Uncle Hyena's Journal

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Radio, Routine
Worked too much the last few days, took Dementia to the oral surgeon, visited with Dementia's parents, and saw exactly ONE movie, but a good one.

"Pirate Radio" took a long time getting here. It was nearly three hours long after the first edit, was released in the UK at about 155 minutes, and turned up in the US with a new title (originally, it was "The Boat the Rocked") at 135. Even at that, it is still loose, meandering, kind of shapeless... and utterly wonderful.

I am a sucker for stories about courage in everyday situations, and this is one of them. There is also the soundtrack, which is deliriously wonderful if you have any taste for mid-60's rock. The critics pretty much hate this movie. Of course, they would. It is about friendship, and courage, and honor, and passion. And, again, music.

If you really want your head bent, might I suggest the "Bill Nighy, Rock God" trilogy? Sit down and watch "Still Crazy", "Love Actually", and then this. And then TRY not to dig the guitar out of the closet. I dare you.

Uncle Hyena

Coco, Goats, Scrooge, Fourth, Box, Party, Duck
It was a busy week. I went to a very good party (Juli M's Annual Harvest Party (TM)), dealt with this year's ton of leaves, got a new boat, and saw five movies...

Movies first:

"Coco Before Chanel" is a solid biopic that suffers a bit from the dreary pacing that is common in European dramas. Still, the subject matter was fascinating, and the characters (and the cast) were good. One of the key events was foreshadowed to death, which made us giggle a bit. (When you go into a biopic with no idea of the history, and can predict a major event due to foreshadowing, it's WAY too heavy handed.)

"Men Who Stare at Goats" is wonderful, funny and mildly surreal without being incoherent. OF COURSE the US government has spent a fair amount of shadow budget money on developing psychic weapons, and no one will ever get a straight answer as to the efficacy of the program. Given that, the actual plot of the movie is an amusing game of "might have been."

"A Christmas Carol" is sometimes VERY good, and sometimes really lame (influenced, once again, by the need to justify 3D technology). I don't regret seeing it, but you would do just as well to watch one of the live action versions.

"The Fourth Kind" is a pretty routine alien abduction story, with some moderately clever fraudulent "evidence" included in the hope of convincing the audience that this actually happened. The technique of overlaying "archival" footage with "dramatic" footage is often obnoxious but interesting none the less. Like "Cloverfield", this movie tries to make a thin story more than it is through technique, and I think it succeeds.

"The Box" tells two parallel stories. One is the tale of a couple who are placed in a bizarre and sinister situation, and their efforts to find a path through it; the other is the story behind the bizarre and sinister situation. The first story works moderately well, the suffers from excessive stretching. This would have been a pretty good "Twilight Zone" episode; it would have worked well in 40-odd minutes. At 116 minutes, it is more than a little dreary.

On Monday, I got up (relatively) early and built a platform out of two by fours that would extend the RAV's 24 by 30 inch car top carrier to be able to carry a four foot by eight foot boat. Once it was done, I drove down to Chicago to pick up Puddle Duck Racer #326; the builder had used it for one year, and was giving it away to make room for his next project. Since I have wanted a Puddle Duck for five years, and have pretty much despaired of building one myself, this was a great opportunity. Loading and carrying the boat was no big deal; the fifteen foot mast made me a bit nervous. Puddle Duck adventures next year! Rah!

Oh, the party: Since we generally only get invited to one party a year, it is good that it is one that we actually look forward to attending, and has yet to disappoint. I had opportunities to sample a couple of varieties of home brewed mead, and one of home brewed (hard) cider, but I turned them down. ("I've been drinking warm Coca-cola. I have a palette that is as sensitive as shoe leather. I would love to try some, but honestly, save it for someone who can appreciate it.") Sigh.

Uncle Hyena

Amelia, Education, Wake-Up, Michael, Small World
Not much besides movies this week. Though there IS a rather silly story at the end.

"Amelia" is a well made biopic. It stands out for two reasons: One, it is very matter-of-fact about Earhart's polyamory, and two, it manages, if you are within the movie, to largely over-ride the fact that you KNOW she is going to die. This is a pretty substantial trick.

"An Education" is a well made but unpleasant movie starring the luminous Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow of the Doctor Who episode "Blink", for those who care). It is the sort of movie that seems to be trying to say something, and fails.

"21 and a Wake-Up" is a strange little film starring "Angel" alumna Amy Acker. It features a strong cast, a hideous script, and worse editing. It also happens to be the first Viet Nam war film ever actually SHOT in Viet Nam. It involves medical personnel in the last major US Army hospital in country during the waning days of the war. I found myself liking it in spite of the horrible dialog and editing, right up until the mind-bogglingly stupid climax. Still, I find myself thinking of the movie with a sort of masochistic fondness.

"This Is It"... Once you get past the freak show that was the last decade of Michael Jackson's life, this is a pretty good dance movie. It also makes it very clear that WORDS were probably Jackson's THIRD language; he understood both music and dance MUCH better than he did words. And the dancing was, of course, fabulous.

Odd story: The other day I was discussing railroad obsessions with a co-worker, and another denizen of the Ops Pit related how he had visited his mother-in-law in her retirement home, and they had visited another resident who was having an open house to show off his trains. "Yeah, crazy old guy had trains all around his living room and one of the bedrooms." Questions were asked, phone calls were made, identities were confirmed. Yes, it was my dad. Larry and I have been working in the same room (on different shifts) for more than six years; my dad, and Larry's mother-in-law, have been living in the same community for four. There are 45 miles (as the crow flies) and about five million people between the Ops Pit and Peace Village...

Uncle Hyena

Freak, Wild, Saw, Astro, Paranormal, Stepfather
Yup, nuttin' but movies this week. That should tell you something.

"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is a strange but pleasant movie. What do you want from a movie based on "horror" novels targeted at 12 year olds?

"Where the Wild Things Are" is good, but strange, and so very NOT a children's movie, unless you are taking someone else's children, and you don't like the parents much. The movie explores abandonment and frustration and irrational behavior without resolving anything, which is likely to mess with pointy little heads quite a bit.

"Saw VI" is a moderately clever morality tale drenched in gallons of blood. Which is to day, it is very much of a piece with all of the other "Saw" movies.

"Astro Boy" is about three parts "Pinocchio", two parts after school special, and one part "King Kong". I liked it; Dementia refused to watch it (I have no idea why).

"Paranormal Activity" is a clever movie that, while deeply flawed, demonstrates just how scary a movie with a mediocre script and no budget whatsoever can be (pretty damned scary, actually). It certainly blows every other "camera within the narrative" film ever made out of the water. On the other hand, the male lead is probably the single stupidest character in the history of horror films.

"Stepfather" is a pretty decent thriller. The story is badly out of date (you CAN NOT exist at that level of affluence for any length of time without a Social Security number in post-9\11 USA), but works well enough once you swallow that. I was amused at the pains the script took to separate characters from the cell phones as the climax approached; functional cell phones are writer's nightmares. Also, several minutes of Amber Heard wandering around in a bikini don't hurt. (Cheesecake won't make or break a movie, but it will certainly sweeten a movie about which I am vaguely positive...)

Uncle Hyena

Pathetic
Halloween is on Saturday night this year, I am off, and I would REALLY like to have a Halloween party to go to. I have a half-hearted invitation to a party that is 50 miles away, and where I MIGHT know three people; I am passing on that one. Suggestions and/or invitations would be VERY appreciated.

Failing that (since I don't expect any responses to be forthcoming), I suppose I will fall back on my old pattern: Build a fire after the sun sets, and generally invite anyone who wishes to stop by and toast the new year. Not really a party, just fire, conversation, and (possibly alcoholic) beverages.

Uncle Hyena

Saint Crispian's Day
October 25, and time for the annual Agincourt toast.

http://unclehyena.livejournal.com/155900.html

Uncle Hyena

Throbbing Scar
Weirdness. Explanations or advice will be appreciated, but mostly, just weirdness.

Back in September of 2002, I hacked open the back of my right thumb with a chain saw. No, I didn't do it on purpose. It left six nearly parallel scars, and didn't involve any tendons, ligaments, or the joint at all. Of course, any time you argue with a chain saw and get to keep the body part, it's a win.

In the last week, the scars has decided to throb at odd intervals with no particular provocation. It is pretty low level pain, only an irritation, really, but it seems strange that the thing should wake up after seven years. And none of my other scars are misbehaving in a similar fashion.

Unusual factors: I was driving up and down the Appalachians in the rain when I first noticed it, so pressure and humidity factors might be involved. Also, I was in the process of coming down with/ suffering from some sort of respiratory crud, which has since kept me home from work for two days out of four.

As I said, weirdness.

Uncle Hyena

Couples, Citizen, Coupler, Mound, Faire, Anniversary, and MANY Miles
Ok, I am way behind. Movies first, but they were both bad, and there is a lot more interesting stuff to follow.

"Couples Retreat" is a lackluster relationship comedy. I get a strong impression that this movie was planned and shot for an R rating, and a decision to cut it back to PG-13 was made late in the production cycle. This essentially eviscerated the movie, and it shows.

"Law Abiding Citizen" is just awful. Good cast, big budget, high production values, terrible dialog, and a brain damaged plot. On top of the general awfulness, one gets the feeling that the producers think they are saying something, trying to convey a moral, but they fail utterly.

On to the narrative...

Monday, October 12, was the first half of our 25th wedding anniversary, and I gave Dementia a knife (black metal handled liner lock), then took off for the south side with friend Ed and his two boys to salvage the railroad coupler that some friends and I liberated from the side of the tracks back in 1973 or so. It is either going to end up in my back yard, or in Ed's father's front yard. 350 pounds of ugly cast iron that has been a nexus of sanity optional behavior for at least 36 years, and it is now mine...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Random/Oct12_002.jpg

Tuesday was the second half of our 25th anniversary, and I gave Dementia her real present, and silver "Tinner's Hares" pendant. It made her cry, which wasn't exactly the plan, but certainly counted as a win. ( http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Art/3hr14klg.jpg )(The illustration shows a gold overlay that I didn't get and Dementia wouldn't have wanted...) And then we started on a 1700 road trip.

Wednesday morning we were in Hillsboro, OH, en route to the Ohio Serpent Mound, a 900 year old mystery (possibly astronomical) site ( http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/99/84499-004-017BFB9F.jpg ). It was cold and cloudy, but the rain didn't start until we were crossing the parking lot on our way out. Evening found us (after some scary driving at high speed though fog on steep highways) on the Pennsylvania line in Hagerstown, MD. Thursday morning we visited Turn the Page Books (Nora Robert's home base book store), and then we got to Marbury and a visit with Reverend Bob, who married us, once upon a time. On Thursday evening, I hung out with Bob and his sons (four of them, ranging from 21 to 30) while Dementia lurked in our hotel room and watched television.

On Friday Dementia, Bob, and I watched the previously excoriated "Citizen" and did some shopping, then we returned to Bob's house for a boatload of pizza and more conversation. On Saturday we did the focal event of the trip, a visit to the Maryland Ren Faire. It was 45 degrees and drizzling, but a good time anyway. In the evening, after we had dried and thawed, there was more conversation and some gaming. On Sunday, we went to church (Oh, the horror!) and then there was more conversation and gaming, while Dementia again hid from the crowds. On Monday and Tuesday we drove home, and then I got sick...

Games played, for the record: "Glory to Rome", a card based strategy game; "Chronology", a history trivia game (that I won); "Underground", a rail game based on the London subway; and "Power Grid", an economic game.

Still horribly behind on journal READING, mind you...

Uncle Hyena

Shakedown
The Corporate Fathers are involved in the annual Charitable Giving Shakedown. The new idiotic wrinkle this year? They have stated that if participation reaches a certain level, the peonage at large will be allowed to wear JEANS on Fridays for six weeks. If participation reaches a certain higher level, this will be extended through the end of the year.

In plainer language, this means, "If enough of you throw money into the pot so that we can earn bragging rights among our peers, we will temporarily cease to enforce ONE of our arbitrarily oppressive policies."

Somehow, they regard temporary mitigation of oppression as a morale builder. Amazing.

Uncle Hyena

Zombies, Roller Derby, Lies, Toys, and a Speed Reading Class
Five movies in three days, and a scintilla of education on the company's dime.

"Zombieland" is fun. DUMB beyond imagining, but fun anyway. Zombies bore me, and they are usually badly written, so my expectations for this one were REALLY low, though I knew the cast was good. Still, my favorite part of the movie had NOTHING to do with zombies: Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin demonstrate a textbook Fiddle Game in a flashback. It's just FUN to see classic cons acted out.

"Whip It" is just good. It is pure formula come-from-behind sports movie, but this one has a female slant, and deeper than usual characters. And I LIKE come from behind sports movies. They are, if nothing else, unfailingly more interesting than the sports on which they are based. And it was fun to see Ellen Page in a role I actually LIKED.

"The Invention of Lying" is a decent low key comedy; it has moments of brilliance, most of which involve flogging the utterly absurd premise. The movie has no really big laughs and a LOT of painfully embarrassing moments, but is generally pleasant and fun.

"Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" are just as good, many years later, as they were the first time around. They demonstrate that 3D is much like reverb; it is at its best when it is just below your threshold of conscious perception. And because these films were not shot with 3D in mind, they don't have any of the consciously bad camerawork that typifies made for 3D films.

On Tuesday I discharged an annual training requirement by taking a speed reading class, along with four other denizens of the Ops Pit, and a variety of strangers who work elsewhere in the company. The presenter was well prepared and engaging, but had a squeaky, "Minnie Mouse" voice that was a distraction. She spent a lot of time selling snake oil to get us to BELIEVE in what she was selling, and some of it was REALLY interesting. Unfortunately, about two thirds of the stuff I could double check against my memory was just plain wrong, which makes me highly skeptical of the rest of it. Still, I went in expecting to learn nothing, and picked up one technique that was actually useful. And eight hours at time and a half is never a complete waste...

Uncle Hyena

Surrogates, Pandorum, Fame, Beer, Wind-killer
Four movies, a lunch in good company, and a FRUSTRATING sailing experience...

Movies first, as usual:

"Surrogates" is a pleasant little SF thriller in the "check your brain at the door" mode. The story is kind of fun, and there are some decent ideas there, but the world is so badly broken that if you think about it AT ALL, the whole thing unravels. It IS possible to enjoy this movie, if you want to, but it requires some pretty strenuous suspension of disbelief.

"Pandorum" is dark and moody SF horror. The comments on "Surrogates" all apply about 80% here, too.

"Fame" is a watered down remake/sequel to the 1980 original. The dancing is GREAT, the music is well presented but unexceptional, and there are WAY too many characters, and too much plot, to shoehorn in between the production numbers. If you have watched the original so many time you have it memorized, this one might be worth seeing. Otherwise, watch the original again.

"I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" is, like "The Hangover", a bachelor party gone sideways movie. "Hangover" is better, but "Beer" comes VERY close, and is just a lot of fun.

Sunday was almost certainly my last foray onto Geneva Lake for the year, and the first one since the mast broke. The temperature was supposed to be in the mid 70s, and the wind was supposed to be 15 to 20 mph, just short of being scary. I got off work early, hauled the boat up to Williams Bay, set up (with a double reef; the water was too cold to take significant risks), and put in. I had a bit of trouble getting away from the dock due to the wind, and then sailed half way down the bay close hauled into significant waves (for Geneva, anyway). I tacked and headed due west across the bay, and by the time I was ready to tack again and continue south, the wind was GONE. I bobbed around for a while and stared stupidly at the masthead streamer as it dangled lifelessly, and the started to row back to the dock (sailing in a slight drizzle with good wind is fun; rowing in a slight drizzle is just work). The wind came back in mid bay, sort of, and I ghosted back to the dock. Nothing broke, and I can now say with authority that the boat sails well with a double reef, but I had hoped for quite a bit more.

Also... On Tuesday I got together for lunch and conversation with Morgen and Steve, which was as much fun as expected. Now that the weather has turned (though I still hope to get at least one day of October sailing in), I need to do more of that.

Uncle Hyena

Obscure Humor
On Wednesday morning, I was sleeping in. I usually do, the day before I go back to work. Dementia came in to announce that she was going grocery shopping, and to do a number of other errands that were likely to cover a fair amount of distance, and take a fair amount of time.

She made sure she had my attention, and said, "I am going out. I might be some time." I snorted, and proceeded to giggle. She stared at me for a moment, then realized what she had said, and we both laughed for several minutes.

I love my wife...

Uncle Hyena

Wedding, Informant, Love, Jennifer, Meatballs, Sailing Again
On Saturday, after I got off work, we went to a wedding, the fifth in four years (and all in September or October, for some reason). On Sunday, we saw two movies, and then on Monday I hid from the rain and saw two more; one Tuesday I finally got the boat back in the water with the new (but still unvarnished) mast, and went SAILING again. And then on Wednesday, when I really should have been sleeping, I decided to go out to lunch, on foot...

I have known Nikki just short of half her life, since her jail bait days; she was fifteen going on forty then. She got married on Saturday, to an utterly charming refugee from the Bristol Fight Cast. Nikki quoted Rich Burlew in her vows ("Love is an epic level challenge." --Durkon); they used They Might Be Giants for the recessional; groom Steve fought a mock duel (with real swords) with one of his groomsmen at the beginning of the reception. Given how much I hate crowds in general and weddings in particular, it was a VERY good time.

Movies:

"Informant!" is strange. It is often funny, but just as often simply bizarre, though this is apparently the fault of reality rather than the machinations of the writer; Mark Whitacre, the character played by Matt Damond, was just that over the top.

"Love Happens" is a decent movie that doesn't fit into any of the usual pigeonholes. It has some very funny bits, and a love story, but it is very much NOT a romantic comedy. It has engaging actors playing interesting characters, and we enjoyed it a great deal.

"Jennifer's Body" is a somewhat better than mediocre horror movie that could have been REALLY good if it were not for some very strange editorial choices. The movie earned an R rating for its language, but chose to take a very PG-13 track in regard to sex and nudity. Not really a big deal, except that this is essentially a succubus tale; the sex is (or should have been, since it never really happened) part of the horror. On the other hand, Megan Fox's radiant stupidity is actually effective in a few scenes, which is a pleasant surprise.

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is an animated film based on a children's book that was completely beneath my radar (this isn't really too hard; I have had little congress with small children in the last 20 years). It's fluff; I have seen worse movies. There are worse ways to spend a rainy afternoon.

Tuesday I had hopes of going sailing on Geneva Lake again, but my usual indolence and inertia prevented that; I did one lap of Lake Andrea instead. The new mast does what it is supposed to do (though it NEEDS to be varnished). I have a working sailboat again. This is IMPORTANT.

On Wednesday I decided to walk to Jack's for a gyro. It's about two and three quarters miles each way. This was a silly thing to do, but I did it anyway...

Uncle Hyena

Bad, Sorority, 9, Whiteout, Blocks
Four movies, some carpentry, and generally being in pain.

When I got off work on Sunday (after five 12 hour days), Dementia was feeling ill, so I saw the movies she had no interest in by way of decompression. On Monday we saw the two movies she DID want to see...

"I Can Do Bad All By Myself" is the latest from Tyler Perry. It has a couple of brilliantly funny moments, a pretty cool "Game of Mortal Stakes" moment that involves a bathtub and a boom box, and pretty lousy pacing. The pacing issues were mostly due to poor integration of the movie's several musical numbers. The music was good, but the songs had a significant energy dissonance with the rest of the film, and tended to crash the story.

"Sorority Row" is well executed but unimaginative formula horror. It delivers what it promises, which was fine with me.

"9" is just strange. It is visually fascinating, and seems to have something to say, or at least thinks it has something to say, but I have no idea what that might be.

"Whiteout" is pretty much a confused mess. The movie is set at and around the Amundsen-Scott South Polar Station, and in spite of having been filmed in pretty extreme conditions in northern Canada, manages to fail to convey just how harsh conditions really are. There is also some serious stupidity involving the use of lifelines to travel between buildings; one can apparently walk safely and with little or no strain, in spite of the wind, as long as one is attached to a lifeline, but as soon as the (slack) lifeline is severed, the wind grabs you and drags you into the nearest obstacle (or off into the snowfield). Huh? We didn't hate the movie, but it was far below our expectations.

I spent the day Tuesday running (or driving) around in circles, being depressed and angry-without-object and in pain. On Wednesday I finally managed to get the bearing blocks installed on the new mast (the weight of the mast is carried on these blocks at deck level, and the foot of the mast floats in the mast step), so now all I need to do is mount the halyard blocks and varnish the thing (and the varnish isn't necessary to go sailing). I expect to try the thing out next week on Monday or Tuesday.

Uncle Hyena

Steve, Gamer, Extract, Family, Lojo, Overboard, Paul and Mutt
Backtracking a bit, last Wednesday I went south, and visited my mother, my father, and my brother and his family in order.

On Thursday, I worked on the mast a bit, and mostly blodged.

On Friday, we saw two movies (Gamer and All About Steve).

On Saturday, I helped a friend move across the courtyard, and in the evening Dementia and I went to a Lojo Russo concert at The Yardarm in Racine.

On Sunday, we saw another movie (Extract).

On Monday, I sanded the mast, and did more blodging.

On Tuesday, I FINALLY got a boat in the water, and then had a late lunch with local critters Paul and Erika (Mutt).

Details:

"Gamer" is a pretty decent cyberpunk thriller, once you get past the absurdity of the premise. Gerard Butler continues to be the best thing in every movie he is in.

"All About Steve" is a shapeless sort-of comedy in which Sandra Bullock plays a barely functional nutcase. It has some good moments, but also a lot of painfully embarrassing ones.

"Extract" is a comedy by Mike Judge that doesn't quite not work. (Think about it.) I liked it, but I wasn't SURE I was going to like it until it was nearly over.

Of my three stops on Wednesday, two, with my dad, and with brother Pete and his family, were really good. My mother... There is not much left, there. She was sitting in the sun when I got there, and I knew from the visitor log that I had missed my dad by about 15 minutes; my mom had no memory of his visit. She got into a brief conversation with another resident while I was there: The other woman said something, and Mother parsed it to the best of her ability, then replied as she could based on what she understood. The other woman went through the same process, and so on, and so on... It reminded me of nothing so much as a couple of Furbies babbling at each other. It was absurd and heartbreaking and made me want to scream.

Not that it really ever comes up, but all that it takes to make me REALLY SURE that it is a good thing Dementia and I never had kids is to spend some time around someone else's. Ed's kids are smart and well behaved (given their ages and the circumstances), but prolonged child care requires skills I don't have, and don't really want.

Lojo Russo is a a neo-folk/ filk artist, long out of Minneapolis, lately out of Davenport. We have a few of her albums, and she was part of Cats Laughing with Steven Brust and Emma Bull, back in the day. We had not seen her in concert before, and her Racine appearance happened to coincide with my vacation. She gives good concert, and we had a great time (I think we were the only people there who had come specifically to see Lojo). It helped that The Yardarm is a GREAT bar, recent but built from the fragments of earlier bars, so it had the old wood and brass that marks a really great bar to me. AND they had hard cider on the menu. It's a bit of a drive, but we will be back.

On Tuesday, I got up sort of early and went up to Lake Andrea to row a lap of the lake, and then finally do a "man overboard" drill. It's always a good idea to know if you can get back into the boat if you find yourself out of the boat in deep water; it turns out that I can. Rah.

On Monday night I got an e-mail from Mutt, saying she was in town and wanted to get together. We got together on Tuesday afternoon with Paul G. at Pizza Hut, and stayed through a shift change and the arrival of yet another of that particular Waukegan gang, Ethan. Much fun was had.

Uncle Hyena

Woodstock, Halloween, Destination, Table Saw
Three late afternoon movies in three days, and efforts to build a new mast for the Vector.

"Taking Woodstock" seems to be a pretty good presentation of the forces the bizarre concatenation of events that led to the Woodstock festival. The movie is a bit meandering, but it pretty much has to be, and is a great deal of fun.

"Halloween II" is just dreary. Director Zombie apparently assumed everyone would make a point of re-watching his "Halloween" remake before watching this sequel, and therefore did not bother to introduce or develop the characters at all. The movie also begins with a dream sequence, which is always a bad idea; the director has not yet established a rapport with the audience, and comes off looking like an idiot.

"The Final Destination", on the other hand, is a romp. A mind bogglingly bloody romp, but a romp nonetheless. More than half of the amazingly improbable and bloody deaths in the film are not real in the story line, but rather premonitions. If you have the sort of mind that will let you laugh at the absurdity while a character is being pureed on screen, this movie is a lot of fun.

So... On Monday morning my friend Ed came over, and we went to IHOP, then went lumber shopping. We ended up with a pair of 14 foot "hem-fir" 2 by 10s, which we dragged back, and then fired up the table saw that has been sitting in a shipping box in the basement for last four years. Ninety minutes later, we had ripped three 14 foot 3 inch wide planks, destroyed one of them, and blown ten fuses. I decided that my brain was not working working quite straight, and Ed had to go be a father, so we shut down for the day. On Tuesday we started again, we ran each of our remaining planks through the saw six times, and ended up with two pretty good 1.5" by 3" by 14 foot half rounds. Technically, we should then have tapered the last six feet of each of them, but decided the chance of screwing things up significantly outweighed the potential benefit, so we glued the planks together and called it a day. I need to do some clean up and sanding and attach various bits, but for the most part I have a mast. Seeing "Final Destination" shortly after spending a couple of hours with my face 10 inches from a spinning table saw blade was a bit surreal, though.

Uncle Hyena

Grad, District, Inglorious, Goods, Shorts, Rowing
Five movies, (two Saturday, two Sunday, and one solo on Tuesday) and more stupid boat tricks.

"Post Grad" is a mediocre romance with comedy elements grafted on haphazardly. It also managed to push one of my hot buttons, HARD. If you have a job that you LOVE, and that supports you comfortably, you DO NOT throw it away for a CHANCE at a relationship. Good relationships are merely improbable; decent jobs that you love are freaking MYTHICAL. Still, Alexis Bledel continues to be engaging despite the material.

"District 9" is a shapeless mess. I liked it anyway; so did Dementia. I am not quite sure why.

"Inglorious Basterds" is Tarantino telling war stories is what turns out to be a fantasy world (No, I will not explain that. See the movie.) The Tarantino method has always run thus: Introduce a character, make the audience interested in that character, put the character in a high stress, slow paced situation, and then punctuate it with an explosion of bloody violence. Sometimes this works. In this case, he doesn't always put enough effort into making the characters interesting, and he tends to drag out the tense situations until the audience loses interest. I think there was a pretty good 110 minute movie in there. It's too bad it went on for 153 minutes.

"The Goods" is a routine lame comedy. We like Jeremy Piven, and the trailers suggested the movie might have a soul, so we gave it a chance. We were disappointed.

"Shorts" is a silly romp, Robert Rodriguez doing his thing, telling children's stories, and generally having fun. It's as deep as a coat of paint, but pleasant.

Now, on Monday... Earlier this year, when my boat still had a mast, I got it in my head that it might be fun to do some river running under oars. I did a fair amount of research, and mapped out a 13.8 mile section of the Fox River (known in Wisconsin as the Illinois Fox), I decided the conditions were right, and I did it. It took five hours, and I was going fairly hard the whole time; I had done my usual dawdle and malinger on the way to getting launched, and as a result I was racing the sunset from the moment I hit the water. I stopped to stretch once, and of course would have stopped more frequently if I had had the time. Still, it was worth doing, and I will likely do it again, though not necessarily this year, and definitely not so late in the day. Here is a map of the route:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Art/FoxMap3.jpg

Uncle Hyena

Time Traveler, Bandslam, Ponyo, Geneva Grand Tour
We saw two movies on Sunday, saw Dementia's parents and then another movie on Monday, and on Tuesday I went sailing, and broke the boat. Oops.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" is a really good romance, as long as you don't think about the time travel. At all. If you do, it unravels pretty quickly. But the characters are likable and the emotions are real, as long as you don't ask too many questions.

"Bandslam" is what we call locally a "Rocky movie". That is, one or more misfits attempt something improbable and do much better than anyone expected. It is a VERY deep mine, and has produced some wonderful movies, as well as a lot of pleasant but forgettable ones. "Bandslam" is in the latter class: quite pleasant, but also very forgettable. There is a moment, though, when it looks like the band being hatched will sound like Joan Jett fronting the Blues Brothers. It doesn't work out that way, but there is a moment...

"Ponyo" is pretty much awful. There are several clever ideas in the film, but they don't inter-relate at all. The animation is occasionally brilliant, but often just pointlessly weird. I am not often actually sorry I took the time to see a film, but this one...

So Tuesday... I got this idea in my head to do a grand tour of Geneva Lake, Williams Bay (north) to Fontana (southwest) to Lake Geneva (northeast) and back. It's about 17.5 miles by water if you don't have to follow the wind. I was sailing by 11:30, sailed down to Fontana against light winds, and then headed down the lake to Lake Geneva and the wind kicked up. I was SURFING. It was COOL. I turned around and headed for home, and let Bungee Bob, the elastic helmsman, steer the boat for about four miles; I only touched the controls to tack when we got close to shore. And then at about 5:30, after logging 19.5 miles, I was tacking at the north side of the lake when CRACK! Mast, sail, and spars were floating in the lake next to me. I gathered the mess up, tied it across the front of the cockpit, and started rowing home, another two hours and 3.5 miles.

The course:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Geneva%20Lake/GenevaTourCropped.jpg

Limping home broken:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Geneva%20Lake/PICT0057.jpg

Sunset over Yerkes Observatory, as I made the turn north into Williams Bay:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v373/unclehyena/Geneva%20Lake/PICT0059.jpg

I am NOT happy about having broken the boat, but I can fix it. On the other hand... I am not good at being happy; I just don't have a talent for it. I can count the number of times I have been truly happy on the fingers of one hand, I think. Tuesday was one of them.

Uncle Hyena

J&J, GI Joe, Getaway, Storm
Three movies on three different days this week:

"Julie and Julia" was the Saturday movie. Meryl Streep has finally decided to start making movies that aren't depressing, and this one is a lot of fun. Amy Adams is wonderful as usual. Those interested in such things can amuse themselves by watching for the various ways that the film tries to present the 5'6" Streep as being 6'3".

On Monday we saw "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", which is another effects driven fluffiganza. It manages to be better than the various "Transformers" offerings at every single point, which is certainly good enough.

On Tuesday evening I saw "A Perfect Getaway", which is a misdirection thriller. It is a bit heavy-handed, but works well enough. There is lots of eye candy (both setting and cast), though surprisingly little nudity. It was a good movie to see late at night for matinee prices, which I did.

On Sunday, I had hopes of getting up EARLY and trying to do the Grand Tour of Geneva Lake (a circuit of Lake Geneva, Williams Bay, and Fontana, about 17 miles if done in straight lines). I didn't go to bed early enough, which meant I didn't get up early enough, which meant there was no where to park, and the ramps were swamped with powerboats. I could have gone sailing, anyway, but the process is hostile to single handed sailors; I checked out three additional ramps (including one on the south side of the lake that requires you to back up for a full eighth of a mile), and eventually went back to Lake Andrea. I did three laps of the lake, and encountered two other sailboats (both relatively old: a wooden Johnson X Class, and an AMF Apollo 16), the first real sailboats other than mine I have seen at Andrea.

I was halfway through my third lap when a passing wind surfer told me that there were supposed to be 70 MPH winds coming though in the next half hour; I thought about that, looked at the sky, and finished the 200 yards of the upwind leg, then headed back to the ramp. I took a couple of what must have been 30 MPH gusts on the way back, and then the wind died completely just as I hit the ramp. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and pulled out and went home; it was the right decision, since another front chased me all the way home. I caught a small amount of rain as I was putting the trailer away.

One of these days there WILL be decent wind on a Monday or Tuesday, and I will get that tour in. I may even try to do a 24 hour sail on Geneva; I need to do one somewhere, and that seems like the best bet.

Uncle Hyena

Once in a While...
I did something on Thursday that I haven't done for MANY years: I picked up a hitch-hiker. Granted, I didn't exactly STOP to pick him up, but still...

I stopped at the Clark station at the corner of Grand and Lewis for my usual hit of mental health insurance and some beef jerky. The fellow ahead of me in line was overly talkative by MY standards; he said he was on his way to the courthouse to bail out his brother, and that he was SUPPOSED to be on vacation.

I commented that that was a lousy way to spend one's vacation, and he decided that he like the beef jerky I was buying, and got back into line behind me to get some for himself. I was starting the car when he walked by and asked me which way I was going, and if I could give him a lift; he had taken a bus from Key Lime Cove, where his family was, and still needed to get to the courthouse. I hesitated, and then gave him a ride.

He said that his brother had gotten drunk and smashed the windows out of a METRA station, and then had smashed the windows out of their sister's van. He was convinced that his brother had finally had that "moment of clarity", and was going to clean up his act; I mentioned that my best friend had never quite gotten to that point before he died. He offered me money for gas; I declined once, and then accepted it. We got to the courthouse, he thanked me, and I wished him and his brother luck. And I went home.

Uncle Hyena