The Bawdy Cloister

Rowdy's High School Friends in Review

ITEM!

A guy in my high school creative writing club, Bryan Mealer, just published a book.  It's called All Things Must Fight to Live.  Go, Buy, Read.  And be sure you take the time to watch the videos on his website. Bryan's running around on a book tour these days; he was in San Antonio last week.  After his reading I overheard one woman sitting next to me tell another that her daughter, K., went to high school with Bryan.  I turned to her and immediately recognized her: 

"You're K.T.'s mom!"

"Yes!" 

"I'm Rowdy, I was at your house quite a bit.  I'm the guy that took K. to the Bo Diddley concert." 

"Oh, yes, I remember."

"Just want you to know that I still haven't forgiven you for setting K.'s curfew so early, we only caught the first 30 minutes of Bo's show before I had to return her home." 

"Well, I was the evil mother."

"Grrr."

She was nice enough to forward me K.'s email though, so she's regained a couple of points.

Anyway, after Bryan finished his appearance we headed over to the Alamo Cafe and caught up.  We hadn't seen each other since 1993.

ITEM!

I learned tonight that I'm not the only person from my high school with a website dedicated to a defunct restaurant.  My friend, Eve, has a site recognizing the great cafeteria that once was Dubrow's.

ITEM!

Earlier this week I got an email from my high school buddy, Crizzabster, in New York.  He's in a film called "Off Off Broadway" that you can watch for free online.  Don't want to spoil it, but it's funny.  It's a full-length feature, so set aside some time and get a comfortable chair.  Here's the link.  Let me know what you think.

Theatre in the Round

All I knew about Lockhart, Texas was that it is the town in which Christopher Guest chose to shoot his film Waiting for Guffman.  So when I received an invite from an old buddy to watch her performance in the town's community theater, I was compelled to go by the sheer irony.

I know Lacey D. from high school.  We took drama together and hung with the theater crowd.  I hadn't seen her since our adventure to Enchanted Rock in 1996.  Over the past month we reunited on Facebook, along with a dozen or so other drama freaks I'd been out of touch with for 10-15 years.  When I learned that she was still performing, I emailed the theater to reserve my ticket.

I didn't know anything about the play before hand, other than its title, The Shape of Things.  I'm glad I didn't either because the plot is highly susceptible to spoilage.  So for that reason I'm not going to delve into the story.  After browsing around online I learned that there's a film adaptation of the play directed by the playwright himself, Neil LaBute.  The film also features the original cast from the play.  It's on DVD, so you can check it out; I know I will.

Lacey's performance was impressive.  I was taken aback by the strength of her stage presence.  She played the lead character, Evelyn.  Evelyn is a feisty, assertive and extremely outspoken university art student.  She contrasted so much from the bubbly and sometimes squeaky Lacey I remembered from high school.  It's difficult to describe the experience actually... not seeing somebody for over a decade, curious to see how they've changed, and your first re-encounter with them is in character!  It was quite a thrill sitting through the play wondering how much or how little of today's Lacey I was experiencing through Evelyn.

After the show, we talked briefly backstage.  I introduced her to Mrs. T, but we were in a hurray to pick the Acolyte up from the babysitter (the drive to Lockhart took nearly an hour and a half each way.)  Lacey was also in a hurry with a ride waiting for her.  But we agreed to meet up again soon when we're not so rushed.  In the meantime, I'll still be wondering.

Rowdy's Movie in Review

from The Toy Bin

Transformers

Dragged in the beginning, then got better.  The last reel pushed the shoot 'em up a bit too far, it got dizzying and difficult to follow who was kicking whose butt.  Great CGI though, almost no RRA (Roger Rabbit Affect.)  My one significant gripe is that they went over the top with language for a kid's movie-- I know it's PG-13, but they really should have aimed for PG.  It's elementary school kids that play with the toys afterall.

Overall Rank:  2.5/5 Daruma

   

Unforgotten

"You know that a lot of our friends out there feel that George W. Bush, and I think that we can agree with them, that would be a horrific event if he became President of the United States.  Here's the thing that I got to say, and I really want to say this to the young people here who are voting for the first time.  If you don't vote your conscience now, when will you start?....if in the very first election of your life you start to settle for less, how does that move us forward?"  --Michael Moore, speaking at a campaign rally for Ralph Nader, October 13, 2000.

While channel surfing Friday night, I ran across Michael Moore plugging his new movie on Larry King:

Ever since the 2004 election, a sense of betrayal sweeps through me whenever I run across this guy.  But they say time heals all wounds and I try hard to forgive and forget.  I encourage folks to watch his movies and I defend him time and again from those who attack him from the right.  So, I put down my remote control and gave him a listen.  And this is the exchange I heard:

MOORE: I didn't support [Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential race.] I lived here in New York State at the time, and I supported Ralph Nader. And I said that, you know, I was part of a group of people who said that if you live in a state that's not a swing state, a state that's definitely going to go for either Gore or Bush, consider voting for Nader. It's a strategy the right has often used, you know, when their person is elected like Reagan or Bush, and you want to pull them to the right as much as possible.

KING: But a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush, wasn't it?

MOORE: Well, it wasn't in New York state because remember...

KING: In some places it was.

MOORE: Yes. And I said if you lived in Florida or places like that you have to vote for Gore. And I have to be honest and say it's really -- it's had tragic results. And unfortunately, Ralph Nader, a lot of his supporters, he said he wasn't going to campaign in the swing states and then he went and campaigned in those states. And when he started doing that, a lot of us said we're not going there. We're not doing that. And I didn't and I told, you know, my fans that if you live in places like Florida or Ohio or whatever, you've got to vote for Gore.

At this point my ears began to bleed!  I couldn't believe he was still repeating this lie.  He made similar remarks on The Charlie Rose Show back in 2004.  At that time, it spurred a reply from Nader himself:

NADER: On "The Charlie Rose Show" last Thursday you repeated the false statement that I promised to avoid the close states in 2000 and therefore you broke away from the campaign in the last month and urged a vote for Gore. Strange – you were berating Democrats before nearly 10,000 people at our MCI Rally on November 5 – two days before the election. If you would like to see a copy of the tape of your speech let me know. And, you campaigned with us in some of those close states. I have called you on this false assertion regarding the close states yet you keep repeating the falsehood. Our 2000 Campaign was a 50 state run, (and I campaigned in all 50 states) from the beginning, a point repeated again and again, even though I spent 28 days in California and only 2 ½ in Florida.

Like I said though, I would much prefer to forgive and forget.  Here's a little deal I'd like to make with Michael.  You see, you're not the only guy with a movie release this past week:

  ON DVD JUNE 2007!

So I tell you what, Michael.  You watch An Unreasonable Man and I'll steer people to watch Sicko.

Weekender

ITEM!

I was checking my stats and came across this link to The Reliquary.  It makes me out to be a complete OCD case.  Anyone who knows me knows that's far from the truth.  Still, I think it's pretty funny.

ITEM!

I watched the movie Hilary and Jackie last night.  Not a bad flick.  It's based on a "true" story.  Some aspects of the film came off a bit sensational.  So once I finished it, I ran straight to the computer to read other aspects of the story.  Apparently the film did ruffle some feathers.

ITEM!

Tomorrow marks another parenting first:  We're taking the Acolyte to a birthday party.  His buddy, Bobcat, is turning 1. 

Rowdy's Week in Review

ITEM!

Anticipation over the big trip is rising.  Mrs. T is on the phone right now with her mom making some final preparations on that side of the pond.  This weekend we're taking the Acolyte out to get his duds for the wedding.  And next Friday we're heading over to Houston to get his passport.  Otherwise we're about as prepared as we can be.

ITEM!

I tried to convince my parents to go see Borat once it's out.  The folks never know how to take my movie recommendations.  When Mom was down here last month we watched The Motorcycle Diaries, which she liked except for the language.  Then I had her watch Waiting. That actually took physical force to get her to sit through, but I told her it was payback for introducing me to that world to begin with back in high school.

"Rowdy, I think you're old enough now to find work and finance your own fun and games."

"Yeah, but I'm 16.  Who would...."

"I saw that Burger King is hiring."

I know I probably shouldn't have subjected a preacher's wife to that film.  But I thought it might help her understand the permanent emotional scars she caused.  Still, I don't think it was as bad as my Evil Little Brother singing unedited Army cadences at Christmas dinner.  The folks convinced him to enlist at 17. 

ITEM!

Hurray for my new reader, Cherish!  Thanks for stopping by The Cloister!  I love search engine technology... bringing like-minds together... Long Live Chicken-on-a-Stick!

ITEM!

CBK asked that I recap Flavor of Love 2 now that the season is over.  I hate to admit it, but I was actually hesitating.  Ever since my posts before and after last season's finale, I've received a number of crazy hits... including one from some crack-head who thought I was Hoopz posting about "my" win!  He asked if I'd be in Atlanta any time and if so if we could hook up.  EEEWW!

But what kind of blogger would I be if I let something like that dissuade me from posting about the greatest television event of the decade?  Not a very good one.  So this one goes out to my man CBK who's doing his job making sure that I'm keepin' it real which'al....

At the start of this season, I was scared.  The contenders ranked much higher on the Skank-o-Meter than the previous bunch.

But by the end of the first show I had my favorite....

Toastee!  She earned her nickname after getting drunk the first night.  Unfortunately, she was booted out of the house prematurely after Flav learned from Nibblz that Toastee had made porn. Mrs. T and I were both sad to see her go, but got a laugh when we discovered she wore the same red stripper dress on the show that she'd worn in her Leg Scissors video.

Anyway, after Toastee was gone I couldn't find anyone else to root for.  The producers realized the series was going to rot then and there if something big didn't happen, so they pulled the age-old από μηχανής θεός ....

Flav brought back New York, last season's runner-up and recipient of Pumkin's infamous loogie...

Home viewers may not have had anyone left to cheer for, but now we had someone to rally against.  (Democrats know what I'm talking about.)

At any rate, on the eve of the final elimination I told Mrs. T that I was afraid VH1 was going to cave into the ratings.  I told her my greatest fear was that Flav would select New York and they'd create a spin-off show called I Love New York or some such.  Afterall, Flavor of Love itself is a spin-off of Strange Love, and Strange Love was a spin-off of The Surreal Life 3.  Turns out I wasn't the only one thinking this.  On their final date, New York's opponent, Deelishis asked Flav pointedly whether he was going to make his decision based on what would make good TV.

In case you missed it, here's how the final elimination went down....

So how are they doing now?  We'll just have to wait for the reunion show airing a week from Sunday.

But there's more....

My suspicions about VH1's producers were confirmed once news broke the next day that New York is getting her own show. 

YEAAH BOYEEE!

Script to the Bone

Here's a little something pulled from McPan's site.  Good luck:

A. Pick 11 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes on your blog.
D. Have commenters guess what the movie is.
E. Either strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified or place the guesser’s user name directly after the quote.
F. Extra points for knowing the actor or character’s name.

1. 

"There's nothing sadder than a sad Japanese man." Orgazmo

2.

"I've never seen a pilgrim who could use a staff the way you did." The Beastmaster

3. 

"Stuck in Greece.  Lowest standard of living in Europe." Time Bandits

4. 

"Once he even tried to ravish me disguised as a cuttlefish." Clash of the Titans

5. 

"Things'll be much better when we get to America, I promise." 
"We're in America.  We've been here a week." Sid & Nancy

6.

"What's the age of consent around here?" 
"Eighteen."
"Good, I'm old enough." The Pirate Movie

7.

"It's the patriotic part."
"Should we stand up?"  The Muppet Movie

8.

"How do you know you're God?" 
"Simple.  When I pray to Him, I find I am talking to myself." The Ruling Class

9.

"No, no, this is the kind of conversation that two people have when one of them is female." Fierce Creatures

10.

"Is that the latest fashion?"
"No Mom, that's the oldest profession." The World According to Garp

11.

"You tell him, and I will smack you.  I will smack you like a bad, bad donkey, okay!" Muppets from Space

Week in Review

ITEM!

I almost never buy CDs or DVDs at the mall.  But this weekend I found a copy of Dino De Laurentiis' 1976 version of King Kong on sale for $4.50.  I couldn't pass it up.

I remember as a kid collecting the trading cards.  I just found these pictures on EBay:

I'm not sure whatever happened to mine.  Probably gone in one of the yard sales my folks seemed to throw every other year.  At any rate, it was good to see the film again.  First time in nearly 30 years.  I was amazed at how much I actually remembered.

Still haven't seen the new Peter Jackson version yet.  And honestly, I'm not in any great hurry to do so.  I heard it was wicked long.  Mrs. T is not a movie fan at all, so I don't watch as much as I like.  I've got a huge backlog of flicks I've yet to see (including everything nominated for best picture this year.) 

ITEM!

It's been a bittersweet time in bloggerdom these past couple of weeks.  J-Go closed down Suburban Scrawl after three years and JtH is on an indefinite hiatus.  Admittedly, I haven't been able to post as much as I'd like, and I'm probably going to consolidate... no more Friday Cat Blogging and I'm probably going to close down my quiz.  (Kind of silly to host a quiz I think if you don't have time to play it yourself.)  But you can still get your quiz fix over at CBK's place.  I'm not going anywhere though, I just don't want to commit to serials if I can't maintain them.

It's not all bad news though.... the Hyperbolic Hermitage just popped onto the scene and will replace J-Go on my sidebar.  Oh, and for now on, anytime I have to mention J-Go, his name will be linked to this site.... I know it's cruel, but it's a just punishment... at least until he decides to resurrect his blog. 

Week in Review

Item:

Last week Mrs. T and I were watching the tube when a trailer appeared for the new movie, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  Mrs. T said "Oooooo."  This surprised me because 1) She really doesn't enjoy movies in general, and 2) she never heard of C.S. Lewis or his books (she's Japanese afterall.)  I looked over to her and asked if she was interested in watching it and she replied in the affirmative.  So I got up and grabbed my old Chronicles of Narnia set off the bookshelf and dusted off the first volume.  To this Mrs. T let out "Huuuh?"  So each evening this week I've read a few chapters aloud.  She's really enjoying it and I am too considering the last time I sat down with these stories was about 20 years ago.

Item:

I stopped by the barber this morning for a trim.  The wife and I have an appointment tomorrow to get a portrait made.  In our six years of marriage we've only had two studio portraits made, the first at our wedding and the second about three years ago in which I looked like this:

Needless to say, we figured it was time for an update.

Item:

As much as I hyped my yard sale last weekend, I never got to post as much as I intended to, so there's probably going to be more posted in the upcoming weeks.  So far I've received several bids, but I'm very surprised that the Bendeniz poster isn't selling.

Item:

Tomorrow night is my first business Christmas party.  I've gone with Mrs. T to her's, but this will be the first for my own.  Mrs. T is excited to finally meet all the characters at my work, and there are plenty, unfortunately I don't share many work stories here because I like my job very much and intend to keep it.  I may not be the brightest guy on the planet, but I do know that blogging+work can have bad repercussions.  But I will let you in on a secret....business trip coming....pictures...stay tuned.

Item:

Sinead O'Connor's North American tour ends Saturday night in Philadelphia.  She did a web-broadcast earlier this week, but not a single show in Texas.  I'm not sulking though...really.  Just keep me away from sharp objects.

Netflix A-Go-Go

After one long year I'm once again subscribing to Netflix.  That means monthly installments of Netflix A-Go-Go are back!  It's been a while, so here's how it works.  Below is the list of movies played at The Cloister in the last month.  Click the links for semi-relevant commentary:

• American Splendor
• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Lords of Dogtown
• Cat Stevens: Majikat
• Penn & Teller's Bullshit: Season 1, Discs 1 & 2
• In Cold Blood
• Ultrachrist!
• Rabbit-Proof Fence
• Fast Times at Ridgmont High
• Hotel Rwanda