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June 20, 2002
Bruce Campbell is The Man
Thursday, June 20, 2002
I just spent all night reading If Chins Could Kill; Confessions of a B-Movie Actor. It's Bruce Campbell's autobiography.
I won't restate his filmography here, but his acting prowess is manifold. (That means he's been in more movies than me)
So, after reading his book (in one sitting, starting at about midnight), I kicked off a little note.
Subject: You just kept me up all night.
But not in any weird or creepy way. I picked up your autobiography at the library (gimme a break, I'm a starving college student) yesterday, and read it in one sitting tonight. (Well, mostly this morning. Really really early morning.)
I just wanted to write and tell you how much I appreciate your insight into your craft. Our chosen fields of endeavor are pretty different (I'm working to be one of those rocket scientists you mentioned briefly), but I really like hearing about people who truly love their work being able to DO that work, and do it mostly on their own terms. For that, if for no other reason, you kick holy ass. I really enjoy your work, but I don't think I could enjoy it as much as you seem to. Good job, Ace.
Oh yeah, and that Duke Nukem punk is a pretender to the throne. Line-stealing wuss...
Best regards, Lee Gibson
PS - If and when I do get to move to Mars, I'll name a crater after you. Then you won't be so bitter about me not buying your book.
PPS - If you'd be so kind, tell Mr. Raimi that I really appreciate the way he didn't screw up Spider-Man. I know he'll have been waiting on pins and needles for my assessment. Great job! If he does well on the next one, he'll get a crater too.
Then, half an hour later, I get a reply.
In a message dated 6/20/2002 4:45:37 AM Pacific Daylight Time, lee@ringofsaturn.com writes:
|Oh yeah, and that Duke Nukem punk is a pretender to the
|throne. Line-stealing wuss...
Lee,
You hold him, I'll hit him...=)
Hey, thanks for the feedback.
Best,
Bruce
So, I have to take my hat off to the man. Not only did he rouse himself to answer my note, but he did it at an ungodly hour in the morning. The world would be a better place with more of that kind of graciousness.
Thanks, Mr. Campbell. You're good people.
Posted by Lee at 01:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 19, 2002
When I was Just A Boy...
Wednesday, June 19, 2002
I found a folder full of my elementary schoolwork in the garage this afternoon. Several of the kids, I remember. The last kid in the first row was my arch-nemesis, David Thorkildsen. He beat me two years in a row in the Indian Guides soap-box derby on North Park Hill. I remember giving him a toy I really wanted for his birthday...that made me kinda mad too. : ) I'm the second to the last kid on the third row. Immediately to my left is Andy Van Milligan, my best friend. With his little brother Denny, we'd play Battle of the Planets on their swingset. Andy and I switched off being Mark and Jason, but we always made Denny be Tiny or Keyop. He never wanted to be Princess. Go figure.
There was this guy I knew, name of Geoff Hooker. He went to the school across town. He had a relative, I think maybe a grandma or an aunt, named Ruth Hooker. She gave me an autographed book she'd written, called Kennequahair. It was an interesting post-apocalyptic sci-fi story about several children who found a safe valley to start a new life in. I've still got the book somewhere. Geoff and I used to play a game called "Catch-the-Cat Football". He and I liked it. The cat didn't.
Okay, and here we are in Second Grade. I'm the first kid on the third row. Unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of these kids' names, and the back of the picture wasn't labeled. I'm pretty sure the second to the last kid on the second row is Andy.
I had a big crush on Miss Weimer.
Posted by Lee at 01:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 07, 2002
South Park is Funny.
Friday, June 7, 2002
I like South Park. So sue me. It's tasteless, and offensive, and obnoxious, and sophomoric...
What's not to like?
OK, so the movie was full of the worst language ever. And it talked about racism, and the media, and how grown-ups look at kids.
But, they shot Bill Gates. How can that not be funny?
OK. Maybe I'm not making my case very well. That's fine...you don't have to agree with me. I think I'm going to go watch a few episodes...I'm feeling way to intelligent right now. Need to dial that back a notch.
Wanna make your own South Park av? You know you do.
Posted by Lee at 01:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2002
Polyphonic Spree in Concert!
Thursday, June 6, 2002
So I'm finally getting around to writing about what I did last Friday. Sarah, Rusty, Matt, Tommy, and I went to see the Polyphonic Spree at the Gypsy Tea Room. We'd been looking forward to this for a while. I think it was Sarah who first mentioned them to me, after seeing them at Fry Street Fair in Denton. I checked out their web site, and an archived concert. In the process, I found this awesome record store (which happens to be right across the street from Matt's loft). I'm not a big fan of much of anything you might hear on the radio. I really like Japanese punk and electronic music, like Cornelius, Shonen Knife (who, by the way, did a song for the PowerPuff Girls, who rule), Fantastic Plastic Machine, and the Pizzicato Five. I was thrilled out of my pointy little skull to find some great stuff on the shelves, and reasonably priced to boot! So, even without going to the show yet, I'm happy. I bought The Beginning Stages of the Polyphonic Spree, the first album from the similarly-named band. After listening to it, I was in an outrageously good mood. The music was really really really really happy. I mean, REALLY happy. So I was looking forward to seeing how this would go down on stage.
So, last Friday, I got to check them out. Tommy, Rusty, Sarah, and I first went to see Undercover Brother, which was a scream. They finally told all the funny racial jokes we've all been hoping to see in public. I can't recommend the movie enough. Put on some funk, tease out your 'fro, and go check it out. Then we grabbed some dinner and headed to chez Matt.
We strolled over to the Gypsy Tea Room and heard two opening acts that I didn't really get much out of. The third, Mandarin, was not at all bad. The fourth act was Miguel Antonio and Kalinka. It was a trio, with Mr. Antonio on guitar, one fellow with an accordion, and Kalinka had this weird triangular Russian ukulele looking thing. These guys brought the house down. I've never seen people play Flight of the Bumblebee on the accordion, or on a weird triangular Russian ukulele looking thing, but it was pretty amazing.
(OK, it's Ukranian, and it's called a balalaika. I only found that out upon further research. It's amazing how Google can cull the wheat from the dross...)
Finally, at about midnight, it was time.
The Spree is fronted by Tim DeLaughter of Tripping Daisy reknown. He's assembled a motley crew of musicians, told them to bring whatever instruments they had lying around, stuck 'em in choir robes, and just...PLAY. I say "play" in the sense of "Have an outrageous amount of fun". These folks piled onto the stage, and just entertained the hell out of the crowd for two hours. The music has this stupendously upbeat outlook...the closest I can describe it is as secular hymns. It's extremely uplifting, yet humanistic at the same time. Very very neat vibe. If you're a jaded cynic, you probably won't like 'em, but as something to amplify a happy mood, I think they just can't be beat.
I'm looking forward to seeing them on the 16th of June before they head to London on their first overseas tour.
Posted by Lee at 01:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack