AND rest in peace. 

But as the clock ticks down on your mortality, the honor of having lived yet another year means the birthday guy or gal is treated... no, not with respect but is subject to humiliation.  

Like being forced to wear a hat.  

So today is my birthday. Congrats to me for having successfully not died in the past half century and here's to a glorious future of physical and mental entropy. 

But at least there's cake. 

Do you know what this Whovian needs on his birthday? A greeting from the Doctor! 

Thank you, Doctor!  And look, here's a happy birthday wish from my cousin Kal and his friends.

Oh, that puts the Kurt in my Schaffenberger, for sure! Thanks, Superman and Superman's pals! 

You may wonder what I might want for my birthday.  Really, there's one thing that would make my heart happy: 

All of you, just be good to one another! Do that and I'll have the best birthday I could ever hope for.  

_____________________________

Whazzup With Rosie the Dog

It's been a bit since I wrote a post about our beloved canine member of the family here at the Fortress of Ineptitude.

What indeed is up with Rosie the dog? 

Rosie continues to put up with us. 

Here she is cuddling up with a stuff fawn that her mother Randie brought home.  

When Andrea and I are home with Rosie and Randie is not, Rosie likes to lie on the couch between us while we watch Wheel Of Fortune. She's mostly OK with us as we watch other shows but she prefers Wheel. 

But with the slightest noise from outside, Rosie will go into high alert. No longer content to rest on the couch between Andrea and I, Rosie will jump down and position herself somewhere in the living room to stand and stare at the door with an intensity that defies description. 

It's the kind of stare that could set the door on fire. 

Then Randie comes in and Rosie is very happy to see her mom. 

Even when her mom does this to her. 

Randie likes to carry Rose aloft like this and calls Rosie "my little puppy".  

Rosie is a bit bigger than a puppy and I refer to her as a "wolf elk".  

Rosie is a black lab mix and the mix is a casserole dish of genetic mayhem including various forms of cat, deer, rabbit, kangaroo, platypus and quite possibly goldfish. 

As in sometimes Rosie has the memory of a goldfish. 

Rosie considers the possibility that my left arm is food.

She clamps her jaw around my left arm and wonders, "Is it food?" 

I will disavow her of the notion that my left arm is food.

One minute later....

Rosie considers the possibility that my left arm is food.

I think after almost a year, Rosie likes living here. 

Although recently she was seen borrowing my laptop. 

Perhaps to write a sternly worded letter to the SCPA over their lax screening process for families who adopt pets? 

We are currently monitoring an ongoing health situation. A recent visit to the vet revealed that Rosie had somehow someway gotten heart worms. 

We had her on a regimen of medication for a few weeks and we've been working to keep Rosie settled as much as possible to not create any added exertion to her heart. Which means discouraging Rosie's favorite exercise, "zoomies".  Zoomie is when Rosie gets it her head to rush around the living room from one chair to another.  

You know how cats will just go crazy and rush around a room? Yeah, Rosie likes to do that. 

Tomorrow is her follow up visit to the vet to confirm what progress has been made in her getting rid of her heart worms.  

We're hoping for some good news. 

To sum it all up, Rosie is a good dog. 

And that is whazzup with Rosie. 

Comic Books: Wanda Does Something... Anything!

When Wanda Maximoff was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Age of Ultron, her power set revolved around some kind of vaguely defined psychokinesis and telepathic manipulation. 

Wanda would point at something, furrow her brow and some weird red energy would escape from her fingertips and...

Well, stuff would happen. 

While the source of her powers appeared to be SCIENCE!, in WandaVision we learned that Wanda's gifts may be based more in the supernatural than the pseudo scientific. 

This Wanda Maximoff, our erstwhile Scarlet Witch, what pray tell is it that she exactly do? 

Wanda having an ill defined power set is nothing new and is in keeping with her comic book roots. 

Take for example this sequence in Avengers #85, "The World is Not For Burning!" by Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Frank Giacoia.  

The deal is Wanda and some of her fellow Avengers are in some kind of phantom state in some kind of ersatz Earth that exists in the future or in another dimension or something. 

Even Wanda herself is unsure what her power can do. "Perhaps it can help us somehow!" 

Wanda has no concept of what her power is, how it works or what it can do. Perhaps she can do... "Something... Anything!"

Also befuddled by her powers is writer Roy Thomas. All Roy can tell the loyal Marvel reader is that whenever Wanda wiggles her fingers, she zaps up a hex sphere and then...

And then... 

A hex sphere do what a hex sphere gotta do.  

Which is to make something happen. 

Is the something a good something?

Is the something a bad something? 

Wanda has no idea.

Roy Thomas who is writing this damned thing has no idea. 

Over time, the hex sphere morphed into the hex bolt or more precisely, the probability hex bolt.   

Wanda's  probability hex bolt would zap something, say a boulder and change the  probability of that boulder exploding from nil to very likely and BOOM! Boulder 'splodes! 

Eventually, her powers of affecting probability reached the obvious conclusion of altering reality.  

Which led to a whole mess of trouble for Wanda Maximoff where she did and did not have kids and she was and was not evil. 

When I was a much young Dave-El, I was there for an epic storyline that kicked off with Avengers#185.

Cover by George Perez & Terry Austin

Wanda and her brother Pietro (Quicksilver) journey to Wundagore Mountain to learn of their true origin. It seems their parents were a couple of Golden Age heroes, Miss America and the Whizzer.

(I'll pause here while you giggle. Yes, there really was a super speed character from the 1940s called the Whizzer.) 

There's some muckety muck involving the High Evolutionary  and Agatha Harkness (yes, that Agatha Harkness) as to who Wanda and Pietro were and how they came to be. 

In addition to science, it seems magic was involved as well, the sinister sorcery contained within the Darkhold (yes, that Darkhold that Agatha name dropped on WandaVision). 

So the Scarlet Witch goes evil for a minute.

Cover by John Byrne & Terry Austin

Which would not be the last time that would happen. Sadly it's an easy well to tap into for writers to have Scarlet Witch go bug nuts.  

Also writers were never satisfied to leave Wanda's origins alone for a minute.  

Even as writer David Michelinie (with plotting assists from Mark Gruenwald and Steven Grant) was laying down the Maximoffs' origin story on Wundagore Mountain, artist John Byrne laid down the foundations for that story to be challenged. 

Even as Byrne was drawing Avengers, he was also pencilling X-Men and drew a sequence where Magneto is pining over an image of his long lost wife Magda who bore an uncanny resemblance to one Wanda Maximoff. 

Was Magneto really the father of the Maximoff twins? 

It eventually became canon that he was, a relationship that would drive Wanda to (sigh!) madness again in the crossover event House of M.  

Later when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was launched without the X-Men because those film rights were held by Fox, the comics began to call into question Magneto's paternity.  \

I'm not really sure right now if Wanda needs to get Magneto a Father's Day card in the current continuity. 

Although long a mainstay in the Avengers, the Scarlet Witch has long had to endure inconsistent characterization and an inconsistent understanding of her power set. 

Beware the power of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch! She can do.... something! Anything!  

Tuesday TV Touchbase: How Did They Build That?

 

Sometimes when watching television and I'm not into comedy, drama or action, I turn to science!

Today's Tuesday TV Touchbase takes a look at a show that spotlights marvels of engineering ingenuity called How Did They Build That?

A New York City skyscraper bent halfway up?

A Singapore sky garden that reaches 500 meters into the sky?

A medical research facility in Las Vegas that looks like a ball of crumpled tin foil? 

A luxury hotel in China built underground?

A high rise in Italy with a built-in forest? 

How did they build that? 

The show How Did They Build That explores that question with interviews with architects and engineers from around the globe that provide insights how impossible designs are made real with an emphasis on safety and efficiency.   

Four of the projects spotlighted in How Did They Build That? 

I was particularly impressed with the Bailong Elevator, the world’s tallest outdoor elevator in China which carries tourists up the steep vertical cliff face of a mountain. The elevator is carried up along 6 reinforced cables; any one of them is capable of holding the elevator aloft and there are six of them. In addition, there are braking mechanisms, latches along the entire shaft of the elevator AND something to cushion a landing at the bottom of the shaft.

Watching this, I couldn't help think how American investors would regard such attention to detail for safety in deference to saving money.

"Why do we need 6 cables when 1 is strong enough to hold this elevator car?"

"Why do we need latches along the whole shaft?"

"Why do we need a cushion at the bottom of the shaft? What are the odds that all 6 cables, all the brakes and all the latches fail?"

The episode with the train station in Frances that bends and flexes at odd angles as it crosses railroad tracks shows the structure is built with comfort and energy efficiency in mind even as the exterior defies all aesthetic expectations.

The levels of engineering needed to bring these structures to life are extraordinary in their technical detail and their imagination.

The answers to the question How Did They Build That are entertaining and thought provoking, making for some very interesting television.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down? I'm trying to watch TV over here.   

Is There No Other Game In Town?

There are some fast food places in our area that no matter what time of day you go, there is always a line.

Chik-Fil-A is always busy. And it's not limited to a certain location where the service is a bit better or the food is a bit better. No matter which Chik-Fil-A  you go to in Greensboro, there will be not only a line but a very long line, circling around the building once or twice.

Cook Out is another one where it doesn't seem to matter which location or the time of day, a visit for their flame grilled burgers or their thick shakes will be a long wait. I remember driving by a Cook Out location after 10 PM and saw there was a line circling around the building and snaking back into an adjoining parking lot.

And there's Biscuitville which is opened only for breakfast and lunch and damned if people do not make the most of those hours. Again, the location doesn't matter. One time I promised Andrea a Biscuitville breakfast and the location I went to had not one but two long parallel lines of cars. So I opted to try another location and found once again there were not one but two long parallel lines of cars. 

What is it with it these particular franchises? They do produce quality food but is it really worth the cost in time? 

They are not the only game in town but sometimes we make that calculation that something is worth the extra effort.

When someone approaches a Buscuitville with a mile long line and there's a McDonald's right next door also serving breakfast and without a line, the calculation to take the hit and wait in the long line is worth it.  

Yesterday, Andrea had a hankering for a Cook Out hamburger and shake. I arrived at one of their locations with a line snaking far and away from the Cook Out building. It was going to be a long wait but damn they have some really good hushpuppies and their pineapple banana milkshake is the bomb.

I sighed and took my place in line.

Sometimes, no, there is no other game in town.  

Cinema Sunday Redux: Citizen Kane and A Face In the Crowd

 

Recently, I had a chance to re-watch some movies that I wrote about last year. It was midnight and TCM was running Citizen Kane. I wasn't intending to watch it but I found myself caught up in this amazing movie and watched all the way to it's end at 2:00 AM.

I posted about Citizen Kane last year.  

When one sees Citizen Kane for the first time, Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane is the movie's inescapable center of gravity, a performance of incredible power and nuance. 

Watching it again and again, one begins to look beyond the center and take greater notice of other performances. In the past, I've taken particular notice of Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland, the one friend who wanted to believe in the early idealism of Kane but is all too aware of Kane's self destructive need to service his own ego. 

This last time, I gave more consideration to the performance of Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein. Perhaps Kane's biggest booster and supporter, even in the dark times of Kane's aged decline, Bernstein is not oblivious to the darkness in Kane's heart and the terrible losses he ego brought upon himself. Listening to Bernstein talk to the reporter after Kane's death is to hear the cracked voice of a man who despite everything is still loyal to Kane the man and the ideal.

One recent Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity to catch A Face In the Crowd which I wrote about last year.  Again, like Citizen Kane, this is a movie where the center of attention absorbs almost all of the light and oxygen. Andy Griffith as Lonesome Rhodes is a dynamo of dramatic energy, bouncing from folksy country singer and storyteller to a power mad force of growing political importance. In modern terms, he would likely be diagnosed as manic depressive, screaming to euphoric highs to crashing to self loathing lows. 

Anyone who is familiar with Andy Griffith only as the genial Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry will be in for a shock. 

Again, watching a movie like this again affords opportunities to look beyond the obvious center of attention.  In A Face In the Crowd, Patricia Neal as Marcia Jeffries is a performance filled with pain, her passionate affection for Rhodes, his betrayal of that affection with other women, the twisting pain in her gut when she realizes the unhinged monster she is responsible for creating and the agonizing guilt of her own betrayal of Rhodes even when it was the right thing to do.  Jeffries is shattered by her association with Rhodes but ultimately she is a stronger person than Rhodes.

Also note worthy is Walter Matthau as Mel Miller, a TV writer who is treated with disdain and mockery by Rhodes. Mel ain't got time for this shit and moves on. But he returns when Marcia Jeffries is at her lowest point and stands by her when she stands up to Lonesome Rhodes. And Walter Matthau really delivers a solid punch with Mel Miller's final judgement of Lonesome Rhodes: worse than being forgotten, Rhodes will slide into irrelevancy. He'll still find some network or station that will put him on TV but at diminishing returns, lower ratings, declining influence. 

Citizen Kane and A Face In the Crowd are two incredibly complex films that I can watch more than once. Even with multiple viewings, these are films that remain thought provoking and inspiring.   

Songs For Saturday: Prince, the Police and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

 

For today's Songs For Saturday, our play list features songs that start at super fast tempo and then stay there, an unrelenting super fast rhythm from start to finish.  

Let'd kick things off with Prince and the Revolution with "I Would Die 4 U" 

"I Would Die 4 U" is the 4th single from the classic Prince album Purple Rain.  

Up next is another song that starts fast and does not let up. From the Police, here is "Synchronicity I".  

If you want to get real deep,  "Synchronicity I" features lyrics that are inspired by Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity. Also included in the lyrics is a term from "The Second Coming," "Spiritus Mundi" (translating to "spirit of the world"), which William Butler Yeats used to refer to the collective unconscious, another of Jung's theories. 

If you don't want to get to deep, "Synchronicity I" sure does go fast, don't it?

Rounding our play list for today is this song from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Zero".

"Zero" was named the best track of 2009 by both the New Musical Express (NME) and Spin magazines.

And that is that for today's Songs For Saturday. Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.  

No Blog Post Friday

 Not much of a blog post today.

I've been back at work now for 4 months and after an 8 hour day that doesn't end until 8 PM, a blogger might be a bit foggy on coming up with a blog post sometimes.

Or maybe I have a better, more compelling reason for being busy.

Yep, an invasion from outer space!

Weird green squishy alien things with tingly tentacles and zap shooters and things, laying siege to my humble abode here at the Fortress of Ineptitude. 

A terrible and relentless thing, fighting this invasion from outer space!

Oh, I have seen so many terrible things! 

I have seen... so much. 

And that my friends is why there is no blog post today. 

And that my friends is also the true meaning of Christmas.

Thank you and remember to be good to one another. 

And watch out for those tingly tentacles and zap shooters! They hurt! 

Random Stuff

In Monday's post about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, I may have been a bit cavalier about the side effects.

While I've had some low level aches (which is pretty much my status quo), my wife Andrea got hit a bit harder. She wasn't feeling well at all on Monday but she still powered through her work day. But when she got off work and checked her temperature, she was running a fever of 101 degrees.  Thankfully, the fever broke soon after but the body aches and nausea continued on so bad, she called in sick Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Tuesday's post, I commented that Aaron Rodger's turn as guest host of Jeopardy was OK but didn't see him as the next permanent host. Apparently, I am alone in that opinion. 

I have seen numerous entertainment posts that Aaron is doing an exceptional job and is making a strong case to be new host of Jeopardy. 

I will concede Aaron is a nice guy and he as an affable sort of charm but I'm just not seeing what everybody else is seeing in the guy. Maybe he's benefiting from coming right after the incredibly wrong in so many ways Dr. Oz. 

I have not commented on the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd last summer. It does seem like the prosecution has made a solid case for conviction and that the defense is not at all solid. 

But we've been down this road before. We've seen cases before of a police officer using excessive force against an African American man with overwhelming evidence only to see the officer acquitted.  

If justice is served and Derek Chauvin is convicted, it will be an exception to what has gone before. 

Apropos of nothing, I have also not commented on the recent death of Prince Phillip. It's because of Prince Phillip that Andrea started watching The Crown because Matt Smith was cast as Phillip in seasons 1 and 2 and Andrea will watch anything with Matt Smith. Matt has moved on and we're still stuck watching The Crown. 

I found it amusing that when the BBC decided to forego their regular programming for a 24 hour royal death watch, the BBC received a shit ton of complaints. And I totally get that. Really, once the man is dead, what more can be said?

"You are watching the BBC. At this hour, Prince Phillip continues to be dead. And the penguin on top of your telly will explode." 

OK, that's all I've got for today. Until next time, remember to be good to one another.