I have been remiss in crowing about how I will get to finally see Skinny Puppy LIVE next month! I am not sure who likes me up there, but they are playing The Orange Peel in Asheville on April 15 … and, apparently, the show is SOLD OUT. Now, I just need to make sure that I am right down front so I can get splashed with some of the fake blood. Whoot!
Life is still chugging along in its crazy, maddening, and somewhat weird way. Labor day has now come and gone and there’s definitely a hint of fall in the air. Love it!
Speaking of Labor Day …
We kicked off the holiday weekend by meeting up with the local gay group at one of our local breweries. This is a pretty new group and it’s been fun to get to know some gay men (and women!) that actually live in Waynesville.
That Saturday, we attended the last of the summer “gays only” pool parties that we have been getting invited to over in Asheville. The weather was supposed to be dodgy, but it ended up being a super nice day.
The pool before being tainted by all the homos …
We went to a “guys only” cookout the next day and that was pretty nice as well … even though we got stuck inside the whole time because the weather did end up being super dodgy that day.
So, all in all, it was a pretty gay Labor Day weekend!
In non-gay news …
I have finally started going through records that I have been given over the past several years and have been trying to salvage the ones that are not too beat up. Since I don’t have a fancy (or non-fancy) record cleaner, I will wash mine in the sink with a little soap and water. That can sometimes help tremendously if all you are dealing with is fingerprints or mold (or both) on the vinyl. And it’s always amusing the see them drying in the dish drainer.
And finally … here is Chip being cute as fuck.
I couldn’t resist pre-ordering this for my vinyl collection!
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Not much has been going on here other than my standard “work, eat, sleep, be depressed” routine. I have not had much energy about posting here (shocker!) because day in and day out seems to be the same ole, same ole.
I did actually have a vacation scheduled last month … to a gay campground in Florida! But, guess who got sick with strep the day before we were supposed to fly down. You guessed it. I ended up home sick and missed the vacation while David got to go. It’s hard not to feel like the universe has it in for you when shit like this happens.
During REI’s member discount sale, I did finally pull the trigger on a new sleeping pad for my backpacking adventure. You can see in the pictures that the new pad packs much, much smaller than the Thermarest that I have been carrying for 20+ years. Over the past three years, I have managed to replace all my old gear. The only thing I want now is a more compact camp stove (and maybe a lightweight camp chair) and I will be fully set!
And … I am stupid excited to finally have acquired a copy of Austra‘s debut album, Feel it Break, on vinyl. I have been looking for a copy of this for quite a while. Whoo!
And, yeah. Sunrise in the mountains never gets old …
In movie news … Robert Eggers’ The Northman opens next week and I can’t fucking wait!
Yeah. I am officially stuck with a case of the mid-winter blahs. The weather has been too cold to get out and do anything outdoorsy and I am tired of being stuck inside. The weekly Saturday Firepit sessions with Shortlegs and Co. are currently on hold because the weather has been too cold, rainy, or snowy for us to gather. It’s my sanity break for the week and I miss it terribly. C’mon, spring!
Speaking of snow … we ended up getting about 9″ last Sunday! It’s about time we got some of the fringe benefits of winter.
A few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my trusty iPhone X to a spankingly new iPhone 13 Pro. I am now in debt on the damn thing for 2-12 years! Sheesh. It’s almost like having a car payment. I initially had buyer’s remorse but eventually got over that. The camera alone was worth the upgrade. *drools*
I was reshelving some movies last week and made a fun discovery. I managed to buy TWO copies of the Criterion Collection edition of Alan J. Pakula‘s The Parallax View. I had bought a copy at the B&N Sale in November but had (apparently) forgotten that fact. When I rewatched Klute one day, I thought about how I needed a copy of The Parallax View for my collection and ordered a copy off Amazon. Talk about feeling stupid when I realized what had happened. Hopefully, this isn’t a sign that senility is setting in.
We did get out earlier this week and caught the new Scream film. I really dug it! It had chills and thrills and even made me cry at one point. Out of all the horror franchises out there, I think the Scream franchise is my favorite one. Get thee to the theater to see it!
Work has been horrifyingly slow the past few weeks. I hope in the long term it doesn’t mean that I am about to be unemployed. In the short term what it means is that the workdays feel long and the work weeks feel even longer. Ugh.
And, finally … There’s lots of good music on the way this spring with new albums from Ghost, Midlake, and Daniel Rossen (of Grizzly Bear fame) on the horizon.
Jesus. This has been the LONGEST WEEK EVER!
Nothing terribly exciting to report from here. It’s been the same old “wake, treadmill, eat, struggle through the work day, eat, sleep” routine. I guess old fart status has really been attained since I am in bed by 9:00 every night. Sheesh. I am still struggling with my mood too. It’s in full on yo-yo mode. Yay. That also makes the days fun and probably contributes to wanting to be in bed early.
Months ago, I signed up for OnlyFans and have a page there complete with semi-anonymous name (though my scowling mug can be seen clearly). For some reason (probably the desperate need for validation), I keep circling back to the idea of posting some content there. But, would anyone want to subscribe for free, let alone pay for content (which would be the ultimate goal)? More importantly, do I have the time to self-promote and talent to make anything hot enough to get said subscribers and cash?
Ah, well.
Meanwhile, I could resist buying this film nerdy shirt. Paul Verhoeven doesn’t get enough credit for the years of awesome movies he has given us. Seriously!
Plus, it’s been pretty exciting to find out that The Fixx have released a new single and will have a new album out next year. Give the new single a listen. I command it!
A friend turned me onto the new Men I Trust album (Untourable Album) and it’s absolutely heavenly.
Several weeks ago, I submitted an entry in Asheville Community Theatre’s Graphic Design Project. They were looking for four graphic designers to do logo treatments for each show of their upcoming 2020-2021 season. The season consists of Clue, Fight Girl Battle World, The Giver, and [title of show]. I found out last week that I was selected as one of the four and had our first meeting this past Tuesday. Exciting! The point person assigned a show to each designer and I ended up with [title of show]. This show and Clue are going to be the hardest to work on as both already have very recognizable logos that get used pretty much anytime these shows are staged. [title of show] also has the added handicap of being stylized by being done in all lowercase letters that are enclosed in brackets.
Anyhoo. I am super excited to be working on this! Hopefully, I can come up with something suitably graphic and slightly different from what’s been done before.
Here’s the group of happy designers after our first meeting …
In a sure sign that my brain is totally fucked up, I have spent the last two nights having dreams about buying or losing out on buying the Record Store Day 2021 release of Garbage’s No Gods No Masters that was released on June 12th. It has a variant cover (different coloring) and vinyl color (translucent pink) and was limited to 2,700 units. Needless to say, I took this as a sign and found a copy online this morning, and ordered it. I mean … it’s not like I have this on neon green vinyl and deluxe CD already. Sheesh.
Life is still … plodding along. But there have been some distractions along the way.
Yes. I bought a kiddie pool. And, yes. It’s for me. When the temps get hot, you will be able to find me laying drunk in the cool, cool water. I have already warned the neighbors.
Yes! It’s the limited edition release of StudioCanal’s 4K restoration of Basic Instinct. The timing couldn’t be better since my Lionsgate Blu-ray from 2007 has shit the bed and won’t play past the first promo trailer on the disc. This is seriously one of my favorite movies. It’s so perfectly trashy and awesome.
Yes. I finally fixed the bottom step (that was rotting to pieces) off the back deck. The price of lumber had been making me delay this task. So, I got crafty and found some old lumber from a picnic table I dismantled a few months ago. Quick work with a hand saw and a few nails means a sturdy new step is now in place! And, yes. I was dumb and didn’t take a “before” picture.
The tracklisting on No Gods No Masters, the new Garbage album, is slightly different on the vinyl versus the CD. Aren’t you happy that you now know this useless bit of information?
And now for the “I’m Done” portion of this post …
It’s always great to see your design work lifted and then solely credited to another person. This really made my eye twitch when I saw it last Friday. Granted, the person that is credited did drop new photos into this design, but they in no way should get the sole credit and all the kudos they were getting in the comment section of this post.
I quit working at this theater last summer because I was overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Nobody there could ever seem to remember I was on staff even though they had no problem piling extra design work on me anytime they needed it. It really sucked. So, I quit. Fast forward a year and they still can’t seem to remember the work I did or the time and energy I put into it … and it still REALLY SUCKS.
Absolutely crushing on No Gods No Masters, the new album by Garbage. So fucking good! Give it a listen below.
Here are some things that have been going on.
We welcomed a 12-year-old Italian Greyhound named Chip into the family. He’s totally derpy and we love him so much. What we don’t love are his bad teeth, stank breath caused by said bad teeth, and his occasional desire to pee on the back of the sofa or trash can in the kitchen. Oh well. Bowser seems to tolerate his presence and it looks like Chip will have a good home.
Vaccinated friends can hang out (thanks CDC guidance)! So, Michelle and I got together a few Saturdays ago and drank too much beer. What a fun night that was. The next morning was not so much fun. Yay, hangovers.
Finally made it back to Biltmore to tour the house and walk the grounds. I timed it badly for the gardens though. There was nothing blooming in the walled garden and the azaleas were past their peak. Bummer. But the flower arrangements in the house were spectacular as always.
We went and Alex in his new band, The Deathbots, when they played an outdoor patio show at The Grey Eagle last week. The band was quite awesome and we got to actually see other humans in a public setting. Whoo!
I bought lottery tickets! But don’t get too excited about the numbers showing. I didn’t win a damn thing. Maybe next time …
Well. Life is slowly chugging along. There is still lots of just hanging around the house for the moment. Spring is finally underway here. So thankful for warmer temps! David is now fully vaccinated and I have one more shot left to go before I am. I am really looking forward to being able to hang with friends and have some limited movie gatherings. Yay!
We did brave the elements and went and saw Godzilla Vs. Kong in an actual movie theater this past Friday. Lordy, I have missed movie theaters.
The movie itself was fine. The plot was nonsensical at times but big monsters destroyed a lot of shit … so I was pretty happy with it. Plus, Alexander Skarsgård is so pretty. *Sigh* I still think Godzilla (2014) is the best of the MonsterVerse films.
Meanwhile, John Grant and Garbage have both announced new albums. Yay!
John Grant’s Boy from Michigan drops June 25th. I *might* have pre-ordered the limited edition, deluxe vinyl.
Garbage’s No Gods No Masters drop on June 11th. I *might* have snagged the Deluxe CD + Neon Green Vinyl Limited Edition with Signed Print before it sold out. Whoo!
And, hopefully, I will get back to some sort of regular posting schedule. I really something to focus on other than pandemics and hurt feelings.
