The Lowdown

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This past weekend was a bit crazy. Lots going on. So, let’s get to it.

Saturday, I went to the River Arts District Artists Studio Stroll. I hadn’t been in a couple of years as this was something that Franke and I did every Fall until we had our falling out. I ended up going by myself and it was kind of depressing. I didn’t have anyone to talk about the art with, so I don’t think I will do it again (at least not by myself).

The Stroll also depresses me because all the cool art just reminds me how long it has been since I have done any real art because I am terrified of failure. Recently, two paintings of mine that I have hanging in the house were met with some skepticism (i.e. “Oh, YOU painted those?”). That didn’t help my fear of failure issues where making art is concerned.

Anyhoo … I did see this cool painting that I wanted to buy. It was only $700 which seemed pretty reasonable as this was a large piece.
River District Studio Stroll

Saturday evening, I put in an appearance at my nieces birthday party and then we attended a wedding. I didn’t know anyone there and it freaked me out quite a bit. The wedding got started 45 minutes late (annoying) but the service was really sweet (I almost cried) and the reception was “breakfast for dinner” foodables. Yummy! I think I ate my weight in bacon.

Sunday, we went to the dedication for the new public art piece here in town. Afterward it was off to John’s 60th Birthday Party wherein the free wine flowed a little TOO freely. The “photo booth” thing seems to be all the rage at parties now. David, Judy, Jeff, and Lloyd joined in on the fun.
Highsmith 60th Photo Booth

Somehow we made it home … after a Walmart detour (why the fuck did we go there?) and a stop at Taco Bell for cheap and sleazy eats to soak up the wine.

And then … MONDAY. It was a suck-ass day (and not in the good homo way). I was tired (and, thankfully, not too hung over) from all the wine consumed the day before. I hadn’t slept well and got out of bed with a feeling that something bad was going to happen. This feeling lasted most of the day. Work was annoying as I couldn’t seem to do anything right. After work, we met Wanda for dinner which was a nice distraction from the general awfulness of the day.

And now, the boyfriend is off to a conference in San Diego … so I am footloose and fancy free for the rest of the week. I am going to listen to my records too loud and watch movies that I know he would hate.

The Lowdown

Eye Candy [Ragnarok Edition]

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Thor/Hemsworth
We saw Thor: Ragnarok this past weekend. On the whole it was pretty good with a fun story and some cool visuals. Some of the forced humor was pretty lame … I mean REALLY lame. I am not sure why some screen writers think that forced jokes are going to be funny. Oh well. Cate Blanchette made a really sweet villain. It was especially refreshing since her villain in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was so lame (I blame the writing on that one). Throw in a great supporting cast (Hiddleston, Elba, Urban, Ruffalo, Goldbum, Thompson) and you have probably the best Thor stand alone outing.

Plus … I really approve of Thor’s new (and fresh) hairdo. It’s so much better than those tired, long, golden locks.

And … the completely gratuitous “Thor looks for his shirt” scene was quite nice. I feel a little sad that Franke wasn’t around to see it. She was always partial to seeing some Shirtless Chris Hemsworth on the big screen.
Thor/Hemsworth

Eye Candy [Ragnarok Edition]

MonsterFest is a Wrap

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Four days and 16 movies later, MonsterFest 2017 is now in the history books.

Dr. Phibes and Co. traveled up here this year to a swank rental cabin. They checked in on Friday and we were off to the races with too much beer and junk food. And that was pretty much the weekend.

Beer. Junk Food. Movies. Hot Tub (thank you, rental cabin).

As always, it’s great to see Dr. Phibes and Co. It happens way too rarely. One day (hopefully) they will get the hell out of Florida and get back to the mountains.

MonsterFest 2017 Movies:
The Finals Girls
Night of the Creeps
Bubba Ho-Tep
Ouija: Origin of Evil (Don’t laugh. It’s Great!)
The Wicker Man (2016)
Rawhead Rex
Dreamscape
Blacula
Baby Driver (The Obligatory Non-Horror Offering)
Miracle Mile
Sugar Hill
Poltergeist (1982)
Hell Night
Dog Soldiers
Slither
Dead of Winter

MonsterFest is a Wrap

MonsterFest 2017 is Nigh!

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Lock up the women and children! Instead of us traveling to Florida this year for MonsterFest, Dr. Phibes and Co. are traveling here for a weekend of too much junk food, too much beer, and too many horror movies. They have secured a swank rental cabin (with hot tub!) nestled in the woods … so it looks like it’s going to be a fun weekend. Now the big decision is board shorts or swim briefs for hot tub-ing.

MonsterFest 2017 is Nigh!

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

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Well … another birthday done. Welcome to 46!

This year was somewhat cool as my birthday fell on Friday … the 13th! The day itself was business as usual. Worked. Mowed the Yard. Worked. Such fun. The Boyfriend and I went out to dinner at Boojum Brewing Company (Mmmmmm, BEER!) and then came home and relaxed.

The Boyfriend went a little nuts and spent way to much on me. I got a couple of Blu-rays and an Apple Watch (Series 2). Whoo hoo.

Saturday, we went down to Charlotte to partake in a night at Scarowinds. SpOooOoooOOoOky! It was a pretty fun time, but there were a lot of people in the park. It took quite some time to get through lines to the mazes. We ended up going through five of the six they have going … Zombie High, Silver Scream Studios, Slaughterhouse, Depths of Darkness, Dark Harvest. We missed out on Urgent Scare which was a bit of a bummer since we really disliked (the boring) Dark Harvest. We only got on three rides and no coasters. Five hours really wasn’t enough time to do everything we wanted to do. It then took us 1+ hour to escape the parking lot. That was not too much fun.

Here’s the fun sign for Red Ribbon Meats … home of Slaughterhouse!
Red Ribbon Meats at Scarowinds

Sunday, we kicked around at IKEA and Concord Mills before I headed back to the mountains.

There was lots of cool stuff at IKEA. Too bad I am not rich and have a big house for all the stuff I wanted to buy. We got there early so I had a late breakfast and The Boyfriend had an early lunch (Swedish Meatballs!).

Here’s my $2 (plus tax) IKEA breakfast. Pretty yummy!
$2 IKEA Breakfast

We ended up at the Lego Store and I got see the display of the Millennium Falcon Ultimate Collector’s Edition (75192). Pictures really don’t do this thing justice. I have been half-heartedly toying with the idea of dropping $800 on this set. After seeing it in person I now know that I DESPERATELY NEED this in my life. Too bad the employee I talked to said it would be January or February at the earliest before they would have it back in stock. Bummer.
Lego Millenium Falcon

Birthday Weekend Wrap-Up

And The Beat Goes On …

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What a crazy busy week this has been.

Monday: Work, Work, Work
Tuesday Work and Blade Runner 2049
Wednesday: Work and WCU Drag Show featuring Alyssa Edwards
Today: Work and Zombie Prom Final Dress Rehearsal
Tomorrow: Work and BIRTHDAY (Though no Exciting Celebration is Planned)

And all the while I have been painting and sealing the first of the DVD/Blu-ray shelves that RP helped me build a couple of weekends ago. Fun times.

And The Beat Goes On …

Retraction

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Idiot in Chief
Remember all those times I bitched about what an idiot and awful President George W. Bush was? Well, I take it all back. I really didn’t think there would be someone worse than him … and there is. We are currently FUCKED.

Retraction