If I had a spare $400+ to spend, I would totally buy all 12 of the kick-ass Dungeons and Dragons T-shirts from 80’s Tees that are based on the 1983 animated series. *Drools!*
Week … Whatever
Here we are on week “whatever” of our “stay at home” adventures. North Carolina has extended our stay at home orders until May 8th. After that we will begin a slow 3-phase reopening plan. Hopefully, this is the smart way to make things happen. It’s going to be interesting to see if Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina get spanked with a lot of new infections because of their sudden re-openings. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, these Cheese Sticks from Sauced were one of the major highlight of the weekend. Ha, ha.
We *might* have disobeyed those stay at home orders and tripped to Gatlinburg on Sunday to pick up some moonshine from the two distilleries that were open. It was a bit weird to see NOBODY out and about on streets that are normally teaming with tourists. We saw maybe 10 other people and about as many businesses open. Craziness.
Of course, the Mysterious Mansion is closed and we are seriously sad about that!
Back at home, we tried out some new things with the moonshine that was purchased. Needless to say, Moonshine-Laced Mini Milkshakes are gonna be my new lover. Sugarlands‘ Dark Chocolate Coffee Sippin’ Creme is perfect for this task. Yum!
Music Madness
Everyone surviving the pandemic craziness? No? At least we have been treated to some really excellent music releases over the last week!
Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters is already the front runner for best album of the year. It’s complex and challenging … and you need to listen to it right now.
The Twilight Sad have dropped IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME LIVE. I really do love this band and it’s great to see them continuing to gain popularity. My only complaint is that I wish they had trimmed down the two minutes of audience noise at the beginning of the show/first track. But that’s a minor quibble.
X has dropped ALPHABETLAND (the first album in 35 years featuring all the original members). Clocking in at a lean 27 minutes, it’s loud, aggressive, and everything else you would expect from X. I didn’t know how much I needed this in my life until I heard it.
Movie Madness
Thanks to all the “stay at home” induced free time that I now have, I am finally making my way through the backlog of movies that I have purchased but have not watched. First up was the five Hammer film sets from Indicator in the UK. The sets have a pretty diverse range of films from Hammer … gothic horror, crime thrillers, adventure, and war movies. Out of the 20 movies, there was only one that I really disliked (Visa to Canton) with the rest all being solid. The ones that I consider to be favorites are listed in bold.
Hammer Volume One: Fear Warning!
1. Maniac (1963)
2. The Gorgon (1964)
3. The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)
4. Fanatic (1965)
Hammer Volume Two: Criminal Intent
1. The Snorkel (1958)
2. Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960)
3. The Full Treatment (1960)
4. Cash on Demand (1961)
Hammer Volume Three: Blood & Terror
1. The Camp on Blood Island (1958)
2. Yesterday’s Enemy (1959)
3. The Strangler’s of Bombay (1959)
4. The Terror of the Tongs (1961)
Hammer Volume Four: Faces of Fear
1. The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
2. The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960)
3. Taste of Fear (1961)
4. The Damned (1962)
Hammer Volume Five: Death & Deceit
1. Visa to Canton (1960)
2. The Pirates of Blood River (1962)
3. The Scarlett Blade (1963)
4. The Brigand of Kandahar (1965)
Tough Times
This is a redefinition that I can get behind given current circumstances …
Compare/Contrast
Back in 1988, Bernard Sumner (of New Order) and Johnny Marr (formerly of The Smiths) formed a group called Electronic. On their self-titled debut album (released in 1991), they collaborated with Pet Shop Boys on the song “The Patience of a Saint.” It’s a really great album and you should seek it out for a listen. Now, after the album came out, Sumner went back to record Republic with New Order and Pet Shop Boys went to work on their fifth album, Very. End of story?
So, this is of interest to nobody but me but … those subsequent albums which were released in 1993 (Republic in May and Very in September) both contain songs titled “Young Offender.” Planned? Just coincidence? Probably the later … but I still find it to be a fun factoid (that I probably never would have thought about had I not all this “stay-at-home” induced free time).
Now amuse yourself by listening to both songs.
New Order “Young Offender”
Pet Shop Boys “Young Offender”
Day … Whatever
Well. The days have quickly become a routine.
Wake up.
Cardio.
Shower.
Work.
Stress eat.
Watch a movie.
Stress drink.
Sleep.
[Repeat]
Last Friday was another Zoom session with friends. I am not sure that I will get used to this kind of socializing. But, it’s better than nothing right now.
Speaking of movies … I have been working my way through the initial run of Amityville related films. I have never liked the original movie. So much potential that gets totally squandered. Amityville II: The Possession was actually pretty damn decent (all things considered). Amityville 3-D was kinda lame … but in 3-D (whoo!). Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes was made-for-TV-tastic (Patty Duke and Jean Wyatt!). Amityville: It’s About Time was just bad. Two more (A New Generation and Dollhouse) and I can get off this kick. And yes, I know it’s silly of me to think any of these movies are going to be any good. Ha, ha.
Meanwhile … here’s Bowser being precious as fuck.
New Threads
This new t-shirt that has arrived certainly is appropriate of the uncertain times we are currently living in.
Day 17 [Paranoia Edition]
I’m already tired of being paranoid that everything I touch is possibly going to sicken or kill me. At least hand washing has become more fun …
Day 16 [Pandemic Edition]
Well. Here we are on Day 16 of being back from NYC. It’s crazy how quickly things change. Three days after we got back, the state shut down all restaurants for dine in and turned them into delivery/take out only establishments. A few days after that, the county issued a “stay at home” order and all non-essential businesses shut down. Movie theaters, gyms, most retail shops, etc are now closed. Thank goodness the liquor store is considered essential! Today at 5:00 pm, the whole state goes into “stay at home” mode until the end of April. I am guessing that working from home for the past nine years has prepped me somewhat for what the next few months hold. Homebodies for the win!
It appears that David and I made it back from New York City without any germs. We have been monitoring ourselves every day and so far no fever/cough/shortness of breath. Part of me is paranoid that we are asymptomatic even though we have made it past the 14-day self-quarantine window. Silly, I know. So far there are not any reported cases in our county … but I suspect that will change. It just seems to be EVERYWHERE.
What sucks is the timing. Spring has arrived (finally!) and things are beautiful outside. Too bad everyone feels the same way and the walking paths and hiking trails have been jammed with people since there is nothing else to do. They have closed some of the local state parks and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has also totally shut down due to the influx of visitors. I am fully expecting that the Blue Ridge Parkway will follow suit in the next few weeks. So, I guess walking around the back yard is going to have to do.
Here are some back yard blooms …
Bowser has certainly been enjoying the fact that we are around the house all the time. He also appears to be unconcerned with the miseries of the world. Oh, to be a dog …
Saturday night, we tired out the new way to socially gather in these times of social distancing. It was super nice to actually see some friends … even if it was via a computer screen. I am guessing this will become a regular thing for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile … I received a copy of Dave Stewart‘s book, Monster Man. Thanks a bunch for sending it my way, Dave! [Kissy!]
And, finally … before we went to New York City, I picked up a copy of Horrified™: Universal Monsters™. How could I resist a game where you battle Universal’s classic movie monsters? It looks like it’s gonna be a fun game to play. Now for this pandemic to end so we can invite people over for a game night!
Upcoming
To say that I am stupid excited about Criterion‘s upcoming release of Elem Klimov‘s Come and See would be a huge understatement.
This legendary film from Soviet director Elem Klimov is a senses-shattering plunge into the dehumanizing horrors of war. As Nazi forces encroach on his small village in Belorussia, teenage Flyora (Alexei Kravchenko, in a searing depiction of anguish) eagerly joins the Soviet resistance. Rather than the adventure and glory he envisioned, what he finds is a waking nightmare of unimaginable carnage and cruelty—rendered with a feverish, otherworldly intensity by Klimov’s subjective camera work and expressionistic sound design. Nearly blocked from being made by Soviet censors, who took seven years to approve its script, Come and See is perhaps the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar film ever made.
Special Features
- New 2K digital restoration by Mosfilm, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins
- New interview with director Elem Klimov’s brother and frequent collaborator German Klimov
- Flaming Memory, a three-film documentary series from 1975–77 by filmmaker Viktor Dashuk featuring firsthand accounts of survivors of the genocide in Belorussia during World War II
- Interview from 2001 with Elem Klimov
- Interviews from 2001 with actor Alexei Kravchenko and production designer Viktor Petrov
- How “Come and See” Was Filmed, a 1985 short film about the making of the film featuring interviews with Elem Klimov, Kravchenko, and writer Ales Adamovich
- Theatrical rerelease trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: Essays by critic Mark Le Fanu and poet Valzhyna Mort
NYC [Pandemic Edition]
After a week and half of me stressing out totally over going to New York City in the current world situation … we went to New York. The idea of loosing the money on the theater tickets and hotel was just too much to bear. So we headed out last Thursday.
The nearly empty plane should have been a sign. Seriously. There were ten people on this 70 seat plane.
We arrived in New York City to the news that Broadway had closed down and we were not going to get to see any theater. Well, shit. We Uber-ed into the city, checked in the hotel and got settled.
You gotta love this beautiful view from our room. Ha, ha.
We decided to walk around some before dinner. The city seemed busy, but not overly so. Here are the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center. Not nearly as many as there usually are.
I love this They Live themed billboard at the corner of 7th and 48th in Times Square.
We had an incredible dinner a OBAO on 9th in Hell’s Kitchen. Yum.
After dinner we walked around the Theater District and I tortured myself by going by the now darkened theaters of the shows we were supposed to see. Seriously crushed to not be able to see Hangmen.
We went back to the hotel, but I was craving donuts. So, I went back out and got some at the Dunkin’ across 8th. Jelly Filled and Chocolate Covered with Sprinkles!
We also found out on Thursday that all the museums had shut down as well. There went our backup plan. Dammit. So, we Uber-ed into Brooklyn and had an early lunch at Junior’s. It’s my kind of place!
We caught a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse. I now know I would give my left nut to have an Alamo Drafthouse close by. Such a cool movie theater chain.
Since we were close to the Brooklyn Bridge, we decided to walk that way back into Manhattan. It was a really beautiful day to be out and about!
And then we just kept on walking. We navigated up into the West Village and had drinks at The Stonewall Inn. Then we went around the corner and found my old friend, Ian. I hadn’t seen him in years, so it was great to show up unannounced and surprise him. For the record, this picture is not a good example of social distancing.
Then we continued our walk up to 44th and had pizza at John’s Pizzaria. I guess that was the one good thing about Broadway being shut down. We were actually able to get a table there with no wait. Once back at the hotel, I decided to go out one last time to see Time Square. I might have stopped at the Junior’s Bakery on 45th and gotten a slice of Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake. Yum (again)!
We were supposed to be in the city until Sunday but had decided to change our flight to Saturday just to get out of the city early (and away from any carriers). Delta let us switch with no added fees and we were able to upgrade to first class for cheap. So fancy!
We did end up loosing to money on the hotel for Saturday night. Oh well. We made the best of it but the trip was a bit of a bust. Had we know one day earlier that Broadway was going to go dark, we would have cancelled the trip. Double oh well.
We were very proactive in regards to our safety with lots of hand washing and sanitizing and touching as little as possible … especially our faces. As a precaution, we are self-quarantining for the next 14 days since we were out and about in (what I suspect is) a fairly active contagion zone.
Hopefully, this mess will pass through quickly and with as little death and disruption as possible. Everyone stay safe (and stay socially distant)!
Countdown!
We are just under two weeks until our trip to New York City … which is EXCITING! Though I would be lying if I said that the whole COVID-19 situation isn’t weighing on my mind a little. A lot can happen in two weeks. So, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that a major outbreak (which all the experts are saying is just a matter of time) won’t happen before or during our trip. Ain’t nobody (i.e. David and myself) got time to be quarantined.