Cheese! Sweat! Casino! Pinatas!

Why do people hate Michael Bay? I hear a lot of that. Is it because his movies are filled with so much cheese? Because even if you do hate him, you have to admit he makes good action flicks and the visual style he uses to shoot is pretty damn cool. No…?

I saw the second Transformers movie recently and last weekend I finally got around to watching ‘Bad Boys II’. I really enjoyed both movies, but again: Because of the eye candy. Yes, those types of movies have some really cheesy stuff in it, but the action, the way the film looks, and the special effects will always be a treat for me.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like ‘good’ movies as well. I do, but I also really like eye candy. It’s the reason the first purchase I made when I left my full time job a while back was a 50 inch plasma TV. That tv is my wife.

One of the best things to watch in HD? The Discovery channels “Planet Earth” series. Hot damn that looks good!

So yeah, I’ll watch cheesy shows like Smallville because of the way it’s shot and how well they use lighting. I also enjoyed the short-lived series “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” because they really knew how to make it visually entertaining. The series itself was pretty crappy, but if you didn’t bother to watch the final 3 episodes, let me tell you that they left the cheese behind and really gave a good hard effort to the writing. The show ended on such a good note, that the few fans of the show wished they had made that kind of effort from the get-go.

So yeah, I’m capable of enjoying a good movie like “To Kill a Mockingbird” (by the way, thanks, Tristan), but I’m also capable of watching a ‘bad’ movie like Transformers more so because of the eye candy than anything else. For those movies, I’d gladly set my brain age to the age of 12 and enjoy the shit out of a movie.

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Jesse, my ‘Felt’ puppet was asked to be part of an independent film last week! The lovely Danielle Uhlarik wrote it and  invited him to be in the film and he gladly accepted. I can’t wait to see film. Here he is on set.

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I started working out again. Ouch. My body almost punched me in the face for not warning it ahead of time. Since I don’t belong to a gym anymore I went old school and am working out from home on my days off. So my dogs have been laughing at me sweat while they run around me trying to get in my way.

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I finally got to go to the new Horshoe casino last week. It was an impromptu trip that friend Tristan quickly put together for her birthday. So friends Jason, Alex, and myself happily obliged. (Ok. it took a little hagling) But it was fun and it helped Tristan kick off her birthday weekend, which I understand was quite fun. :)

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It was niece’s bday on the 11th! I wish I could have seen her, but she was out celebrating. So intsead I headed to the south side to see and hang out with my friend Rafi and his family. There was a block party going on and Rafi also decided to have a little something for his wonderful daughter, Cecilia, whose birthday was a couple of days before.
It’s always a treat seeing and hanging out with his family. I miss that gang.

Rafi bought a pinata for Ceci and as soon as that sucker came out, every kid on the block flocked over and got in line for a chance to take a whack at the thing.

I’ve been a part of several pinata sacrifices both as a kid and as an adult, and it wasn’t until watching kids whack this thing on this day that I realized that my people have a sick sense of humor. They should call DCFS on all of us.

If you’ve never been to one of these pinata lynchings, the kids are basically made to look like mentally ill kittens sniffing and clawing at some invisible floating cat nip.

See, an already sugar-high child is blindfolded, given a stick, spun several times, and then told to begin swinging wildly at an object that is constantly in motion. All this while surrrounded by a crowd of kids eager to get their hands on any piece of candy that flies out of the wounded pinata. These kids are so eager that no matter how many times you yell at them to get back as a blinfolded kid swings away with a stick, they ignore you and actually get closer in anticipation of a motherload of sugar.

Every kid in line gets a few whacks at the poor pinata until finally someone hits it hard enough and it explodes in a rain of candy. As soon as this happens, the crowd surrounding the stick wielding child RUSHES and DIVES toward the middle in hopes obtaining the most candy.
It’s like watching 20 tiny linebackers with no helmets or pads that have been told that the person that comes away with the football makes the team. It’s a scary sight.

Yet despite the risk of injuries to the tiny sugar-addicts, the parents encourage their kids to be part of this madness year after year, party after party.

In the end, some kids are crying, some are happy, and some are off to the sides taking pictures holding up parts of the pinata carcass. Sick little bastards.

So go ahead and pin the tail on the donkey, we’ll be over here creating tiny lunatics that will stop at nothing to get their hands on some sweet-ass candy.

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It’s been a busy week. I’ve been on a week-long gig where I essentially sold my soul a little. But hey, it pays for the Miller Lites and that equals Party Time. Kishhhhhhh!

MoneyFun! The Wire! Parade! Movies Machine! Michael.

It should be mandatory that I have an accountant with me at all times to tell me: “Hey, you can’t afford that, so don’t buy it”.

If I have money in my pocket or account, my brain tells the tiny people that work in the ‘smart dept’ in my head to take a nap, and then it lets me think that it’s Ok to spend it, because it’s available to me right now. Ugh.

The good thing is I’m not spending that much-needed money on dumb things like drugs, expensive clothing, or parrot holsters. No, when I use money I shouldn’t be using, I know I’m doing it for fun.

Yeah, dumb excuse, but it’s true. Take this week for example: I went to the movies yesterday, went to Fogo today, and I know I’m going play poker tonight.

Movies Enjoyable? Check.

Fogo de Chao? Double-Fuck-Yeah-Check.

Poker with my friends? Always a great time. (Except when Niki calls a huge bet with a pair of sixes)

I enjoy having fun and would gladly cross that financial bridge later as long as the reason involved having a good time, especially with friends.

Yeah, don’t come to me for financial advice, because I’ll just convince you that your kids can eat later, because getting the high score on Defender is a chance you don’t come across every day, so keep feeding that machine money.

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I put up with the first (long) episode of “The Wire”, and I wasn’t eager to watch the second episode.

A couple of days later I gave it another shot and put up with the second episode. “Why do people like this!” I thought. Later I was so bored that I decided to watch the third episode. “How did this thing get picked up for so many seasons!” I thought.

I waited almost a week before I gave it another shot and watched the 4th episode. Hmm…well, that was ok.

Last Friday I went to blockbuster (No, I don’t Netflix so stop trying to make me get it) and grudgingly got the second dvd that contained episodes 5, 6, and 7 of the first season. Later that night while hanging out backstage before a show, I mentioned to friend Arnie that I wasn’t impressed so far and that I didn’t get the hype. He told me to be patient and that most people don’t lock on until around the 5th episode. If it’s anything like ‘Sopranos’, then I guess I can understand that and decided I’d try to give the show a couple more shots and promised Arnie I’d punch him in the balls if I wasn’t hooked by the end of the 7th episode.

I watched episode 5 and got a little more curious. Saw episode 6 and got kinda eager to watch episode 7. I then found myself craving to get to blockbuster to get the rest of the episodes. Translation: Hooked.

Arnie’s ball are safe…for now.

“Come at the King, you best not miss.”

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I attended a parade by myself for the first time!

Sunday was the Chicago Gay Pride parade. I didn’t have any plans on going, but it was hot in my place so I decided to go out for a bit. I found myself walking a great length of the parade on my own and really enjoying myself.

I think most people that haven’t experienced watching or being around this particular parade probably think it’s just a freak show and nothing family worthy. They couldn’t be more wrong.

Yes, you are going to see some freaky stuff on the sidelines –that just comes with the territory. But you’re also going to see a lot people happy to be who they are, and even more people happy for them.

The support and positivity is amazing. Couples, People with their kids on their shoulders, pets, gay, straight, black, brown, white-Everybody!

It was just so cool to be around SO many people bursting with positivity and good vibes towards one another. Easily one of the funnest parades you will ever attend if you have a good heart and no ill will towards anybody.

Yeah, I know “funnest” isn’t a word. Suck it.

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I went to movies by myself again!

I went to see the new Transformers. Lots of eye candy as far as special effects go, and that’s way ok with me. So yeah, me likey movie.

Don’t worry about plot, just sit back, enjoy nachos and enjoy the show.

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Michael Jackson and Farrah in one shot, huh?

OK, there’s a bunch of posts/news stuff about Michael, but like many others, I’ll say I’m sorry he passed and I enjoyed his music.

Yes, he was a weirdo and maybe much more, but it doesn’t change how his music shaped a generation, like it or not.

I think one of the reasons his passing gathered –and continues to gather- so much attention is because of how he affected a WHOLE generation.

Without trying to sound too cliché, he practically was the ‘Elvis’ of this generation. There are people alive today that grew up with his music. That saw him grow from a child to a weird adult, all the while captivating people with his music (and weirdness). Those same people can relate to several points of time in their lives to his music, and it’s because of that we feel like, “Man….he died?? Boo.”

My best memory of him was taking a tape of his moonwalk and popping it in my Dad’s big-ass vcr machine and for hours trying to use the shitty pause button on those old machines in an effort to learn the secret of the moon walk.

Whatever his hidden demons were, it didn’t change that he was a master performer and that his music really was pretty cool.

Later, Mike.

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Ever think about saying or doing something you maybe shouldn’t, and then your brain sends the “common sense” workers in your brain for a walk and lets the janitor take over for a bit? Yeah, me too. Me too.

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Pics!

wrigley Wrigley at 4AM.

puppies What’s better than a puppy in a basket? A basket full of puppies!

Parade!

parade parade2 parade3

parade4 parade6parade5

parade7 And parade over.