Who are You? Since I've been doing this blog, I've also had the opportunity to look at other people's blog sites, and as a result, I've come across some interesting links. The most intriguing ones deal with finding out just what kind of person I am. For example, What Movie are you? Surprisingly, turns out I'm one of my favorite movies:

What Classic Movie Are You?

Another test by the same site tries to figure out what kind of leader I am. This one totally shocked me:

What Famous Leader Are You?

Never would have guessed that. Don't get the same kind of "action" Bill does, if you know what I mean. I would have thought Wendel Wilkie or something!
I took the test twice and it still came out as Clinton! Oh well, at least I must be more of a stud muffin that I thought I was! So it only follows to find out what my life would be rated if the Motion Picture Association of America had its say:
My life is rated R.
What is your life rated?That's an R mostly for language, with only mild sexual content. I'm guessing Bill Clinton would be an NC-17. Next step is to fantasize that if I had a secret life as a "porno star" what would my screen name be? THIS SITE gives you one. Mine would be "BRAD COXX." By the way, Bill Clinton's porno name is "ZANE DANIELS." Neither one is George Costanza's "BUCK NAKED," but they'll have to do!

The Eyes Have It! Went for my annual eye exam today, and the news is I'm getting older. DUH! Had to get a stronger prescription on my contacts, and the Doc says I may need bifocals (reading glasses) soon. Last week I found out my blood pressure is way up, and my doctor had to burn some pre-cancerous lesions off my arms. Next week, limbs may start dropping off my body.

Lancelot Links. I'm trying to add a few new links to the site everyday. Some of these are favorite musicians, authors and movies. Some are personal friends and acquaintances. Some are just for fun. Please click on these sites, as they have all touched my life in some way, and hopefully they will touch yours.

Da Vinci Code. Just finished Dan Brown's mega-bestseller, and I have to say this is one terrific book. The book is a basic "find-the-thingy" thriller, but what makes it different and exciting is its abundance of history and theology packed onto nearly every page. It is also remarkably thrilling for a book in which the action often stops dead while a character explains some aspect of history to another character for pages at a time. I had a great time reading it and learned much about the Bible, the history of the Catholic church, Da Vinci and the Knights Templar. This is the very definition of a "real page-turner." Highly recommended!

And the nominees are. Oh Boy, another group of Oscar contenders, and another group made up mostly of films I haven't seen. LOTR:The Return of the King, and Master and Commanderare the big epic films, Seabiscuit is the crowd pleasing "family" movie, Mystic Riveris the lone "serious drama" and Lost in Translation is the token quirky indie. Of the best picture nominees, I've only seen Seabiscuit and Lost in Translation.

Seabiscuit was a well done movie, and I enjoyed it immensely, but it was nothing special; a sweet, feel good treat.

Lost in Translation is my pick for best picture based on what I've seen so far. Not a "great" movie, but very unusual and challenging. A movie about two bored people doing very little for 2 hours shouldn't be entertaining or interesting, but this one is. Granted, it is slow moving, but this film lets the actors say volumes with silence. Bill Murray is wonderful, and is my pick for best actor. Scarlet Johansson was totally robbed by not getting a best actress nomination for this film.

The snubbed movie this year for me is American Splendor. All it gets is an adapted screenplay nomination. This was by far the most creative, off-beat and emotionally effective movie of the year in my opinion. In telling the story of underground comix icon and hospital file clerk Harvey Pekar, this film broke all the rules. Mixing live action, animation, and actors with their real-life counterparts, the film is very funny, emotionally wrenching and sweet.

And Johnny Depp for best actor? I can think of ten better performances he's given than his ultra-camp turn in Pirates of the Caribbean! What was the Academy smoking?

Oh well, we'll all find out the winners a month from now and forget all about them two days later.

Oh Hell, New Hampshire. Kerry wins big in the NH primary. Is Dean done? There's always been something I've liked about Kerry, even though I still don't totally trust him. Not that I've ever found a totally trustworthy politician, mind you. I think it's that he just comes off as the most Presidential, and the most electable (one who may be able to beat Bush). Some of his early post-Viet Nam politics still bug me, as does his waffling on the Iraq war, but I think he seems fairly solid overall. Dean is too gruff and emotional, Edwards is too much of an unknown quantity (though he could be a soccer mom favorite like Clinton), and Wesley Clark (who has Clinton backing) is kind of likeable, but TOO military. By next weeks Super Seven events, maybe the field will narrow.

I have a "Kinky Friedman for President" bumper sticker on my car, and at this point I'd probably still prefer the Kinkster over any of the current crop. (For those who don't know, Friedman is a Jewish country singer and mystery writer from Texas, and founder of the band The Texas Jewboys). No, he is not actually running.

What I'm reading
Finishing up Utopia by Lincoln Child. A good, not great thriller by the coauthor of the brilliant The Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life with Crows. This one is about a high tech amusement park in the middle of the Nevada desert taken over by terrorists/thieves. I'm enjoying the behind the scenes details about the daily running of the park, but the plot is same-old-same-old. Good characterizations help.

Starting The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Yeah, I know, everyone else has read this by now. A informal book club of folks from church is reading this, and I thought it made a good excuse to get it done. Generally I hate to read "popular" books, but since I am totally enamored of Michael Gelb's How To Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, I thought it'd make a great tie-in.

Also finished Blue Suede Clues by Daniel Klein. This is the second in his Elvis Presley as detective series. Yes, the King solves crime. This is a wonderful series, both for fans of Elvis and fans of hard-boiled mystery. This one is less humorous and darker than the previous book Kill Me Tender, but a great read. This one has EP dissatisfied with his movie career, torn between Anne Margaret and Priscilla, beginning his addiction to pain-killers and trying to figure why an old army buddy was framed for the rape-murder of a Hollywood extra. Someday, I would love to write mysteries as good as Klein's.

What I'm Watching
Man About the House The original British inspiration for Three's Company. The show is even lamer than the American version, and much less made of the male character pretending to be gay, but it is amazing to see how much of an exact copy that Three's Company is. The landlord's are the Ropers; he's undersexed, she's oversexed. The male is Robin Tripp, in the US one, Jack Tripper. Like the American version, he has a randy friend Larry. One of the girls is named Crissy, thought here it is the cute brunette, and not the dumb blonde.

Green Acres: The First Season Box. Ok, guilty pleasure time. I think this is the cleverest, most hilarious show of the 1960s. Not just a fish out of water series about sophisticates among rubes, the humor here is downright surreal. The creators play with ALL of the audiences expectations and throw in every off the wall concept imaginable. I think this is a precursor to shows like Laugh-In and Monty Python. Don't miss this!

Lara Croft: the Cradle of Life. Didn't expect to like this one at all, but I really enjoyed it. Sort of a female Indiana Jones/James Bond hybrid. Lots of globe trotting (Greece, England, Africa,Hong Kong), beautiful photography, a fun if standard plot, a great villain, good action set pieces, a little romance, and even some cool CGI monsters just for the hell of it. Oh and Angelina Jolie looks great in silver body suit.

Not the Nine O'Clock News. Another British original of a popular American version, this was made into Not Necessarily the News for HBO.
This late 1970s early 1980s show is a scattershot sketch comedy piece, featuring early performances by people now considered tops in British comedy: Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones. Excellent, anarchic, and very very funny.

So where the hell have I been?
It's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything. This is due to several things: a cold, lack of anything much going on, and a general funk I've been in. This "funk" came out of the realization that the New Year is here and I have not made any resolutions yet. Last year, I had many plans, many ideas how to improve my life. I have to say that most of these ideas were at least started, and some are still in effect, or part of an ongoing evolution.

In all, 2003 was a great year. Business was poor, but I made up for that in my personal life. I feel I grew spiritually, emotionally and socially. Still a lot of work to do, just not really clear on exactly what that is. Maybe that is the problem, why I am feeling "funky."

I will put the house up for sale soon, and start looking for a new place. I want to live closer to the Rio Grande, somewhere in the valley, somewhere close to the Bosque bike path. I know it will be farther from work, but I need some place quieter, closer to nature, and without a drunk fool across the street yelling at me and the world all the time. I know my inebriated neighbor may make the place a hard sell, but he does give drinking up for Lent, so maybe that'll be prime selling time!

I plan on writing something in the Blog everyday from here on. Even if it is just a few lines. We'll see how that goes.

Home Sweet Home Back from the big Vegas with Dad trip. Little did I know the tail end of this trip coincided with the Consumer Electronics Show and the Adult Video Expo. (Whoever thought of putting computer geeks and porn stars together in Vegas on the same weekend was a genius!-Talk about two lifestyles that need each other!) Anyway the place was packed with people most of the week. Had a great time and so did Dad. Here are some highlights:
Mama Mia.I loved it, but Dad couldn't tell four characters apart, and thought the music was "too damned loud!"
Jubilee, an old fashioned production show with lavish sets, ancient songs, and a huge cast of topless dancers in those big gaudy head dresses. Dad loved it, he said, "for the sets." I think I saw him looking at at few "sets" on the dancers chests, though. Very elaborate show, in which there is a spectacular "Samson and Delilah" number and a bit where the Titanic sinks on stage. And while, I'm never one to grouse about any opportunity to glimpse naked breasts, the novelty wears off after about 50 pair at a time.
Lance Burton. Very well done magic show, very kid friendly. Reasonably elaborate, with some very impressive illusions. However, I kept nodding off due to Dad's snoring keeping me awake the previous evening and having walked about 5 miles or more earlier in the day. Wish I could remember more of it.
The Sirens of TI. This is the new sexed-up free pirate show outside in front of Treasure Island. The ship full of naughty girl pirates (which look suspiciously like imports from a local strip club) meet up with the ship full of chaste male pirates from the "Bull Ship," amid much painful double entendre, awful pop/disco/rap music and some fair pyrotechnics. Ultimately the boys are introduced to the pleasures of the flesh, without seeing much of it. As dirty a show as you can get away with on a public sidewalk, but I felt sorry for the half dressed performers, some of whom were diving in the water in 50 degree weather. BRRRRR! The show was mostly lame, but the spectacle of two pirate ships blasting each other on a Las Vegas street was memorable.
The Comedy Stop at Tropicana featuring John Joseph and Bruce Smirnoff.
Simply the best night of stand up I've seen in years. Nice club, with the old fashioned long tables instead of the small round ones. Early show is non-smoking, and Thursday nights are two for one admission with two free drinks. Hello, Laffs! Are you listening? Smirnoff is a Brooklyn Jewish guy with a slow, conversational delivery and a very self deprecating act. Lots of jokes about his own misery, but the best bit was about the Jewish porn film he starred in called "Nosh My Schmeckle." Headliner was a guy called John Joseph who is simply one of the best acts I've seen in years. He comes with his own piano plying sidekick, Johnny B., who introduces him and talks back to him through the act. Joseph starts with some standard material about relationships and kids, then picks up steam when he interacts with the audience. Later he picks up a guitar and improvs a song on the spot about all the people he's talked to that night. Then the acts goes totally musical for the second half, including a great bit about rock stars in kindergarten and a yodelling rap! Both Smirnoff and Joseph are older guys and their experience and expertise at their craft is evident. If these two acts ever come to Laffs, don't miss them.
Other observations.
Dad's favorite attraction was the huge car museum at the Imperial Palace. Great cars in the worst hotel on the strip. Have to walk a maze like route through hotel remodeling(or maybe just demolition) to get to it. Smokiest casino on the planet.

Vegas would be a much nicer place without all these people on the street corners wearing shirts reading "Strippers Direct to You," trying to shove these little porno cards and magazines at you. After about the third time you pass them, you just learn to ignore them. Some try to get your attention which little twirly moves or by slapping the cards in their palms. Also the streets are littered with their "literature." I feel sorry for them in a way, because I think they all must have been taken from some little village in Mexico and smuggled up here to work off their passage to "The Land of Opportunity" by handing out these damn cards. They probably even have to pay for the cards. There are lots of scams taking advantage of people who are just looking for a better life in the US and I suspect this is one of those.

My New Movie Pal Having done lots of no budget shows for public access TV, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for low and no budget film makers. I recently bought three no budget movies directed by a guy on Long Island called Pat Bishow. Each movie is a shot-on-video production, parodying 1960s and '70s television shows. The films are El Frenetico and Go-Girl; a masked wrestler superhero parody,The Girls from H.A.R.M.;a Charlie's Angels spy show with 3 Asian women in the leads, and It's a Haunted Happenin'; a Josie and the Pussycats rock and roll haunted hose comedy. In my emails from Bishow when I bought the films, he seemed genuinely pleased I'd want his films, and when the films arrived , I was pleased I did. He threw in a t-shirt, a set of lobby cards, some postcards, and all three videos had tons of behind the scenes additions. This is marketing at a grass roots level, not a corporate media blitz. In one of the taped extra features, Bishow mentions that Blair Witch Project cost $100,000 to make, while The Girls from H.A.R.M. cost $2,800. His films look much better than the budget. They are well shot, well acted and have great music. They are also very funny. Also, these films would probably be G or PG rated if submitted to the MPAA.
With the market being flooded with awful amateur no budget shot-on-video horror and gore garbage, a guy like Bishow is a real treasure. His films have a warm nostalgia, a great sense of humor, and you might even want to show them to your grandma. Keep up the good work Pat, I'll be following your career. BTW, see the Amusement Films link to check out Pat's movies.

Viva Las Vegas! Well, it's off to Las Vegas, NV tomorrow. Sin City, gambling the night away, drinks , debauchery, loose women and... Dad! Yep, I'm going with my father, who has never been there before. First stop, the Chicken Ranch! Oops, just kidding, no brothels are on our schedule. Actually, I've only been to Vegas three times: once for a wedding and twice by myself. I'm not much of a gambler. I like Vegas for the shows and the basic concept that Vegas is basically a slightly morally corrupt version of Epcot Center or Disneyland. Each hotel/casino is it's own little "theme world." Excalibur is "medieval world," Luxor is "Egypt world," Caesar's Palace is "Roman world," New York , New York is obnoxious bastard world (a joke!), etc. In truth, I come back to Vegas for the shows. This year, the big one I want to see is "Mama Mia." Ok yep, ABBA fan, sorry. Will also probably see "Jubilee" and Lance Burton's magic act. We should have a great time. I'll report on the outcome when we get back.