The Big Bounce, pt. II

Excuse me while I have a strange interlude:

Dear Blogger Geniuses,

Wow, wouldn't it be cool if you could edit in Preview and it actually freaking previewed instead of just tossing up content and photos in some absolutely random fashion? Wouldn't that be great?

If anyone wants something that makes sense with these shots and others go here.

Thank you.



Meanwhile, to make some sense of the arbitrary order of the shots:

The graves are from Tombstone's recently restored Boot Hill. Only a fraction has been saved. Some of the most famous markers in the West include Lester Moore's and the aftermath of the still controversial (in Tombstone) Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The famous sign at the Taos Inn, home of the Adobe Bar and the best margaritas in New Mexico (if not the planet) and former hangout of Georgia O'Keefe and D.H. Lawrence among others.


Chiles, chiles, chiles!

The Big Bounce, pt. I

For nearly two months last fall and winter we wondered the nation on a 7000 mile odyssey from Seattle to the SC coast.


Yellowstone in the snow, rare Desert Bighorns in Zion, the living, thorny monuments of the Sonoran Desert - we saw a lot, and yet, not enough. Never, ever enough.

We even made it to Freedonia, but they were closed... apparently embarrassed at having misspelled the name.

More shots to come.

Newsflash: U.S.A. is "Yankee Country"

Talk about sore losers and sour grapes...


God love the Steinbrenners. I mean you have to love a filthy rich family complete with an iconic sports franchise who just seem to be a miserable bunch of JERKS. George raised the bar. Looks like the next generation is gonna be twice the fun - and he was good enough to fuel a recurring character on Seinfeld for years.

Seems Hank "Little Stein" Steinbrenner let loose on the very concept of Red Sox Nation in a recent interview:

"Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of [expletive] that is," he tells The New York Times' Play magazine. "That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans.

"Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order."

Gee. That's just the kind of bloated, belligerant arrogance that makes me root for the Sox and whoever's playing the Yankees. In fact, Go Mets! Here's hoping that when they sweep away the dust after the implosion of Yankee Stadium - love 'em or hate 'em, it is legend - the inarguable greatness that was the Yankees of yore will be swept away as well.

LeapIntoEscapism

TRUST ME....

MovieWeb - Movie Photos, Videos & Mor

Election year shenanigans, the mortgage implosion, whispers of recession, skyrocketing fuel costs, the collapse of democracy as we know it for the supposed sake of democracy (I didn't vote for these assholes. Twice.), Iraq, Iran - hell- the Whole Middle East, terrorism, global warming and rampant scandal among professional athletes (way to go, Congress! I feel much better about so many other things, now).



How many more reasons do you need to fork over some hard-earned green, buy a box of popcorn and watch some shit blow up? See the Good Guys kick some ass for the right reason for a change?






I'm eager for the fun stuff. And this summer promises some high octane, high speed rides (perfect since the price of gas will have most of us parked by then): Del Toro's "Hellboy II: The Golden Army", the second Dark Knight collaboration with Bale & Nolan (and Heath Ledger's swan song),



Indy's way, way, way overdue return with an appropriately crotchety Harrison Ford via George and Steven (guys, this should have been #6 or 7. Asses.), and my number one anticipated summer blockbuster: Jon Favreau's "Iron Man."



Downey finally gets his due: Wowza!

Oh yeah, did I mention Ed Norton's taken on "The Incredible Hulk"? Looks Like a Marvel-ous summer. Absolutely marvelous.

Happy Leap Year.

Five-0: me and Sharon Stone

Two weeks from today I pass the half century mark. I'm not quite sure which is more disturbing at the moment, the notion of actually having survived (so far) to limp toward this milestone or that I share the exact same birthday with Sharon Stone.

And then there are the obvious parallels:

• March 10, 1958 fell on a Monday. So does March 10, 2008.
• In 1958 the Army fired the first U.S. satellite into orbit. In 2008 we fired a rocket to blow a satellite out of orbit.
• A Republican president was mucking about in the Middle East. Duh.
• The first ever Grammy Awards were handed out and promptly forgotten - a tradition stronger than ever at 50.
  
• and on March 11 Charles Van Doren's winning streak on "21" comes to a screeching halt, scandal and disgrace soon to follow (I have always despised game shows).

Other than the usual threat of nuclear annihilation and far too many B-movies on the subject, it seems a pretty uneventful year.

We're gonna need a bigger boat

Damn.

Funny how you don't really miss them until they're really gone.

I'd lost track of Roy Scheider these last years as he scaled back his work load and took the occasional character piece on prime time or - sadly - sub-par features.







But for me and millions more who had our asses in the theaters and the shit scared out of us by Jaws, he's always Chief Brody.

Down that Dixie Highway

Stuff I forgot to post because of a condition known as Holidaze...

Seasons greetings from NASCAR Country: the Marquis in front of The Track Too Tough To Tame. I remember Richard Petty before he was even a prince. Or a frog...



Dixie Highways don't come anymore Dixie than this: the Old Charleston Highway near Oaklyn Plantation in Darlington County, SC.
The plantation now raises grass-fed beef and free range chicken.
Mmmm, tasty!

Pink Nightmares and Bigger Bangs

More than a month since the last post. Not much of a start, I'll admit. I blame it on the Silly Season. And relatives. Always the relatives. I vaguely recall being reasonably enthusiastic about Christmas once upon a time. I'm pretty sure I was doing a Ralphie back then, pining away for a Red Rider BB gun.


Speaking of gifts, this is just about the coolest thing I've ever seen for us hardcore Stones fans to drool over. Maybe your own mini Keith would be cooler, provided, of course you speak Keith (It's a lot like Esperanto, apparently)and can afford all those tiny, custom-made guitars.

Meanwhile, can't wait for the Imax release of Scorsesse's collaboration with the band (love this shot). Next best thing to actually paying through the nose - among other orifices - to see this show. So have some sympathy and some taste.

Northwest Snapshots I

I'll try and avoid a rant about this with a sample of my favorite shots/northwest memories.


Inevitable rant sure to follow, however.

Muhammad's Teddy Bear

In light of Gillian Gibbons' recent Sudanese nightmare, my faithful old Teddy Bear has decided to abandon his plans to convert to Islam. He's issued an open appeal to his peers to follow suit in a show of Teddy Solidarity.

He'd also like to point out that while it may be blasphemous to name an animal after The Prophet:

• he and his fellows are actually inanimate objects
  
• the children in Ms. Gibbons class (mostly Muslim) named the bear in question, not Ms. Gibbons
• demanding her execution for the incident might appear to be, well, insane
  
• it's the f****** 21st century already

Hmm.

Teddy is now pursuing an interest in The Liberace Church of Latter Day Sequins, which, frankly I find somewhat disturbing.