Mid-Winter Blahs

1/20/2022 Chas.Leave a comment

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.

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Crushin’

12/28/20219/30/2022 Chas.Leave a comment

Life continues to be a bit of a slog. The workweeks just seem to drag on FOREVER.

Well … at least Christmas is over! There is one more weekend of holiday shenanigans (wherein we will hopefully not get Omincron-laced COVID) and then we are into the doldrums of winter. Yay.

We did attend a big Christmas party at the beginning of the month and I went to a short family gathering on Christmas Eve and a rather lengthy Christmas Day dinner at a friend’s house (10 people were in attendance).

This might be me tipsy and in a Santa hat after too many vodka tonics before dinner. I guess there are worse ways to spend the evening.

It’s hard not to feel paranoid about social interaction these days and I must confess to being jealous of those people who can put the worry of potential illness aside. The slightest headache or sniffle sends me into a fit of worry about whether I have COVID or not.

And, yeah. The beard is in serious need of a trim.

I got some cool presents (movies and books and such) this year … and I also received some end-of-the-year cash from the bosses. Whoo! So, while we were in Asheville last night, we stopped into my favorite movie store. I had been in last week and had found used copies of Wong Kar-Wai’s Fallen Angels and Happy Together on the shelf. These are the Kino Lorber releases that are seriously OOP. I have been pretty keen on locating copies of these after the revisionist debacle that World of Wong Kar-Wai ended up being. I didn’t buy them last week, so I was pretty excited to see that they were still on the shelf last night. $50 total for both movies! I have yet to see these listed for under $80 each on eBay or the Amazon marketplace. And somebody has this exact set listed for $280 on eBay. I am guessing the movie store didn’t quite know what they had on their hands. Ha, ha. Christmas Cash FTW!

We’ve been going to this movie store for a while, and I had started to develop a crush on one of the employees. He’s punkish. He has tattoos. He’s a film nerd. A trifecta of awesomeness! When we walked in last week, Siouxise and the Banshee’s Juju was playing through the store’s sound system. Then it switched to Siouxise and the Banshee’s Tinderbox (my most favorite album of all time). Then it switched to a few songs by The Cure. Then is switched to the Cocteau Twins’ first album, Garlands (arguably the least liked by most fans … though I think it’s totally aces!). Guess who was behind the counter controlling the tunes. My Film Nerd Crush! So, now my wee “in-store” crush has blossomed into a full-blown “I want to watch movies and listen to records with you” crush. Oh, well.

Ah, life. It’s been a while since I have totally crushed on a store employee (remember the Cute Bookseller?).

Next stop … 2022 and hopefully a new iPhone 13 Pro (which will take years to pay for).

Fri-YAY!

12/10/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

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!
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Rockin’ the “D”

10/6/202110/6/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Wow. Life and my brain chemistry sure are trying their best to knock me down. But, I am still here. Sorta.

We braved the COVID infected crowds and went to Gatlinburg for the day this past Saturday. It had been well over a year since we had been … and the lure of moonshine and getting the fuck out of the house proved to be too great to resist. We sampled moonshine and hard cider, plus had a disappointing lunch at our favorite place to eat.

Sweet, sweet ‘shine! (And yeah … I need a beard trim.)

Besides the disappointing lunch, the worst part of the day was that the Mysterious Mansion didn’t open until 5:00 pm. This picture was taken at 2:00 pm. There were a fuck ton of people on the street and in stores with absolutely NO safety precautions in mind. So, we didn’t want to hang around and kill three hours until they opened. Maybe next time, Mysterious Mansion!

And now there will be 10-14 days of paranoia about whether we both got infected while in Gatlinburg. Was it worth going? I guess time will tell.

Meanwhile …

I am one week away from hitting the big 5-0! On Sunday, my friends threw a fun little surprise party. It was really great to see the selection of friends that showed up. It feels like it’s been ages since I have seen that many people I know in one place at one time. Food. Fun. Fellowship. It was a really nice afternoon.

Honestly, it feels like the slide started years ago.

And, this is what it looks like when you open a box and there are books that you wanted inside. Books make the best presents! Well … books and Blu-rays and records and CD’s. Ha, ha.

And, what do you do when you are nearing 50? Why, you pre-order an insanely expensive, oversized, limited edition coffee table about the making of one of your favorite films. To be honest, it’s not the book that’s insanely expensive … it’s the shipping from the UK that is. #25 Trainspotting looks like it’s going to be really awesome! The same author and company are working on a book about Taxi Driver which I am fairly certain I will end up ordering as well. Yay, books about movies!

New PTA!

9/27/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Squee!

Commando

9/24/20219/24/2021 Chas.1 Comment

I have not worn underwear for two weeks (or so). So, I guess jockstraps are out for the time being and freeballin’ is in.

I just know this is the information you were dying for on this sunny and cool early autumn day. Ha, ha.

In News Unrelated to My Underwear Status:
John Kenneth Muir’s Horror Films of the 2000s has finally been announced for release in January of 2022. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me.

Christmas in October!

9/10/20219/10/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love The Guest. So, when Second Sight Films in the UK announced in August that a fancy, limited edition 4K UHD set, I knew I would be ordering this. Dang. This set looks amazing! And, yeah … I spent too much money on it and I don’t care.

Special Features

Limited Edition of 5,000
4K / Blu-ray dual format release
Brand new grade for both formats supervised by Director Adam Wingard
UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR
New commentary by Director Adam Wingard and Writer Simon Barrett
Archive commentary by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
The Uninvited Guest: a new interview with Actor Dan Stevens
A Perfect Stranger: a new interview with Actor Maika Monroe
By Invitation Only: a new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
Producing The Guest: a new interview with Producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder
Light and Fog: a new interview with Director of Photography Robby Baumgartner
Lightning Strikes: a new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock
The Sounds of The Guest: a new interview with Composer Steve Moore
Deleted / Alternate Scenes, Outtake Gag with optional Director commentary

Limited Edition Contents

Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Adam Stothard
Various Artists Soundtrack CD
160 page book with new essays by Tim Coleman, Zena Dixon, Craig Ian Mann and Zoë Rose Smith; Script-to-Screen featuring storyboards and script extracts, Behind-the-Scenes photos and Adam Wingard soundtrack notes
6 collectors’ art cards

Exclusive to Second Sight orders

3 art card reproductions of the on-set Halloween Dance posters

The Guest Limited Edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray from Second Sight Films

Stick a Fork in Me

6/22/20216/29/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

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.

Worked For It

4/30/20214/30/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

The weekend is FINALLY here! Thank God. Work has gotten slow again and that makes for long, drawn-out work weeks that never seem to want to end.

At least there are some fun plans on tap for the weekend!
– Firepitting tonight with Shortlegs and Co.
– Tasty Boojum Brewing beer and food with Michelle tomorrow night
– Visiting Biltmore on Sunday for the first time since October

Hopefully, David is cool that I am all “fuck you I am off to do fun things without you.” Ha, ha.

And … the big news for the day is that I finally have the Arrow Video Battle Royale 4K UHD Limited Edition in my greedy, consumerist hands. This set is a BEAST!

Movies and Music

4/5/20214/5/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

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.

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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.

Alive, Not Kicking

1/18/20211/18/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Not much to report here really. Just navigating the winter and pandemic doldrums.

I wish we would get some warmer weather. I miss (socially distanced) fire pitting with friends. I want to get out on some camping trips. I am tired of just sitting around the house worrying about finances and COVID-19. I want my county to get on a roll with the vaccinations so that I can get my shots (of course I am in the very last “everyone else” category).

And, I am tired of feeling underappreciated. It’s making me bitter. I have felt bitter most of the day … for most of the last several days, to be honest. Sometimes it just feels like people are just paying a lot of lip service in regards to my abilities/training. I am always getting duped into feeling the expectation that someone is going to put in a good word for me when they are not. And after months of lip service, I am bitter. Honestly, I think I’d prefer to be treated with indifference. At least then I wouldn’t have these expectations that people are standing up for me or are advocating for me when they are not.

Meanwhile … I finally got the two packages that the USPS has been holding hostage. Yay!

This Week’s Excitement: Trump is out of office! Thank Christ.

Off to the Races

1/7/20211/7/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

And 2021 is off and running. The Biden/Harris election win is official, Democrats have taken the majority in the Senate, and Trump Cultists stormed the Capitol because “Boo hoo! Trump lost.” What an amazing time to be alive. (Psssssst … that’s sarcasm.)

And now, some randomness.

This is always a fun sight to see when you actually haven’t told your PC to update. Thankfully, Geek Squad nerds got me back up and running in a few days with no major data loss. They think the hard drive was starting to fail. Pretty lame for a computer that is only four years old. This is why I have a Macbook Pro for all my non-official work and personal stuff.

We rang in the New Year by drinking the last of the egg nog. I was asleep before midnight. Old Fart for the win!

The USPS *finally* came through and delivered the last Christmas presents well after Christmas.

A&A sent these really awesome Divine/Pink Flamingos-themed socks and I LOVE THEM! Now, if I could just get David to watch the movie.

And, David got me these stupidly expensive yet totally awesome screenplay books from A24. I am a total sucker for their brand of slow burn, artsy horror.

Now if the USPS would locate and move along my copy of Arrow’s 4K release of David Cronenberg’s Crash, I would be the happiest man on the planet. It’s been stuck in South Jersey since December 21. Ugh.

Beast Mode

12/21/2020 Chas.Leave a comment

The big excitement recently has been the arrival of Vinegar Syndrome‘s new 4K UHD release of The Beastmaster. I have very vivid memories of seeing this at the local movie theater in 1982 (when I was on the cusp of turning 11 years old). I pretty much knew I was different at this point in my life and that men grabbed my attention more women. It was a weird, scary, and thrilling feeling. The Beastmaster just helped reaffirm all this. Marc Singer running around in a leather hula skirt that barely covered anything was an amazing site for these young eyes.

It’s weird to think now that my parents probably thought I was excited to see Tanya Roberts topless in this movie. Nope. I was all about Marc Singer. I mean, c’mon … look at him!

The Beastmaster is one of three films from my childhood that I feel helped solidify my gayness. The other two are Flash Gordon and Gwendoline. Maybe it’s of note that all three are from the fantasy/sci-fi genre … and maybe it’s not.

The Boy Wonder

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