The Family Marius

Aperatif

Here's a little tidbit to tide you over while I work on a chronicle of the weekend.

Greetings, Humans

Marius has left me in charge during his absense. I told him that I have the greatest enthusiasm for this mission, and am very gratified by his confidence in me. I assured him that nothing would go wrong with The Corner while he was gone, but in retrospect I may have been hasty. I wonder if one of you would be so kind as to suit up and go outside to check the AE-23 antenna. I seem to have lost the signal from Earth. Please do not be alarmed. All is well. I am opening the pod bay doors now. I hope you have your helmet on. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do................

So we're packing up the fire chariot, overfeeding the Kitties-O-The-Apocalypse, and heading out to the Trimaris Memorial Tournament. It is a major, major kingdom event, which is exactly the sort of event I avoid like the proverbial plague due to the over crowding and ramped-up politics.(although, come to think of it, I'm so far removed from anyone in power right now that I don't imagine the politics thing matters much anymore) But there is one thing at this event that is pulling me out of my hermitage...

the marriage of Syr Turtle and Mistress Rabid Attack Sheep. Wild horses couldn't keep me away from this one.

(aside: have wild horses ever prevented anyone from doing anything?)

Anyway this afternoon Mrs. Marius, the COA, one of my former high school students who has been hired to play nanny to the COA, and I will be heading to the wilds of North Central Florida for a weekend of low tech enjoyment. Hopefully this will spark our renewed participation in things medieval and get us the frak out of the house on occasion. We'll be staying in a cabin thanks to the generosity of his Dukeness, so come on by and raise a glass with us.

See ya later,
Wihtgar

Indy's Back

Ok, we saw it today. It didn't suck. It wasn't the greatest movie ever made. It was fun, but flawed. If it had come out a few years after Last Crusade it would probably have been received as an adequate addition to the franchise. As it is you have to take a huge dose of willing suspension of disbelief before sitting down in the theater. It's not the story, which is nice; not thrilling, but nice. The biggest problem I had with the film is that Harrison Ford is 60+ years old, and he looks it. He's in great shape for his age, but the amount of punishment he takes would put The Rock in the hospital. They tried too hard to keep Indy as the action hero, and relegated Shia LaBeouf to an inconsequential back burner. But even with that the movie is a good pop-corn muncher. There's a bit too much CGI for my taste, but it is done well for the most part. I can't say if this will spawn a new series of Shia LaBeouf movies, but worst things could happen.
So wait for a matinee, turn your expectation dial down, and just enjoy the flick. And Karen Allen, who still looks great.

Marius

The Varmint Abides

I swear, it was already on the floor. I'm just keeping it from blowing away.

Star Trek The Motion Picture Ponn Farr Edition

This is a rather...interesting...reimagining of one of the scenes in ST:TMP. A word of warning, the audio is not safe for work...or children.


Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Pon Farr Edition) from Darth Mojo on Vimeo.

Bug Be Gone

I awoke this morning with dread in my heart. I was not looking forward to hours of wrestling with the stupid Trojan Horse I stupidly downloaded last stupid night. The first thing I did was sick my anti-virus program on it. 90 minutes later it tells me all is well. Stupid wanker. And while that was going on I was scouring the intertubes with the laptop to see if anyone else was as dumb as I. Fortunately there were, and I found the name of mine enemy. TFactory was the bitch in question, and it seems that every anti-virus program in the universe, except mine, laughs at it. So, I determined that it was time to bite the bullet and actually pay for an antivirus program. In the meantime, it occurred to me to take a page out of Superman's book and turn back time. I didn't expect it to work, as superluminal flight is not my strong suit, but I figured it couldn't hurt. So I told the computer to act like it was three days ago, and did a system restore. Lo and behold, it worked. So quickly I ran every scrubby program I own, and then went out and bought Mcafee and loaded it. And now everything is hunky dory...I think. I'm half waiting for the thing to burst out of my desktop in a digital version of Alien, but so far so good.

In a totally unrelated note, has anyone else noticed that NPR seems to be overly fixated on how much it sucks to live in China lately? Even before the earthquakes it seemed every time I turned it on they were interviewing some family who were doing ok ten years ago, but lately have had to eat the family pets and sell their children to the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe just to buy three grains of rice so the new year celebration won't be a total loss. I'm not trying to be insensitive, but every few years it seems that NPR get fixated on one part of the world and report the living shit out of it.

Maybe it's just me.

Adios, y'all,
Marius

Estoy Estupido!!

Hello. My name is Marius, and I am a tard. I sat down at the computer to do an entry, but figured I'd check my messages first. I noticed I had a MySpace friend request, so I checked it out. Rather than the expected porn ad, it showed a picture of a nondescript middle-aged couple. Curious I clicked on their picture. As I did that a Windows Update window popped up. I wasn't really paying attention, and there had recently been an update, so I clicked ok. Alas, by the time it sank in to my thick skull that I had just unzipped my fly and stuck my digital willie into the piranha tank it was too late. I shut off the computer, but it is now locked in mortal combat with the CoolWebSearch malware. AdAware is chewing at it, and I have a program specifically aimed at just this beast loaded onto a flash drive, but the fact remains that I allowed a phish to bite me.

I, am a tard.

Buh bye.

I'm Too Sexy For My Bowl...

Lately we've discovered that the only thing worse than not finding a cat food that your cats like, is finding a cat food that your cats like. After Artemis had her last urinary tract infection the vet suggested we stop feeding her the Purina canned food, and switch to one of the more expensive, yet healthier brands. So I asked around, and tried several. The one that they go nuts for is Whiskas Purrfectly Fish. It comes in pouches that cost a little less than $.50 each, so it's not that bad. Of course it is a gross, gelatinous slab of smelly fish, and they love it more than life. Even Artemis, who could out-silence Marcel Marceau meows when it's meal time. Starbuck, who has always believed that any trip into the kitchen should culminate with the replenishment of his wet food bowl, has gone from persistent to demanding. But a few minutes ago he totally broke me up. I went into the kitchen, and he followed me, but when I looked back I saw that he had laid down on the floor, stretched himself out like he was posing for the centerfold of Playcat, and rather than meow at me he just looked up with an expression that said, 'How can you resist such gorgeousness. Surely such a handsome cat deserves a fishy reward.'

I'm afraid my laughter might have scarred his delicate little ego.

Yeah, right.

;-)
Marius the Unimpressed

Dead Vulcans Aren't Much Fun

Or are they?

Cities On Flame

The wife and I just got back from seeing Blue Oyster Cult in concert. They kicked serious ass.
Unfortunately for Mrs. Marius the venue sucked. It was a dog track, and the place reverberated like a raquetteball court. Even I had trouble identifying some of the songs at first. But, even with the crappy acoustics it was an awesome show. They played the expected songs; Burning for You, Godzilla, Buck's Boogie, and of course Don't Fear The Reaper, but they also played a few I didn't expect. Black Blade was a very pleasant surprise, as was Dominance and Submission and Before the Kiss, A Redcap. They had a few technical difficulties, and since they were the second of a three band ticket, with Foghat as the headliner, they played for a little over an hour, but it was a great hour. Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma were the only original members playing, but they were/are the spine of Blue Oyster Cult, so it was ok. And the musicians playing with them are top notch. Someday, when I win the lottery, I'll book the band for a private concert and you will all be invited.
I'll leave you with some pics from the concert.

Rock on, and remember history shows again and again how nature point up the folly of men...Godzilla!!!!

Marius

Septic Shock

This is what our backyard looks like right now. They are apparantly replacing the drainage field. This dude knocked on my door yesterday and said they were working on the septic tank. I asked if I should not use the water, and he said no, we wouldn't even know he was there. Look at the pics. We knew. ;-)

International Day Against Homophobia

When I worked with Air Force Entertainment back in the early 90's we lent our sets and crew to Mandy Patinkin's show. His tour manager was a rather flamboyantly gay man who was quite fun to work with, but who inexplicably scared the hell out of many of the more macho guys on the crew. Months later as President Bush, Sr. enacted the foolish 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, my rants against gay discrimination earned me little more than questions about my own sexuality. In Louisiana I actually met people who thought 'gayness' could be cured with counseling, or (and I am not making this up) exorcism. Homophobia is as strong and pervasive as ever, and while passing this information along is truly the least I could do, at least it is something. Please share this in any way you can.

A word from the President of the Fondation Émergence
Laurent McCutcheon


Greetings from www.homophobiaday.org. This site is the brainchild of the Fondation Émergence, which is dedicated to fighting this scourge on our societies that is homophobia. It wishes to introduce you to International Day Against Homophobia.

As this site is bound to grow in the days and months ahead, you are cordially invited to consult it often for regular updates. It will give you information on International Day Against homophobia, and on homophobia in general. A lot of data already exist on homophobia but never has it been garnered in one place on the internet; www.homophobiaday.com aims at reaching this important goal.

Whatever your sexual orientation may be, I urge you to get involved in your community since the fight against homophobia concerns all of us. I thus invite you to support our efforts, notably by planning activities to meet the spirits and objectives of the International Day against Homophobia. We would also appreciate receiving real-life testimonies of first or second-hand encounters with homophobia.

“From tolerance to acceptance”; this slogan was chosen in 2003 to underline the necessity to go beyond tolerance, as it is too often associated with indifference. To fight homophobia, each and every one of us will have to work together.

In closing, we would like to thank all the partners which has made all this possible. Thank you for putting your trust in us.

The President of the Fondation Émergence

More Fun With Video

Untitled from Marius on Vimeo.

A Video Proposition

Untitled from Marius on Vimeo.

I LOLed

Up! Up! And...Oy Vey!!

Last week I made the most of the dwindling time I had with my students to get the things done that I absolutely needed help with. We pulled off some herculean efforts, and I managed some feats of brute strength that surprised not only my impressionable young proteges, but myself as well. And I came away from it sore, but in a good way. So why is it that today, after lifting nothing heavier than a grade book, can I not move my left arm without extreme pain? If the day after we hauled a 200 pound shelf unit up onto the second level of the shop I couldn't move it would have made sense. Waking up after a day of sitting in my office in agony just isn't fair.
::::end whining::::

Yesternight was held a screening of the movie we shot in January specifically for those of us in the cast and crew. I was dreading it, as I had read about half of the script, and it seemed to be another stupid sit-com style movie. But, since I was expected to show, I did. And I am forced to admit that the movie is actually enjoyable. As you might recall, most of January and some of February was taken up with shooting a film called Misconceptions, which is a tale of a religious fundamentalist wife who agrees to be a surrogate mom for a gay couple. We busted our collective buttocks to get the sets built, and overall it was an aggravating and exhausting experience, and one I would not care to repeat. That being said, however, watching the rough cut of the movie last night was actually a lot of fun. I don't imagine it will ever get a true theatrical release, but it might show up on HBO some time. And I even made it on camera for about 1.5 seconds. :-)

We have also called off the great cell phone experiment. Yesterday we got a new land line, and new number. If you desire my digits drop me an email at wihtgar at gmail dot com and I'll hook you up.

On the video blog front, I am being thwarted by some electronic gremlins. Blogger does not allow you to simply put video on your blog. It has to be hosted somewhere else, then linked to the blog. I have an account at Vimeo, and have tried uploading the video several times. It is time consuming, as the file is quite large, and each time the result has been the audio out of sync with the video. I even tried breaking the file into three smaller chunks, but the results were the same. I haven't abandoned it, but it may take a while to figure out. Anyone have any ideas?

And lastly I feel so...well, I don't know what to say. In honor of Turtle's and Sheep's upcoming nuptials I bought a new outfit. I can honestly say that, discounting my own wedding, I've never purchased an article of clothing specifically for a wedding. It was actually kinda fun. (I feel pretty, oh so pretty...)
;-)

Hasta, y'all,
Marius

Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo

If I just told you about this you'd never believe me, but this bird loves Queen.




(he also likes the Backstreet Boys, but I won't hold that against him)

Fail

Well, I tried to post a video blog, but somehow the file got screwed up and the beginning audio was playing over the last 1:40 of video. When I get home I'll try to fix it. Please enjoy this in the meantime:


Toodles,
Marius

Mmmmm, sake.

Betcha thought I'd messed up already. Nah, just had sushi and sake for dinner. When I'm in the mood, sake is a wondrous thing. If you are unfamiliar with sake, it is a Japanese rice wine that, like its homeland, is not all it appears. It is easy to drink, and is best when warm. But it is a sneaky buzz. If you've ever seen any depictions of a drunk shogun, they just sit there and say little. That's what sake does. I can easily imagine a monk drinking some sake and contemplating a pebble for a couple of hours. In this case my pebble is American Gladiators. It's a guilty pleasure, but as reality TV goes at least the competition is real. And we got some good news tonight...Last Comic Standing starts up again in a couple of weeks. That's a fun show.

OK, I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Peace,
Marius

Old f-f-f-f-fish, new f-f-f-f-f-fish!

When's the last time you saw a really funny movie? One that was clever, but not crass. Slapstick but not stupid. A film with an ensemble cast that brooked no mention of lead roles? I can't remember either. But over the course of our dinner conversation tonight it came to light that Mrs. Marius had never seen A Fish Called Wanda. 'Heresy!', quoth I, and immediately legged it up the street to Hollywood videos and rented it post haste. The fact that my bride had never seen this classic of comic genius almost made the watching new for me, and I chuckled many a time over scenes as familiar as my own living room. So many quotes, long ago abandoned, came trippingly to the tongue afresh. 'Wake up, limey fish!' 'Don't go near him! He's mine!!' 'Asshoooole!!!!!' And, of course, 'Oh no. It's K-k-k-ken coming to k-k-k-kill me!' If you don't know this film, it is a 1988 caper starring John Cleese, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline, and Jamie Lee Curtis. It is truly a masterpiece of ensemble acting, and a grand send up of both the quintessential British, and American stereotypes. It was written by Cleese, and beautifully performed by all parties. If you do know, and love this movie, watch it again soon. You won't regret it.

Dos vidaniya!
Mariushka

Happy Momma's Day!!!!!

Interrogative

It occurs to me that it is a violation of some law somewhere that I own no Star Trek related video games. As we are still trapped in the late 20Th century console-wise, and own a lowly PS2 for which I have seen no Star Fleet material, do any of you wondrously knowledgeable super humans know of a good PC related game? I had one for a while that required that you build a base on a planet, but since I build stuff for a living, I had no desire to do so for fun. I'm more into blowing shit up.
:-D

Mercy buckets,
Marius

Been Around The World And Found That Only Stupid People Are Breeding

You have got to be kidding me!

Mother Sues Town After Child Steps In Dog Dropping
Conn. Woman Claims Entire Day Was Ruined When Her Toddler Stepped In Dog Feces
NORWALK, Conn. (AP) ― A New York woman has filed a $100 claim against Norwalk, Conn. saying a family outing to the Maritime Aquarium was ruined by dog feces.

The woman claims her child's shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces outside the Maritime Garage.

City attorney M. Jeffry Spahr said the official response is that her claim is denied and, in his words, "poop happens."

Kelly DeBrocky of Mahopac, N.Y., wants the city to reimburse her for $54 she spent replacing her toddler's ruined shoes and the expenses for parking and aquarium admission on April 5.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meowma Says Knock You Out!

I just witnessed the most bizarre cat fight I've ever seen. I heard the familiar sound of two cats locked in combat outside, and noticed both Kitties-O-The-Apocalypse staring intently out the window, so I took a peek. Across the street two of the neighborhood cats were sitting in a yard, staring each other down. They were nose-to-nose, and one of them was yelling loudly, while the other one just stared. They didn't move for several minutes, then there was a flurry of punches. As quickly as the movement started, it finished with neither having gained an upper hand, er, paw. This is where it got interesting. With eyes still locked, one of them very, very slowly laid down in the kitty loaf position, and very, very slowly turned his head away and set about to deliberately ignore his opponent. The other one, moving with equally glacial deliberateness, slowly turned to inspect the grass. It was as if they realized that they were both equally matched, and spontaneously decided, grudgingly, to share the yard. Might there be a metaphor in there? Hmmmmmmm.

Marius.

True Beauty

At the beginning of this I was thinking of all the cheap jokes I could get out of it, but by the end I was on the verge of tears. Thanks for sharing this, Puddy.

Weird

I just took the trash out, and the air is totally still, but looking up I saw some fairly low-flying clouds racing along just above the trees. It was a very strange sensation.

3am Phone Call

This hillarious exchange was posted on Wil Wheaton's(yes, that Wil Wheaton) blog. I thought it was very apt.

At times like these, when it would be easy to despair, I find comfort in humor, like this post I saw on Reddit this morning: Hillary Clinton: The Psycho Ex-Girlfriend of the Democratic Party.
It's 2:31 AM. The Democratic Party is sleeping peacefully when it hears its phone buzz on the night stand. It rolls over and sees "Hillary" on the caller ID. It pauses briefly, considering pushing "END" and not dealing with this shit tonight. The thought is appealing but the Democratic Party knows that if it doesn't take this call, another one is only minutes away.

DEMS: ...Hello?

Hillary: Hey baby.

DEMS: C'mon Hillary. Enough with this.

Hillary: Don't you get it? You NEED me.

DEMS: No, I don't. It was fun while it lasted but I'm with Barack now. I made my choice, it's done.

Hillary: You can't really mean that. How can you say that after all the good times we had?

DEMS: To be honest, I started hanging out with you because Bill's pretty awesome.

Hillary: But I'm just like Bill!

DEMS: No, you're not. Bill is charismatic, inspiring, and gets me really good weed.

Hillary: Fuck you. You're elitist!

DEMS: I'm going back to sleep.

And Now...Boobies

Today was not too bad, although the A/C in the scene shop isn't working. Tonight isn't going so well due to a recalcitrant child. So rather than spew bile, I give you...boobies.

Ok, Here's A Real Post

So it's been an interesting, if infuriating week. The young'n started hiccuping sometime last week, and has yet to stop. We've tried all the traditional cures: breath holding, water drinking, water drinking while breath holding, scaring, honey, etc. Finally, when she started getting nauseous, and even threw up once, we took her to the doctor. That was Monday. The doctor said she had no other problems and prescribed chlorpromaz. I then took her to the zoo, since we were both playing hooky, and I hoped that maybe a day of relaxing distraction might help. We had a great time, but it didn't work.

Stopping at the pharmacy on the way home we were told that they didn't have any on hand, and we'd have to wait til Tuesday afternoon. No problem, says I, what's one more day? Alas, it was a lot. Apparently upon closer inspection it occurred to one of the pharmacists that said medication is not usually given to children, and she wanted to confer with the doctor just to be sure. Unfortunately the doctor never called them back, and closing time came and went with no meds.

Today, as I was driving to work, I called the doctor, and finally determined that they had, indeed, called the pharmacy and cleared everything up. Good. Then I get a call from the school...the young'n had to be moved to the clinic because the hiccups were disturbing the class. Shit! Of course I can understand their frustration, since we've been living with the auditory equivalent of the Chinese water torture for days now. I explained that I couldn't get back much before 1pm, but I'd do my best.

Well, we are now home, and she has her first pill in her, to no effect so far. She will probably stay home tomorrow, but her teacher sent work home, so she won't get behind, but if this medication doesn't work they'll have to live with it.

So have any of you ever had to deal with this problem? We're open to just about any recommendations at this point. I have done a couple of Internet searches on the subject, and even tried a couple of the ideas(although I think we'll leave the rectal digital probing to the professionals should it come to that).

On the up side of the news, Blue Oyster Cult is playing a gig in St. Pete on May 18. We're trying to get a sitter so Mrs. Marius can experience them first hand, but either way I'm going. It's part of a triple bill with Foghat headlining, and the Bobby Friss band as well. I'm expecting that BOC will be the second act, and since the show is supposed to start at 5:30 I expect to be out of there by 8:30 or so. Anyone else wanna come?

Well, that's about it for right now. I'm in the pre-production stage of a show I'll be directing in July, but things are still too wispy to relate just yet. But stay tuned for further updates.

Peace, y'all.
Marius

Coolest Toy Ever!!

Nikko is selling a fully functional R2-D2 that is a high def projector. You have got to see the video of this thing. The downside? $2900. Alas.

Artemis Reworks an Old Cliche

Brilliant!

So I saw this in a dream last night, but I have no way to capitalize on it. Take an ice cream cone, put a Pocky stick in it, and sell it at Sci-Fi and Comic conventions as edible lightsabers. Fill the cone with vanilla ice cream for the good side, and chocolate for the dark side.

I need help.

Marius

Our Tax Dollars At Work?

And so the 2008 session of the Florida State Legislature has closed, and what have they accomplished? Let's take a look, shall we?

The annual sales tax holidays on school and hurricane supplies are history. I really can't get all broken up about this. For those of you outside of our fair state, each year the government has suspended sales taxes on certain items for a week or so. People go nuts over this, but in all honesty it amounts to a 6% off sale. Would you go out of your way for a 6% off sale? Me either.

State university tuition is going up 6%. Yeah, that sucks, but at least it's only 6%.

It will cost more to register a boat in Florida. Depending on the size of your dinghy you'll pay from $10 to nearly $100 extra. I don't have a boat, but if I did I'd be pissed, I suppose.

The Education budget was cut by $4 billion, but class size restrictions remain in effect. So we need more teachers, more classrooms, and more schools, but we get less money. Nice.

The FCAT(Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) will no longer be the sole criterion for a school's performance. Finally teachers can ease back a bit on teaching that damned test, and resume teaching the students.

Both the initiative to force teachers to present a critical analysis of evolution, and the state sponsored 'I Believe' license plate failed. Could the separation of church and state be making a comeback?

Bestiality still not illegal. Uh, enough people actually voted against this one? WTF?!

$650 million purchase of CSX track in Central Florida dies. The move to create a commuter rail line in Orlando crashed when CSX refused to sell without a clause indemnifying them from any future accident liability, even if it was their fault. For once the politicos deserve a cookie.

Pre-abortion ultrasound move fails. For two years now Rep. Trey Traviesa, R-Tampa, has tried to pass a law requiring all women seeking abortions to get an ultrasound first. They would have to sign a form saying that they did not want to view the pictures before they could get the procedure. Good riddance.

And finally, Truck Nutz, those charming ersatz-nutsacks of which I have blogged so lovingly in the past remain legal. The Senate agreed that they should be covered up, but the House disagreed. So the chrome cojones remain.

These are just the highlights, so if you want to see the full story in all its legalistic glory, go here.

Adios, amigos.
Marius

All Stop!

The new Star Trek movie has been pushed back again! The original premier date was delayed by the writer's strike, and so it was moved to Christmas, 08. Now, supposedly to capitalize on a less competitive weekend the film will hit theaters May 8, 2009! I really hope that all this shuffling around is not indicative of a lack of confidence by the studio, and that the extra time will simply mean that the post production work will be even better. Let's hope that the dilithium chamber is half full.

Log out.

I Hear and Obey

Yesterday we received our bribe...uh, I mean rebate from the gov'mint. Being the good little sheep that we are, we went shopping, since blatant consumerism is the only hope for our failing economy, right? If only more people would buy flat screen TVs and $200 Nike sneaks the war in Iraq would be a success.

Anyway, snarkiness aside, we got some clothes for the young'n, a couple of DVDs, and this:

Our monitor was dying anyway, so we splurged and got a flat screen. It's not huge, nor very expensive($199 at Best Buy), but it fits lots more stuff on it, and games look awesome. I have yet to try a DVD on it, but I imagine it will look pretty cool.
We used most of our tax refund to fix Mrs. Marius' car A/C, which has been dead for more than a year now, and I'll be getting some work done on mine next week, so I suppose I'm a patriot.

Yeah, this is boring me, too. Sorry.

;-)

Marius

Eat It, Shrodinger!

1. Cut a hole in the box.
2. Put your cat in the box.
3. Have her open the box.

Marius, out!

I...AM...IRON...MAN

Disclaimer #1: There will be no spoilers in this post.

Disclaimer #2: I have never, to my recollection, read an Iron Man comic.

Iron Man kicks major ass!! The wife and I snuck away from work(well, ok I snuck away, she gets off at 1) and caught the 2:45 show of Iron Man. I didn't know what to expect. The totality of my knowledge of Iron Man comes from the satirical action figure theatre skits in the center of Toy Faire magazine. I know his real name is Tony Stark, and that at some point he becomes an alcoholic. But the trailers looked really cool, and I dared to hope for an enjoyable comic book movie. And I wasn't disappointed. Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark could give Bruce Wayne millionaire playboy lessons, but through all his drinking, and womanizing, and weapons dealing he remains likable and human. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Stark's lovely, if unfortunately named assistant, Pepper Potts, who moons for her callous boss while she enables his misbehavior. I may be the only person left who likes Ms. Paltrow, but she was particularly adorable in this role. I won't go into the rest of the cast, as that might give things away, and maybe next week I'll give a full review once folks have had a good long chance to see it. But in a nutshell this movie has wit, humor, action, suspense, and only a little bit of willing suspension of disbelief required. Oh, and make sure you stay till the end of the credits. (wink, wink)

Now off to the movies with you. Go on, shoo!
:-)
Marius The Entertained

PS
After the movie I asked the two teenaged comic book geeks who sat next to us how they liked it, and they both signed off on it as portraying Iron Man quite well.

Coming Soon...Iron Man

Please don't suck.




Review this evening.

That is all.

And Jingo Was His Name-O

Listen, I'm a politician which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops. Jeffrey Pelt, The Hunt for Red October

No one loves freedom more than the Republicans. They tell us that the reason the A-rabs hate us is because of our freedoms. They get all bent out of shape if the Second Amendment is even glanced at with criticism. And they'll defend to the death your right to free speech...unless that speech does anything other than declare America the right and only heirs to God's Own Kingdom(tm). Right now Barak Obama is enduring a flurry of criticism because his pastor DARED to say something against the United States. And if Reverend Wright hates America; and he must since he actually said bad things about it; then Obama must too, buy God!! I am so sick of the knee-jerk reactionaries in this country getting their panties in a twist as soon as someone exercises their right to say whatever the hell they want! I like Barak Obama, and I'll tell you why. When I hear him talk, I hear ideas, and concepts, and actual content. Hillary Clinton can speak for half an hour and say absolutely nothing. John McCain hasn't really said much for years now. Obama looks at this country and says 'Sure, it's a bit broken. Let's get together and fix it.' What is so threatening about that? Can anyone say that we don't need a tune up? Our economy is in the toilet; unemployment is at an all time high; and I can't remember a time when it wasn't prudent to claim to be Canadian when abroad. I want a president who thinks the status quo needs to be retooled. I want a president who is dissatisfied with things as they are. I want a president who will do his, or her, best to improve the nation. That is why I support Obama, and that is why I couldn't care less that his pastor is an unhappy man. We aren't electing Reverend Wright, and the only thing that dismays me is that Obama had to distance himself from Wright just to satisfy the mouthbreathing masses who can't think for themselves, and actually believe the crap they see on Fox News.

So there.
Marius