Reports are surfacing that the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize winning The Road finally has a release date.
This is something that's been on my radar since first reading the novel a couple of years ago. I remember thinking at the time that a movie version was a foregone conclusion. The book is written almost as a screenplay.
And, with the critical and commercial success No Country for Old Men, a movie based on another of McCarthy's novels, it seemed studios would be anxious to get on The Road.
Well, it now looks like the film version of The Road is set for release this October, just in time to be the feel-good hit of the holiday season. Original reports were that it was supposed to be out early this year, but it has been delayed for various reasons.
There's not much info yet on the official website, aside from the mention that Viggo Mortensen will be playing the lead. And try as I might, my five-minute Google search produced no video trailers for the film yet.
But there has some hype about the movie being a leading contender for more awards at the next Oscars. I just hope it lives up to the quality of the book.
tagged: Cormac McCarthy, The Road, movie, Viggo Mortensen
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Swine flu over the cuckoo's nest
These days, with all of the modern touchy-feely parenting techniques that focus on "feelings" and "self-esteem" and "proper dental hygiene," one very effective motivational device gets woefully overlooked.
Of course I'm talking about fear.
Fear is a great motivator when used sparingly (if you over use it, your kid gets desensitized and then it stops working). Anyway, it occurred to me that this recent swine flu mania was a good opportunity to get in some good parenting moments.
So when I brought The Kid home from kindergarten the other day, I took her immediately to the kitchen sink.
"Okay, the first thing we need to do is wash our hands. It's more important than ever to wash our hands a lot these days," I said.
Of course I received the expected and inevitable answer in the form of a question.
"Why," The Kid asked.
"Well, there's a really bad flu going around," I explained. "It's so serious that people have died."
Ah yes. The fear of death. That should get her attention. But first things first.
"A 'foo'? What's a 'foo'?"
"Not a foo," I explained. "A flu. It's a virus that can get into your body and make you sick. It's kind of like a germ."
"Oh. And people die from it?"
"Yes. They have had people die from it. But as long as you was your hands a lot and make lots of suds, you should be okay."
For the next few minutes we washed out hands together. I told her how important it is to use warm water, make lots of suds with the soap and wash the front and back of you hands, between your fingers and even up around your wrist.
The next day on the way to school, NPR conveniently played the latest tragic news about the flu, and I conveniently turned up the volume for The Kid to conveniently hear. When I picked her up from school that afternoon, I asked if she washed her hands a lot during the day.
"I tried, but the soap here doesn't make suds very well," she said. "Also, my friend Carly doesn't care if she dies."
"What?"
"She didn't believe me when I told her she had to wash her hands so she doesn't die from the flu."
tagged: family, parenting, swine flu, health
Of course I'm talking about fear.
Fear is a great motivator when used sparingly (if you over use it, your kid gets desensitized and then it stops working). Anyway, it occurred to me that this recent swine flu mania was a good opportunity to get in some good parenting moments.So when I brought The Kid home from kindergarten the other day, I took her immediately to the kitchen sink.
"Okay, the first thing we need to do is wash our hands. It's more important than ever to wash our hands a lot these days," I said.
Of course I received the expected and inevitable answer in the form of a question.
"Why," The Kid asked.
"Well, there's a really bad flu going around," I explained. "It's so serious that people have died."
Ah yes. The fear of death. That should get her attention. But first things first.
"A 'foo'? What's a 'foo'?"
"Not a foo," I explained. "A flu. It's a virus that can get into your body and make you sick. It's kind of like a germ."
"Oh. And people die from it?"
"Yes. They have had people die from it. But as long as you was your hands a lot and make lots of suds, you should be okay."
For the next few minutes we washed out hands together. I told her how important it is to use warm water, make lots of suds with the soap and wash the front and back of you hands, between your fingers and even up around your wrist.
The next day on the way to school, NPR conveniently played the latest tragic news about the flu, and I conveniently turned up the volume for The Kid to conveniently hear. When I picked her up from school that afternoon, I asked if she washed her hands a lot during the day.
"I tried, but the soap here doesn't make suds very well," she said. "Also, my friend Carly doesn't care if she dies."
"What?"
"She didn't believe me when I told her she had to wash her hands so she doesn't die from the flu."
tagged: family, parenting, swine flu, health
YouTube Tuesday: Cinco de YouTube
In honor of taking the day off (I wish) and drinking lots of Mexican cerveza and refusing to refer to it as "Mexican Flu" -- here's a quickie YouTube history lesson for you.
tagged: YouTube, Cinco De Mayo, Mexico, video, RocketBoom, history
tagged: YouTube, Cinco De Mayo, Mexico, video, RocketBoom, history
Friday, May 01, 2009
3AM EXCLUSIVE: SPECTRE switches sides
SPECTRE ISLAND (3AM) - Global terrorism network SPECTRE announced plans Tuesday to switch sides, a move intended to boost its chances of remaining profitable during the global economic downturn.
"We now find our political philosophy more in line with the forces of good than evil," said super villain and Chief Evil Officer Ernst Stavro Blofeld in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to world-wide anarchy. Several lower level henchmen said a formal announcement could come later in the week.
SPECTRE, the notorious crime syndicate, is one of a handful of terrorist organizations remaining from the Cold War era. It is known to have been involved behind the scenes in several high-profile terrorist operations specializing in kidnapping, ransom, extortion and stolen Soviet rockets.
SPECTRE faced an extraordinarily difficult challenge throughout the cold war and was stymied on many occasions by special operatives of the Western governments. Some proposed that it was this ongoing war of attrition that finally prompted the syndicate to change sides.
"It's true that we never intended to join in the fray directly," explained senior SPECTRE Operative Julius No. "But our strategy of pitting one side against the other to weaken both so that we could then achieve world domination proved to be flawed when the two superpowers made peace."
As a member of the side of good, SPECTRE spokesmen have pledged to use their global criminal network to help Western powers root out and defeat terrorist organizations around the world.
"We have the ability to tap vast resources to provide the kind of critical information necessary for successful anti-terror operations," said Professor R.J. Dent, an operations analyst for SPECTRE.
"Using information we provide, Western governments will be able to engage the enemies of freedom directly and effectively. Our believe financial and human damage from these operations will be minimal."
Added Blofeld, "Rest assured that our organization will stand ready to step in an assist with any rebuilding or recovery necessary if you country is significantly weekend as a result of these operations."
tagged: Specter, Blofeld, Dr. No, James Bond, satire, pop culture
"We now find our political philosophy more in line with the forces of good than evil," said super villain and Chief Evil Officer Ernst Stavro Blofeld in a statement posted on a Web site devoted to world-wide anarchy. Several lower level henchmen said a formal announcement could come later in the week.SPECTRE, the notorious crime syndicate, is one of a handful of terrorist organizations remaining from the Cold War era. It is known to have been involved behind the scenes in several high-profile terrorist operations specializing in kidnapping, ransom, extortion and stolen Soviet rockets.
SPECTRE faced an extraordinarily difficult challenge throughout the cold war and was stymied on many occasions by special operatives of the Western governments. Some proposed that it was this ongoing war of attrition that finally prompted the syndicate to change sides.
"It's true that we never intended to join in the fray directly," explained senior SPECTRE Operative Julius No. "But our strategy of pitting one side against the other to weaken both so that we could then achieve world domination proved to be flawed when the two superpowers made peace."As a member of the side of good, SPECTRE spokesmen have pledged to use their global criminal network to help Western powers root out and defeat terrorist organizations around the world.
"We have the ability to tap vast resources to provide the kind of critical information necessary for successful anti-terror operations," said Professor R.J. Dent, an operations analyst for SPECTRE."Using information we provide, Western governments will be able to engage the enemies of freedom directly and effectively. Our believe financial and human damage from these operations will be minimal."
Added Blofeld, "Rest assured that our organization will stand ready to step in an assist with any rebuilding or recovery necessary if you country is significantly weekend as a result of these operations."
tagged: Specter, Blofeld, Dr. No, James Bond, satire, pop culture
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Don't turn around, uh-oh
KCMeesha today has a fascinating post about the revisionist propaganda and photographic falsification employed by the post-revolution USSR.
The post includes a discussion of the book “The Commissar Vanishes” and some very interesting photos.
In fact, the photos were so interesting that it prompted me to do my own ad-hoc internet photo search. I was amazed by what I found.
Evidently, our Russian friend is not only the sole survivor of Lenin's core braintrust, he's also some kind of Jewish/Russian/American Highlander.
tagged: Russian, Lenin, photo, photoshop, The Commissar Vanishes
The post includes a discussion of the book “The Commissar Vanishes” and some very interesting photos.
In fact, the photos were so interesting that it prompted me to do my own ad-hoc internet photo search. I was amazed by what I found.
Evidently, our Russian friend is not only the sole survivor of Lenin's core braintrust, he's also some kind of Jewish/Russian/American Highlander.
tagged: Russian, Lenin, photo, photoshop, The Commissar Vanishes
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Hey, there's risk in everything
So yeah, like I said yesterday I taught my kid to make coffee for me in the morning. No big whoop, right?
Well, I received this email today from Phillips, makers of the Senseo single-serve coffee machine I use.
Sure, there was that time my cousin Jeffrey (who works for the NYC Parks & Rec department, btw) was seriously injured in a boiler explosion. In fact it blew the entire left side of his body off. Don't worry though. Jeffrey recovered. He's all right now.
tagged: coffee, Senseo, recall
Well, I received this email today from Phillips, makers of the Senseo single-serve coffee machine I use.
Okay, so maybe it's a little more risky that I thought. On the other hand, when has anyone ever died from an exploding pressure chamber?Dear Valued Customer:
SENSEO® COFFEE MAKER
Philips has identified a safety problem which affects a number of Senseo® coffee makers produced between July 2006 & November 2008. Philips is committed to the well-being of its consumers and has decided to voluntarily recall the affected Senseo® machines and offer a replacement unit.
Affected units can be identified by model type, manufacturing location and production date. Please refer to the information below. Only units that meet the criteria in all categories are under recall:
Models: HD7810, HD7811, HD7815, HD7820, HD7832 and HD7890.
Manufacture Country and Date: units made in Poland from 0627 to 0847 and units made in China from 0727 to 0847
Colors: Black, Blue, Silver, Red, White
Unaddressed calcification in the coffeemaker from use of hard or medium water, when combined with an external electrical fault, can lead to obstruction of the overpressure release system causing boilers to suddenly separate possibly leading to injury. Per year, the risk is less than three per million and there have been no reported cases in the United States.
Philips would like to advise consumers as follows:
1 Please look at the sticker on the base plate of your Senseo® machine to identify the model number, manufacturing location and production week.
2 Please visit www.senseoexchange.com or call the toll-free phone number 1-866-604-0051 to register your product and receive further instructions and how to receive a free replacement unit. We intend to replace affected units with the same model product.
We wish to thank you for your cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience.
Kind regards,
Philips Consumer Care
Sure, there was that time my cousin Jeffrey (who works for the NYC Parks & Rec department, btw) was seriously injured in a boiler explosion. In fact it blew the entire left side of his body off. Don't worry though. Jeffrey recovered. He's all right now.
tagged: coffee, Senseo, recall
Monday, April 27, 2009
This having a kid thing is finally starting to pay off
I know some of you out there are completely anti-kid. And I must concede that in theory you have a point.
Who needs the staying up all night taking care of a hungry screaming baby. Or the added expenses of childcare and tiny socks and booster seats for cars and special biohazard trashcans designed for radioactive diapers.
But I can tell you that after a few years, these things start to pay dividends as you begin to reap the reward for all of the time you spent on the rigorous child training program.
For example, our kindergarten-age kid is becoming a convenient time-saving device for me. About a week ago I taught her how to make me my morning cup of coffee.
Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the family, I have one of those single serving coffee makers from Senseo (that I got virtually for free). And using a Senseo is so easy a child can do it -- which is kind of the point here.
So I walked the kid through all of the coffee making steps. I showed her where the coffee pods are kept in the upper cupboard and how to avoid being impaled on the rack of steak knives while climbing onto the counter to retrieve the pods.
I showed her how to fill the water reservoir on the coffee maker with scalding hot water from the kitchen sink.
I showed her how to place the pods in the coffee maker and clamp down the locking lid, how to press the appropriate buttons and set the coffee mug under the steaming streams of coffee, and how to carefully carry the mug of hot java to me without burning her fingers.
So for the last few mornings, I've had a nice hot cup of coffee ready for me when I get to the kitchen.
Child labor, ain't it grand?
tagged: family, coffee, Senseo, labor, parenting
Who needs the staying up all night taking care of a hungry screaming baby. Or the added expenses of childcare and tiny socks and booster seats for cars and special biohazard trashcans designed for radioactive diapers.
But I can tell you that after a few years, these things start to pay dividends as you begin to reap the reward for all of the time you spent on the rigorous child training program.
For example, our kindergarten-age kid is becoming a convenient time-saving device for me. About a week ago I taught her how to make me my morning cup of coffee.
Since I'm the only coffee drinker in the family, I have one of those single serving coffee makers from Senseo (that I got virtually for free). And using a Senseo is so easy a child can do it -- which is kind of the point here.
So I walked the kid through all of the coffee making steps. I showed her where the coffee pods are kept in the upper cupboard and how to avoid being impaled on the rack of steak knives while climbing onto the counter to retrieve the pods.I showed her how to fill the water reservoir on the coffee maker with scalding hot water from the kitchen sink.
I showed her how to place the pods in the coffee maker and clamp down the locking lid, how to press the appropriate buttons and set the coffee mug under the steaming streams of coffee, and how to carefully carry the mug of hot java to me without burning her fingers.
So for the last few mornings, I've had a nice hot cup of coffee ready for me when I get to the kitchen.Child labor, ain't it grand?
tagged: family, coffee, Senseo, labor, parenting
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cupini's
Finding good economic news these days is about as easy as finding a chick at a Star Trek convention.
Even in my lower-upper-middle class neighborhood in the JoCo, several businesses haven't been able to ride out the rough times and have had to close (a restaurant and a camera shop).
That's why it was a nice surprise last week when, during a trip to the local grocery, I saw a new restaurant open in the shopping center at 95th and Mission Road.
I took the family to Cupini's the next night. The Italian deli has been a hit in it's other locations around the metro, notably the Westport spot that we're familiar with. We arrived at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening, and the house was packed with a pretty long line up to the counter.
If you've never eaten at Cupini's before, you should expect a deli-style experience. You walk up to the counter, give your order, then go grab a table or booth and wait for your order to be delivered. A lot like Jason's Deli.
The long line was good for two reasons. One, it showed me that this is already a popular place and that a lot of people like the food. Two, it gave me a chance to look through the extensive menu of pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, salads, soups and all of the options and combinations thereof.
Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that the staff was still shaking down their kitchen routines. The wait in line began to feel a little long, and I found myself ordering about 10 minutes after it felt like I should have.
After finishing the order I joined by Supermodel Wife and kid back at the booth the had staked out. Again, the combination of a kitchen staff in training and a super busy restaurant made for a rather long wait.
I think the long waits will be temporary and go away after a week or so. Luckily, the wait staff was very friendly. They stopped by to chat, recognized out kindergartner was starving and offered some complimentary bread sticks.
We also exchanged friendly words with fellow diners, all of whom seemed to be happy with the restaurant and patient with the opening week snafus.
The food itself, when it arrived, was delicious. I had the Chicken/Prosciutto Tortellini. It came as a large portion with a cheesy tomato sauce. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the prosciutto/chicken filling was delicious. My Supermodel Wife had a custom pizza. I don't remember the toppings she chose, but I do remember that it was delicious two day's later when I ate it as leftovers for lunch.
Cupini's also serves breakfast. I haven't sampled any of their breakfast sandwiches, though we did grab a blueberry scone to take home for breakfast the next day. It kept well overnight, so I'm hoping to hit them up for a more substantial breakfast in the future. Hopefully I'll have better luck that my neighbors.
tagged: food, restaurant, Cupini's, Johnson County, review
Even in my lower-upper-middle class neighborhood in the JoCo, several businesses haven't been able to ride out the rough times and have had to close (a restaurant and a camera shop).
That's why it was a nice surprise last week when, during a trip to the local grocery, I saw a new restaurant open in the shopping center at 95th and Mission Road.
I took the family to Cupini's the next night. The Italian deli has been a hit in it's other locations around the metro, notably the Westport spot that we're familiar with. We arrived at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening, and the house was packed with a pretty long line up to the counter.
If you've never eaten at Cupini's before, you should expect a deli-style experience. You walk up to the counter, give your order, then go grab a table or booth and wait for your order to be delivered. A lot like Jason's Deli.
The long line was good for two reasons. One, it showed me that this is already a popular place and that a lot of people like the food. Two, it gave me a chance to look through the extensive menu of pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, salads, soups and all of the options and combinations thereof.
Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that the staff was still shaking down their kitchen routines. The wait in line began to feel a little long, and I found myself ordering about 10 minutes after it felt like I should have.
After finishing the order I joined by Supermodel Wife and kid back at the booth the had staked out. Again, the combination of a kitchen staff in training and a super busy restaurant made for a rather long wait.
I think the long waits will be temporary and go away after a week or so. Luckily, the wait staff was very friendly. They stopped by to chat, recognized out kindergartner was starving and offered some complimentary bread sticks.
We also exchanged friendly words with fellow diners, all of whom seemed to be happy with the restaurant and patient with the opening week snafus.
The food itself, when it arrived, was delicious. I had the Chicken/Prosciutto Tortellini. It came as a large portion with a cheesy tomato sauce. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the prosciutto/chicken filling was delicious. My Supermodel Wife had a custom pizza. I don't remember the toppings she chose, but I do remember that it was delicious two day's later when I ate it as leftovers for lunch.
Cupini's also serves breakfast. I haven't sampled any of their breakfast sandwiches, though we did grab a blueberry scone to take home for breakfast the next day. It kept well overnight, so I'm hoping to hit them up for a more substantial breakfast in the future. Hopefully I'll have better luck that my neighbors.
tagged: food, restaurant, Cupini's, Johnson County, review
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Protesters are sore losers.
After an afternoon and evening of drinking heavily, I accidentally let myself watch the local news last night on KMBC.
I was Larry Mooretified to see a propaganda piece about a group of corporately backed local "activists" as they were "protesting" the "closing" of a KCK "school."
These "schoolbaggers" as we shall call them, are suddenly all up in arms and picketing because they don't want the school district to close their neighborhood school, Morris Elementary.
As one "concerned" parent put it, "We feel that we need our school, our students need our school, our community needs our school."
To which I reply, "Yeah. Right."
Where were these people four years ago? They're late to the party. If they want to save their school, they should have been protesting two, four and six years ago when the school district was working on its budget.
Today, these selfish, greedy parents are overestimating the attendance of other selfish, greedy schoolbagger zombies at their inherently racist "School protests."
Ostensibly the parties protested the use of taxpayer money to not bail out a local school in danger of financial collapse.
Just ask yourself why they waited to do these protests when a black man was president. It's obviously racist.
If you want to demonstrate to save your school, then fine. But they should’ve done it under President Bush, too. That they waited tells you what the protests were really about.
tagged: protest, Kansas City, politics
I was Larry Mooretified to see a propaganda piece about a group of corporately backed local "activists" as they were "protesting" the "closing" of a KCK "school."
These "schoolbaggers" as we shall call them, are suddenly all up in arms and picketing because they don't want the school district to close their neighborhood school, Morris Elementary.
As one "concerned" parent put it, "We feel that we need our school, our students need our school, our community needs our school."
To which I reply, "Yeah. Right."
Where were these people four years ago? They're late to the party. If they want to save their school, they should have been protesting two, four and six years ago when the school district was working on its budget.Today, these selfish, greedy parents are overestimating the attendance of other selfish, greedy schoolbagger zombies at their inherently racist "School protests."
Ostensibly the parties protested the use of taxpayer money to not bail out a local school in danger of financial collapse.
Just ask yourself why they waited to do these protests when a black man was president. It's obviously racist.
If you want to demonstrate to save your school, then fine. But they should’ve done it under President Bush, too. That they waited tells you what the protests were really about.
tagged: protest, Kansas City, politics
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