Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rocky III VS. Showdown In Little Tokyo


* = It's true...

I’m not getting a lot done this week as I’m still fighting the Plague. I am however attempting to get some more work done on my Domains Of Dread: Lamordia thingee for the D&D Adventure System, aka Castle Ravenloft. I’m also eagerly awaiting Anthony “But I’m tired…” J. knocking out some more monsters for said system. Other than that I’m surviving the daylight hours, barely, and then sleeping like the dead. And in those rare in-between hours I’m watching the HELL out of Hammer Films;

- The Battle For Marjah (***** out of 5) – So this ISN’T a Hammer Film, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fantastic. This was a documentary on HBO that Cassandra became enthralled with last night about the U.S. Marine Corps taking of Taliban stronghold Marjah in Afghanistan. It was a riveting look at what is going on with troops on the ground being shot at. I have to say I can understand their frustration. It’s awful hard to not be pissed when you are doing house-to-house fighting and the command will not authorize airstrikes for fear of upsetting the populace. I also can see the anger of being saddled with Afghan Security Force personnel who look like they can barely tie their own shoes let alone operate in a warzone. All that being said a lot of the guys they showed were assholes. They constantly voiced their anger and disgust at the people they were ‘trying to protect’, they were xenophobic towards a country we have invaded, and in the end seemed disenchanted by the whole experience. I’m sure being shot at by snipers over and over again will do that to you, but in comparison to some of the other men working in the platoon it just exacerbated the fact that there is a contingent of folks in our country who not only don’t want to understand anyone else, they don’t CARE about anyone else. It’s a fervent nationalism that is frightening when armed to the teeth. I don’t want to rant here, so I’ll keep my feelings short and sweet; I’m not a foreign war guy. I don’t think we should be in these countries. I think we should be in; blow shit up and get out. That means I’m not a fan of air bases in Germany, Saudi Arabia, or even Japan. I see no reason for us to continue to be the world’s police force. We have enough problems on the home front, including a Drug War on our southern border. So seeing this just reinforced the idea that this isn’t something we can win, and in reality I’m not sure ‘winning’ even matters.

BLECH! I’m sick of even thinking about it. Great flick, horrid subject, let’s move on to some Peter Cushing goodness!

- The Hound Of The Baskervilles (Infinite *’s out of 5)HOLY CRAP, this IS the best Sherlock Holmes put to film ever. Sorry Downey Jr., you are no Peter Cushing. Cushing owns as Holmes and Christopher Lee is charming and menacing as the bedeviled and quick tempered Sir Henry Baskerville. For me this is the best Sherlock Holmes story, so add in the Hammer Films goodness, Lee & Cushing and you have magic. This is a fantastic movie.

- The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (**** out of 5) – This was Hammer taking their Dracula into modern times, well after Dracula A.D., and I wanted to hate it. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. First off the music is straight up explotation &/or Porn fare, and I by saying that I mean it’s friggin’ AWESOME! The flick itself is strange, and oddly paced as it starts with a bang and then sort of plods and builds dread up until the bizarre final stanza. I do dig the idea that Lee finally gets to play Dracula as a mastermind rather than just a cunning beast. This Dracula has a plan to end the world; it’s just that getting even with a descendant of the Van Helsing line is just to good to pass up. Oh and the Dracula death scene in this flick is really wonky, but in a lovingly goofy way.

- Frankenstein & The Monster From Hell (*** out of 5) – Did I really need to see Cushing make another monster? Well probably not, but I did enjoy it nonetheless. I like the idea of the ‘Good Doctor’ hiding out in an asylum and using them as the fodder for his experiments. This flick itself was sort of by the numbers without really doing anything to out of the ordinary. I did like the open ended ending leaving no doubt that there would be a sequel. The thing is do we really need another Frankenstein sequel?

- The Evil Of Frankenstein (** ½ out of 5) – This was basically just a retelling of the first flick leading into a truncated new tale. The one thing I learned here is that Doctor Frankenstein just wants “to be left alone”! What!? If you want to be left alone stop killing people and makin’ monsters. Oh whom am I kidding, I can’t quit you Peter Cushing as Doctor Frankenstein! Even when the flicks aren’t that good Cushing is just magic.

As you can see I’m as useful as a bump on a log this week. I just wish I could enjoy that laziness. GAH! I just want sleep, I want it as much as I’m sure the three of you who read this want your

RANDOM CRAP!

- I think I’d really like to run a crazy Gamma World thing once in awhile. The more I read the book the more I feel like it’s a perfect pick-up and play RPG.
- I can’t hear out of my right ear today, so much flippin’ drainage.
- Paul Allen is at the NFL Combine today live and I’m enjoying the hell out of listening to how the process plays out. I wish I had NFL Network, but then all I would do is watch dudes in shorts running 40’s and lifting weights. I have a football addiction.
- Auggies Games Store is selling the tiles themselves from Castle Ravenloft and Wrath Of Ashardalon on the dirt-cheap ($6.99 for a full set of tiles and tokens). In March I’m going to pick up another set of each, mainly for use in custom scenarios & maybe some 4E Gaming. That’s a great deal.
- F’ YOU GAS PRICES! This keeps up and I’ll be finding a new job solely based upon travel costs. I just can’t afford another trip to the pump.
- Apparently in Pennsylvania if you’re white, drunk, and rich you can kick and beat a Hispanic man to death while screaming racial epitaphs and you’ll get off until the Feds step in. Seriously, 9 years for beating someone to death seems light to me.
- I really should knock out a Marvel SAGA teaser today as we’re nearing the next ‘Issue’. I also should continue to refine the first couple D&D adventures for the group that’s starting in April.
- It’s my goal to paint and ‘finish’, which would be ‘dip’, at least twenty minis this weekend. I think that’s a tangible goal.
- If I had charcoal I would grill this weekend. I don’t care about the weather; I just really want some grilled meat.

I’m out of cough drops, I’m out of daytime cold medicine, today is B-R-U-T-A-L-! Today and tomorrow are all about survival. I just need to buckle down and push through. Then I can sleep!

OUT!

“Clap for the Wolfman
He gonna rate your record high
Clap for the Wolfman
You gonna dig him til the day you die

Do Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl
They were friend's of mine
The highway's on my moonlight drive
Snuggled in, said "baby, just one kiss"
She said "no, no, no"
Romance ain't keepin' me alive
I said "hey babe, do you want to coo, coo, coo"
She said "uh, uh, uh"
So I was left out in the cold
I said "you're what I've been dreamin' of"
She said "I don't want to know"

(Wolfman Jack: "Oh you know, she was diggin' the cat on the radio")

Clap for the Wolfman
He gonna rate your record high
(WJ: "Yes baby, I your doctor in love")
Clap for the Wolfman
You gonna dig him til the day you die
(WJ: "Everybody talkin' about the Wolfman's confidence of love")
Seventy five, eighty miles an hour
She hollers "slow, slow, slow"
"Baby I can stop right on a dime"
I said "hey baby, give me just one kiss"
She said "no, no, no"
But how was I to bide my time
I said "Hey baby, do you want to coo, coo, coo"
She said "uh, uh, uh"
Said I'm about to overload
I said "you're what I've been livin' for"
She said "I don't want to know"
(WJ: "Oh, you thought she was digging you but she was digging me")

Clap for the Wolfman
He gonna rate your record high
(WJ: "As long as you got the curves baby, I got the angles")
Clap for the Wolfman
You gonna dig him til the day you die
(WJ: "It's all accoridng to how your boogaloo situation stands, you understand")

Clap for the Wolfman
He gonna rate your record high
(WJ: "You ain't gonna get 'em, cuz I got 'em")
Clap for the Wolfman
You gonna dig him til the day you die
(WJ: "You might wanna try, but I'm gonna keep 'em")

Clap for the Wolfman
Clap for the Wolfman
(WJ: "And I got 'em all")
Clap for the Wolfman”



* = CLAP FOR HIM!

3 comments:

  1. I got three full bags of charcoal! You can use some if ya want?

    Wolfman Jack is Jon B!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave, if there is no snow on the drive way I might take you up on that if your interested in grilling!
    Oh and the idea that Wolfman Jack & JB look like long lost father and son is not lost on me at all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Teresa, welcome to the blog. I'll have to look into this. I'm a HUGE fan of cough medicine. I think it's the crappy taste, so when I can find one that A) Works & B) Doesn't make me act like a blithering stumbling idiot after taking it it's always a goo day.

    ReplyDelete