David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 170

Remember This Guy?

Remember this guy? I once caught him peeing on my house in the afternoon on a weekday.

He didn’t really seem to care when confronted, so I took his picture and shared it. I don’t even own that house any more, but Facebook brought this up as a memory I might want to share. Facebook is weird.

Repurposing A Fake Twins Photo

“An ambitious genetic experiment takes the wrong turn when two twins – who look nothing alike – are born and then separated. Years later, the unlikely siblings meet: Julius, a highly educated but sheltered giant with a big heart, and Vincent, a pint-sized hustler with an insatiable lust for women and money. With girlfriends in tow and a hitman on their tail, the newfound brothers set off on a wild, cross-country misadventure to find their mother – but end up finding out more about themselves.”

(Of course, this is not a photo of Vin Diesel and his twin. He does have a twin, but it’s not this guy. This works better for this gag though. Summary of Twins courtesy of here.)

You Had To Be Able To Get A Better Picture Than That

I just saw a headline flash with a picture as I was walking by a display screen a moment ago. It was about talks today between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over the Syrian civil war. Significantly, this was the photo they ran:

Come on now, they had to be able to find a better picture than this. This is likely the most awkward handshake photo they could find. I don’t even think it’s recent, I think it’s from March. Why pick this one? Trying to show the awkwardness of the talks? If you take enough pictures of people, you’re going to be able to come up with some bad ones. This looks like two kids who are having to shake hands because mom is making them but they aren’t done fighting yet.

It simply seemed manipulative.

 

Wondering About Animated GIFs Again

I got curious again about whether or not I could do a quick search and find an animated gif about something. That something would be a search for “dancing puritan.” I didn’t find a whole lot, but I did find one:

Frankly, it’s not much. I prefer the dancing turkey that came up in the same search.

My Reflex Reaction To The Jack In The Box Promotion Is Probably Not What They Were Going For

Apparently, Jack in the Box is giving away one million free burgers. It’s some kind of promotion or another. I’m not real concerned about it. I’m not a big Jack in the Box person and I’m not even sure if there are any near me. However, I did have an immediate reflex reaction upon seeing the headline. Somehow, I don’t think, whatever they were going for, that my reflex reaction was what they were going for. Here ’tis:

I’m sure they’re doing this to sell something. My reflex reaction isn’t selling anything for them. Oh well.

Broncos Super Bowl Parade From My Office Window Animated GIF

I had a great view of the Broncos Super Bowl parade from my office window on the 23rd floor. I decided to take a few pics, and then to make an animated gif from them. This covers from about 10:00am to 1:00pm.

It’s been interesting to try to work downtown today. I heard estimates of a million people descending who weren’t normally down here. That’s quite a crowd.

My Apologies To Everyone

My apologies to everyone. I did it again. Whenever the Super Bowl comes up, I think of one thing, Bill Murray’s monologue (as Hunter Thompson) in Where the Buffalo Roam about the Super Bowl. It’s a decent movie, though not great. The monologue is gold though. I can’t get enough of it. Every time one of my friends mentioned the Super Bowl on Facebook, I felt the urge to post the quote in response. Often I did. Only once did I explain, and only upon request. Most of the time, people didn’t ask.

He became a man the day of the greatest game he ever played. Everything he ever knew about common decency and morality he learned that day in December from Alan “The Horse” Ameche; and today in the Superbowl he would earn his wings. The crowd had assembled; a crowd of America’s elite. Toyota salesmen from all around the country — orientals and even those suspected of being orientals — stacked on the thirty yard line watching him sweat and wipe caked blood from his face. The Gallow brothers — Ernest and Julio — party guys who had skinned a few Mexicans and forced them to carry them on their shoulders down to the pre-game tailgate parties at the colosseum. The Pepsi and Coca Cola bottlers of America — Coke adds life; It’s the real thing — bombarded by missiles; flying flaming matchbook covers. The waterheads from General Motors up in the top seats where they belong; getting the worst of the pollution. All sorts of weird motherfuckers were at the game.

I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself.

Is Home Depot Making A Joke Or Not?

I saw this sign in a Home Depot today:

Are they making a joke or not? This is Colorado, after all. If they weren’t, maybe they should have phrased this differently.

I Finally Get Around To The “Bernie or Hillary?” Meme

That “Bernie or Hillary?” “Compare them in the issues that matter.” meme has been going around a bit lately. Since I first saw it, I had a thought for my own. I finally decided to get on that.

I shared this on Facebook already, but of course since I was so unreasonably proud of it (as I am most of the memes I actually mess with), I wanted to share it here as well. Clearly, I need attention.

An Unintended Alternative Reading Of A Scene From “Smoke Signals”

I finally got to see Smoke Signals recently. I intended to watch it almost twenty years ago when everyone else did, but I got into an argument with the friend I was going to the theater with and ended up not going. I finally saw it recently at home, and saw something that wasn’t intended but gave me a different interpretation on a scene.

There’s a flashback scene where Victor Joseph (Adam Beach, though played by Cody Lightning in the childhood flashback scenes) is angrily and disappointedly present for yet another drunken party and his drunken father Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer) asks him…well, let’s just quote:

Arnold: Hey Victor, who’s your favorite Indian, huh? Who’s your favorite?

Arlene: It’s your momma, huh? Tell him it’s your momma.

Young Victor: (softly) Nobody.

Arnold: What did you say, Victor? Speak up, boy. Who’s your favorite Indian?

Young Victor: Nobody.

Arnold: Nobody, huh? Nobody! Did you say nobody?

Arlene: He didn’t mean it. Come on, tell him Victor. Tell your daddy you didn’t mean it.

Young Victor: Nobody. Nobody. Nobody.

Arlene: You gotta love somebody, Victor.

Arnold: Nobody! Nobody! Nobody!

Now, I understand the snap Victor is supposed to be having here, the betrayal he’s committing out of his anger and disappointment at how he feels everyone, particularly his parents, are squandering their lives and resignedly allowing their lives to be destroyed. However, at that moment, I saw more. It wasn’t intended to be there, but I saw more.

After all, Arnold Joseph:

and Nobody from Dead Man:

See? Gary Farmer, the actor playing Victor’s father, also played Nobody in Dead Man! Don’t get mad, Arnold! Who is Victor’s “favorite Indian?” It’s you! It’s the character you play in Dead Man!

It’s an emotional scene, so humor isn’t really appropriate, but I just couldn’t get over the odd connection I put together for myself there. I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed that.