Mitzi

The saddest news of the weekend was that my Great-Aunt Mitzi is not doing well following a stroke she had last week. Mitzi and my Uncle Bill live in Longmont. Bill is my grandma's brother. But Bill and Mitzi are as close, if not more so, to us than my real grandparents. They have attended every single major celebration in my life (including 8th grade graduation!). They were also the only relatives (other than an uncle) who ever visited me when I was living in New Mexico.

Mitzi has always been the one to ensure our family stayed together. If I told her I was travelling somewhere, she would tell me that I needed to look up so-and-so who was a 3rd cousin on my grandma's side twice removed.

When I think about me extended family, Mitzi is always the first face I think of. She is one of the sweetest and most caring people I have ever known.

Her condition is such that we don't know what to hope for: that she should get better or not. But no matter what happens, Mitzi's smiling face will always be with me.

Weekend

So, Tracy and I saw "Fracture" this weekend because she refuses to see Grindhouse or Hot Fuzz. Anyway, it's not a bad movie. The acting is OK. The storyline was pretty simplistic and VERY predictable. But all in all, it was fine. Just not great.

My friend told me to start renting the first season of Battlestar Gallactica (the new one). And Entertainment Weekly also called it the best show on TV. So, I have seen the mini-series that started it and the first 8 episodes and I gotta agree that it is awesome. Guess I know what will be on my que for awhile.

On Sunday, the boys and I went on a 10-mile bike trip on the Poudre River Trail. By far it's the longest we've gone. Andy's bike is a little small for him, but he was moving his little legs as fast as he could the whole time. Very impressive and both boys slept REALLY well.

Frustration

You know that serenity prayer where you are supposed to not give a crap about things you can't control?

I'm apparently not very serene right now.

Here are my frustrations with crap I can't control:

* The FREAKIN' Rockies! I watch games. I listen to games. I cheer for the team ALL THE TIME! For many, many years now. From Day 1. AND THEY SUCK! AGAIN!!! We filled the stadium and bought all the souvenirs and rooted for no-name players anyway. And what has it gotten us? A team that is playing so crappy the NY Mets were nearly salivating when they came to town. I hate that this affects me, but it does. The Cubs fans claim to have the hardest luck story but we don't even have a stupid fan to blame for not being in the playoffs, we just have a crappy team!!!

* 24. I know I have ranted about this before, but I have invested a lot of time in this show. Five full days of viewing time, plus about 20 hours this season. That's a lot. And this season has been horrible. Tracy has given up. Dono has given up. But for me, I'm not willing to sever ties yet. I should. There's simply no way to salvage this season. But I'll see what they do. Jack is gonna have to do something pretty amazing to make me stick around for another day with him.

* Time. I know that technically I can control this. But I have so much work to do, so many things going on at home, so many TV shows to watch (yeah, I know), and I just don't seem to have time for it all. I ended up working last weekend and I'm still behind! URG!

That's it for now.

The Runaways

I discovered The Runaways after they were already broken up. I'll admit, I was hot for Lita Ford and when I heard she was previously in a band with Joan Jett, I had to find the albums.

The Runaways rocked hard. Great guitar riffs. Awesome vocals. Very powerful. They didn't do anything deep, meaningful or complicated but that was the beauty of the sound. Just simple rock.

Why am I talking about them now? Well, I just ran across the news item below... Guess they're making a movie about them, but there's no mention of Lita... strange...


Linsons set for movie on rock band the Runaways

Producers Art and John Linson have secured deals that pave the way for them to bring the story of the 1970s female rock band the Runaways to the big screen. Floria Sigismondi will write and direct the project, which is titled Neon Angeles. Sigismondi has directed music videos for the White Stripes, Marilyn Manson, and David Bowie. The Linsons secured music rights and deals that allow them to tell the stories of members Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, and the late Sandy West. They will also tap an unpublished memoir written by Curie. The movie is expected to cover the band's heavy partying as well as the heartache they experienced as they struggled to be known more for their music than as girl-rocker sex symbols. The movie will be financed independently with Jett serving as executive producer. Both she and Currie say they want the movie to be R-rated and edgy.

Reviews

OK, so it's been awhile, but here's what I've seen recently:

The Hoax ... saw it this weekend. A little like "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" but a very good movie. Great acting. Interesting story that was more than I thought it would be. That doesn't happen often. Definitely worth checking out.

Meet The Robinsons ... Took the boys to see this in Fort Collins where it was shown in 3D (it's only in 3D in a few theaters). It was definitely worth the trip. The movie is mediocre at best, but the 3D effects are incredible and the previews for upcoming 3D movies indicate more great stuff is on the way. This isn't Jaws 3D kind of 3D, this is awesome!

The Iceman Interviews ... Rented this on NetFlix. I have to admit I'm obsessed with serial killers (obviously, if you've read any of my novels!). But this is actually interviews with a mob killer. Kind of interesting, but the three different documentaries overlap so much it wasn't all that great.

24 ... OK, Donovan and Tracy have now given up on this season. And I'll admit it's freakin' awful so far. But I just can't let it go. Maybe I'm like Grady Little keeping Pedro in too long, but I keep thinking they are finally going to be as good as they once were.

The Riches ... based on the recommendation of a friend, I DVR'd a bunch of these shows from a marathon they had last week. We watched the pilot episode last night and it was REALLY good. Can't wait to see where this show goes.

The Sopranos ... don't know anyone who is watching right now which is really frustrating because I want to talk to somebody about it. It's so good right now!

Trippin'

I love the Internet.
As I've bemoaned before, my 20th high school reunion is coming up and I have no real plans to go. There are very few people I really feel the need to catch up with ... and most of those folks I have kept in touch with anyway.

But one of the people I have wanted to talk to was Mark Lansberger. Mark was a good friend in high school. He was very cool and just a really nice guy. I used to drive him to school because his house was on the way. He was in a band called Tempered Steel and he actually used a poem I wrote called "Don't Fight The Light" and put it to music and recorded it on their first (and possibly only) recording.

Anyway, I was doing some obscure band Googling on the net the other day and I thought I'd see if there was any reference to Tempered Steel. And I came across this link. And there was Mark. I e-mailed him and we're talking now. Guess he lives near my sister in Washington.

Now, if anyone knows where Scott Winkler, Tim Nolan or Susan Grady are, I'd love to know.

Reach out

This weekend, one of Tracy's cousins killed himself. It is just a horrible thing. The guy was my age. He was a nice guy always had a smile. He had two kids.

And now he's gone.

I'm not sure what could have been done to avert this horrible situation. But it makes you think about all the people in your life who struggle every day (often without saying anything). It's awful that something like is what it takes to make you realize that you should reach out to people more, but it does.

Bummer

Mark St. John was easily the best guitarist other than Ace Frehley to be in Kiss. And some would argue he was actually better than Ace. Too bad.

Who says it wasn't educational?

Driving in Kingman, Arizona, as part of the Testosterone Tour and saw this sign.
I never knew who Andy Devine was. But the name rang a bell from Jimmy Buffett's song, Pencil-Thin Moustache.
Asked some locals and found out he was a famous cowboy sidekick.
Guess you learn stuff all the time.

Bathroom behavior

This is the coolest bathroom wallpaper I've ever seen. It's from the men's room in the Vegas Hilton.

Opening Day!

I love baseball's opening day. This year it was perfect weather. HUGE crowd.

Here are some pics: