This Budvar's for you!

There was a recent story on Time's website about the possibility of the Anheuser-Busch company buying the Czech Budvar brewery that is government-owned and has been the center of years of litigation regarding the use of the trade name Budweiser. I think I may have had Budvar (sold here inder the import name of "Czechvar") in Germany as a teenager - I'm pretty sure I had Pilsner Urquell at least once, although my favorite beer-based beverage in Germany was colaweissen, which is beer with either coke or orange soda. It's perfect for the unrefined palates of American teenage tourists. This reminds me - Oktoberfest is coming up soon. This makes me kind of wish I could visit Germany again. Actually, the idea of being an expatriot really appeals to me right now, for some reason. I'm in an "anywhere but here" frame of mind lately.

So Ridley Scott has finally come out with an official position on the great "Deckard: Replicant/Not a Replicant" Geek debate that has raged since the theatrical release of Blade Runner. I mean, I know what I think, and I know what most people sort of figured once the director's-cut version came out a few years ago but the debate still rages. Sort of. Harrison Ford says "Not a Replicant". Ridley Scott's determination: "Replicant". To which I say...Nehhhhh! Nyet! He admits to never even reading the entire book!? He didn't even give credit to the author, to whom he owes the basis of the film's plot! Look - I love that movie as much as the next geek, but the book is just better, and he doesn't even give it the due it deserves. He acts like this was his creation, and his alone. From the article, a direct quote: "Blade Runner involved full-bore imagination. Deckard's universe had to be expanded into credibility. That's probably the hardest thing I've done, because there was nothing to borrow from."
What?! Is he an idiot? Let me take out my little list of people to despise..."Ridley Scott: Director and douchebag". Check.
FYI, Ridley: the ending of the book is not clear, it only serves to beg the question raised in all of PKD's best stories: "What makes us human?". The toad (or maybe it was a frog), though...a Replicant, for sure. And Replicant flies to boot.

Well, finally.

Blogger kept rejecting my password today. It was frustrating. But now that I'm here, I have nothing to talk about. Except the rabid fanaticism that is running rampant around work the last few days (we play a highly ranked team tonight - earlier in the week people were lined up for a block to get free tickets to the game, and then people who didn't get tickets were literally begging and offering their first born children for seats, people were getting snippy because not everybody was displaying "pride"...it's JUST football people. And college football to boot. It's not the second coming of Christ, so chill out a bit.)...and people keep giving me work that's not mine, there are raises and promotions flying all around me, me not happeing FOR ME and I'm ready to scream. But, the weekend is here. So...rejoice I shall and dread the pending demise of my joy when the weekend inevitably ends.

Update: I've been getting messages about the score. We're winning. Whoopty-freaking-dooo...

A mime is a terrible thing to waste

For those who might not have heard, I'm sad to inform you of the death of Marcel Marceau. The passing of Mmr. Marceau is indeed a sad event for us mime officianados. And so I give you:




And mime school - which demonstrates why mimes will always be superior to clowns...

"Shut the f*ck up, Donnie!"

M came over Friday night, and we decided to head over to Subway to "Eat Fresh" then come home and watch some DVDs. I had picked up a movie called Winter's Passing as an impulse buy and it had been sitting on the shelf for a while. I didn't really think about what kind of movie it might be, but I thought it might be good becuase of the cast (Will Ferrell, Zoey Deschanel and Ed Harris). It's just kind of morose. Not upbeat in the least, and the character that Will Ferrell plays is kind of creepy. A good movie, but if you're looking for irreverant humor you won't find it here. I had to try and counter that downer by popping in The Big Lebowski, which M had never seen. The Big Lebowski is notoriously a favorite of people who like to watch it while in altered states, but I have found that it's the more random, non-trippy parts of the film that are the best. The ferret in the bathtub and The Dude wrecking his car when he drops his j in his lap are my favorite scenes, as well as any part where The Dude, Walter and Donnie are together. M has never seen Pulp Fiction, so that is tops on the list for next time, if we decide to do this again. I'd also like to get 300 and buy the RiffTrax commentary. The preview had me crying with laughter.

I've been going through my music "library" and doing some culling of MP3s that I have that I really don't listen to at all. In doing so, I was reminded of some songs that I either used to like, or currently am obsessed with. Here are two such songs:

Julee Cruise. I had her "Floating Into the Night" album, which had the same prevailing sound for just about every track. A good CD to fall asleep to, actually.
This is the Twin Peaks theme - for the kids, Twin Peaks was sort of the Lost of the 90's. My mom loved this show, and I kind of got into it too, although it got too weird to decipher towards the end. Anyone remember who really killed Laura Palmer?



One of my new favorite songs by Bats for Lashes (and the video is a little odd and slightly creepy, which I love):



Now I'm off to eat some candy corn and watch my recording of "Kid Nation" that re-aired tonight.

Oh, before I go off to watch some reality tv and rot my brain (and my teeth with more candy corn), here is a fascinating story from the AP Wire about an Australian who decided to follow Ghengis Khan's path through Asia into Eastern Europe on horseback. It took him three years. He also has a website. This is the future of adventure, folks. People making it where they can find it.

Basic human indecency

What is with people in public places being in a state of undress? Two times in the last week I've seen people violating the "no shirt/no shoes" rule that used to be in place - and enforeced- for most establishments. Over the weekend I saw a guy in the mall wandering around the shoe store with his button-down shirt completely unbuttoned and practically falling off, and then this afternoon I saw a lady running into the gas station in just her socks. Could she not be bothered to put on shoes? I remember as a kid going on car trips with my parents, that when we would stop I woul d have to put on my shoes before we went into any business. Of course, when you have high school and college students going to school in their pajamas, this must just be a sign of the times and I really am getting old. It doesn't help that I'm not having a very good couple of weeks, here, so almost everything annoys the ever-living crap out of me lately. But still - button your shirt and put on shoes when you're out at the store, you lazy bastages.

Speaking of lazy - I'm late for a CD mix-tape swap arranged through the CDP blog. I have no real excuse except that other things have come up that I have to do and leaving work to mail a package isn't something I have been able to manage. I'm having a hard time managing anything lately, to be honest.

Today was Talk Like a Pirate Day. I did slip in a half-whispered Arrrr at work this afternoon, but since no one ever listens to me anyway (and I think they have figured out that I do kind of talk to myself sometimes without realizing I'm doing it...I really am turning into Milton, you know!), it was totally wasted. So in honor of this fine occassion, what's your favorite pirate joke, matey?

Saaaarrrrrsgaaaarrrrrd



I thought my son's Kindergarten teacher had high expectations, but Mr. Mills trumps her by a mile! Check out the instructions for getting a tissue. Remember: Listen for Understanding.

My husband just rescued a lizard from my son's bath. It's kind of a mystery how it got there, since my son is terrified of reptiles.

In Harry Potter news...yeah, I know you thought this was done. It's not. Two more movies. So, in Harry Potter news, they've casted the part of Professor Slughorn. Not how I pictured him, but the casting has been pretty good overall. They'd just better hurry up before everyone really is too old to play their parts.