Updating Update

Wow. Seems like my interest in keeping up with this blog just keeps waning. It’s been all I can do just to get one post a week up. And those have been of the video/art/nonsense variety. When was the last time I talked about things going on in my life? Last November?

The suckage that was 2010 has seemed to carry on over into 2011 and this year has been quite stressful already. So far, there has been work-related upheaval, a stalker (no, not the good kind) and a show I was rehearsing bit the dust at the last minute. Add in unexpected bills (love those) and a tax assessment that increased by $14,000 (hooray … higher property taxes!) and you pretty much have one Continually Stressed Out Chas.

Some days I wonder about that decision last year to go off my brain meds.

It’s also that time of year where Winter doesn’t ever want to seem to let Spring take over the reigns. We had 80 degree temps yesterday and today we are back in the 40’s and heavy coats. It was actually snowing at my place this morning. Sheesh.

But on the good news side of things, I met a fella in December and we have been steadily seeing each other ever since. So, yeah … I have a boyfriend.

And, it sounds like a certain blogging pal will be coming (with his boyfriend) for a visit to the beautiful North Carolina Mountains next month. That should be fun!

Updating Update

Design Time: Tattoo Edition

Sherry is getting a tattoo and I helped her work it up. It’s based off an illustration that she likes from a book (though I’ll be damed if I can remember which one). So with a few additions/modifications, it’s ready to be plastered on her foot for all eternity. “Get thee to Ye Ole Tattoo Parlor, Shortlegs!”


Rough Pencil Sketch


Finished Inked Version

Design Time: Tattoo Edition

Let Me In (2010): Some Thoughts


So, critics and horror fans seem to love “Let Me In,” the Americanization of the Swedish film (and novel of the same name) “Let The Right One In.”

Me? Not so much. Maybe if I hadn’t seen the Swedish version first, I would be all up with love for “Let Me In.” But, that’s not the case.

Some things that I really liked in the Swedish version are gone … like the subplot involving neighbors in the apartment complex. That’s replaced but a subplot involved a cop that just really didn’t work for me. Also a major problem for me was the staging of the iconic scene in the swimming pool towards the end of the movie. For some reason the director thought it would be a great idea to stage this in the dark which muddies down seeing all the violence from the cool perspective of being underwater. Dr. Phibes will be happy that the bad CGI cat attack didn’t make it state side. But, alas, it’s been replaced with quite a few badly done CGI shots in other parts of the movie.

Ultimately, what makes “Let Me In” so lackluster is it slavish devotion to the original foreign version. If you’ve seen that, then there is nothing here that’s going to really wind your crank. You’re basically seeing the same movie … just in an American setting with different actors and some very minor plot changes. This was the big problem with “Quarantine” (the almost shot-for-shot remake of the Spanish film “REC“).

All this makes me wonder what the big Hollywood remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is going to be like. Will it be a bold reinvention or a “been there, seen that” affair like “Let Me In?”

Let Me In (2010): Some Thoughts

Statement

Seriously. If you have four children that you either can not control or have no real interest in controlling … maybe a funeral service isn’t the place for you to be with said children.

Statement

Even More Snow!!!

… WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY… … WIND CHILL ADVISORY HAS EXPIRED…

THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST TUESDAY.

* LOCATIONS… THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

* HAZARDS… BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES THIS MORNING. HEAVY SNOW… MIXED WITH SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN AT TIMES… MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING… SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED DEVELOP FROM THE SOUTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH OR CHANGE TO SLEET LATE IN THE DAY… BEFORE GRADUALLY ENDING AS A PERIOD OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND FREEZING DRIZZLE MONDAY NIGHT.

* ACCUMULATIONS… TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 8 INCHES… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS NEAR THE BORDER WITH GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF ICE MAY ALSO ACCRUE MONDAY NIGHT.

* IMPACTS… ROADS WILL BECOME VERY SLIPPERY QUITE QUICKLY ON MONDAY MORNING. THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOW EARLY IN THE EVENT… WITH LIGHT ICE ACCUMULATIONS MONDAY NIGHT… COULD CAUSE SOME ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES.

* TEMPERATURES… HIGHS AROUND 30 WITH LOWS IN THE MID 20S DURING THE WINTER STORM.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL… BE SURE TO TAKE ALONG YOUR CELL PHONE. WEAR A WARM COAT… GLOVES… AND BOOTS. KEEP A BLANKET… FLASHLIGHT… FOOD… AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

Even More Snow!!!