David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 205

No! Bryan Williams Won The Oscar For Best Picture!

I’ll get this right yet! How could I have been so foolish? It was obviously Bryan Williams. Bryan Williams obviously won best picture this year.

His stage name is Birdman (or Baby).

Wait! The Mo Hayder Novel Won Best Picture

Wait! I still don’t have it right! The 1999 novel by Mo Hayder won the Oscar for best picture in 2015!

I Got It Right This Time…Birdman Lookin’ For Love

I previously posted that either a biographical picture about Robert Franklin Stroud or the old Hanna-Barbara cartoon won best picture at the Oscars this year. I was wrong on both counts, but I’m sure I’ve got it now. They actually recognized the old Kids in the Hall sketch. Birdman: Lookin’ For Love.

That’s right, Kids in the Hall��did a sketch about a half man/half chicken who was desperately seeking a mate. People would get pulled in not realizing the half man/half chicken thing was real, get creeped out (or by his overexuberance), and run away. Then Birdman would keep looking.

Oh wait…that was the Chicken Lady. Not Birdman.��Chicken Lady��Lookin’ for Love. Wow, I still don’t have this right. What the heck was Birdman about?

So It Turns Out That Best Picture Actually Went To A 1967 Cartoon

Okay, I was wrong yesterday when I thought that best picture went to a movie about Robert Franklin Stroud. Turns out it was actually a movie version of a 1960s cartoon. You can see how I could make this mistake.

We all remember Birdman. The basic premise of the original cartoon was that he was a superhero who dressed like a bird, had a bird sidekick, and for some reason got his powers from the sun. The plot of pretty much every episode involved him fighting a bad guy, getting drained of his powers, flying up closer to the sun to recharge his powers, and then beating the bad guy with the recharged powers. Later, he was rebooted on��Adult Swim as a defense attorney in an adultish and humorous way.

I think it’s pretty easy to have made this mistake. The famous prisoner just seemed the more likely subject for an Oscar winning film, me not knowing anything about it. I think I’ve got it right now. At least, I’m pretty sure.

I really shouldn’t rely on Facebook for my news. Or the Onion.

Why’d A Movie About Robert Franklin Stroud Win Best Picture?

I haven’t watched a whole lot of movies recently. I don’t even know what most of them are about. I certainly didn’t watch the Academy Awards. However, it seems to be all people have been talking about on Facebook, so I gotta ask…why’d a movie about��Robert Franklin Stroud win best picture?

I wasn’t even aware that there was such a movie out in the last year. I know there was at least one in 1962, but I didn’t think recent. He was a very well known prisoner, and perhaps a great example of rehabilitation in prison, but it kind of surprised me that a movie about him would get the oscar.

I guess I don’t pay enough attention to current movies, or what selection criteria the academy is using. It just surprised me, though.

Apparently Groundhogs Can Also Predict Mayoral Elections

We’re all familiar with the Groundhog Day superstition about the groundhog seeing his shadow and six more weeks of winter. However…did you know groundhogs can also make political predictions? Apparently so, at least as far as mayoral elections go.

Remember��Jon Freund? He was the Wisconsin mayor who was bit by Jimmy the Groundhog during the Groundhog Day celebration earlier this year. Well, he apparently lost his seat in a primary election.

Now, it’s not like we can be certain the Jimmy was making some kind of prediction as to the mayoral election, or even merely expressing a political preference. Still, isn’t it an interesting coincidence?

Getting Close To A New Blog Milestone

Well, I’m getting close to another blog milestone. As of the time I’m writing this, I’m around 600 hits away from 200,000 hits. Wow…200,000 hits.

Of course, I’ve had this blog since July of 2010. It’s almost five years old. Other than one day I missed for a very good reason, I’ve been posting every day since July 30, 2010. That’s somewhere around��1,671 posts…or around 120 hits per post. I suppose that’s not a surprising amount.

Still, 200,000 is around the population of Des Moines, Iowa. That makes me feel better. It’s like each person in Des Moines looked once and then never looked again.

Okay…I don’t feel better again.

LampsPlus: Thanks A Lot

Dear LampsPlus: Thanks a lot.

Recently, we broke one of the glass shades on our bathroom vanity light. We tried to find a replacement cover, but had great difficulty. We talked to LampsPlus, but they said they’d need some kind of part number to see if they could get a replacement. There were no identifiers visible on the fixture or the shade, so we would have had to take the fixture off the wall to find anything.

Electrical is beyond my skill set.

We were then informed by the developer that did our house that LampsPlus was indeed where they had gotten the fixture. LampsPlus still said they couldn’t figure out a replacement. THe fixture was nonstandard, so no replacement cover they had would fit.

Long story short, we bought a new fixture at Home Depot and hired an electrician to come out and install it. One thing LampsPlus did right: they gave us the contact info for the electrician who did end up helping us. Home Depot supposedly took our information for an electrician who was supposed to call us to schedule an install in 24-48 hours. Four days later we still haven’t heard.

Anyway, the new fixture is now installed. Know what the electrician told us? The old fixture was one specially made by LampsPlus. It was their own fixture and they could neither recognize it nor help find replacement parts. Mind you, it was only about four years old.

So, thanks LampsPlus. Thanks a lot.

Now I Miss Being Bugged

We took in a stray cat from outside a while ago. He’s a big boy, 16 pounds of mostly muscle (the vet said he only really needed to lose a pound or two, and that wasn’t a big deal). For a while, we had to keep him closed up at night due to some medical issues we were having taken care of. However, recently we’ve been able to let him out. This resulted in an ancitipated problem: he wanted to sleep with us.

Mind you, we already had three cats. All of them wanted to sleep on me for the most of the night. You might see why I was concerned about an additional nighttime visitor. I was starting to get crowded. A 16 pound visitor could present even more problems.

And, the first night or two he did in fact want to sleep on me. He wanted to sit right at the top of my chest, draped up by my neck. This wasn’t the easiest way to sleep, particular when he kept nuzzling my head. Keep in mind, this is a STRONG cat.

However, the last two nights he stayed downstairs. He still doesn’t completely get along with two of our other cats (him and Oscar are cool, though) and maybe that had something to do with it. Regardless, I found myself missing being bugged in the middle of the night. It’s easier to sleep, but I still miss being visited.

I’m Probably The Only One Who Didn’t Know Soul Asylum Is Still Around

I was just remembering the “Runaway Train” song by Soul Asylum in the mid nineties and I started wondering what the band had been up to.

I was a little surprised when I took a look at their Wikipedia page to realize they’re still together and still making albums. All I really knew from them was “Runaway Train.” Heck, “Runaway Train” was on their��Grave Dancers Union��album and that turned out to have been their sixth album. They’ve released four since, the most recent in 2012:

Say What You Will, Clarence… Karl Sold the Truck (1984) (Twin/Tone)
Made to Be Broken (1986) (Twin/Tone)
While You Were Out (1986) (Twin/Tone)
Hang Time (1988) (A&M)
And the Horse They Rode In On (1990) (A&M)
Grave Dancers Union (1992) [3x Platinum] (Columbia)
Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995) [Platinum] (Columbia)
Candy from a Stranger (1998) (Columbia)
The Silver Lining (2006) (Legacy)[2]
Delayed Reaction (2012) (429 Records)

I just found it odd that I could like that one song so much and know nothing else, or hear nothing else since that song, about them. Probably would hve been different if I’d gone looking, which I haven’t despite liking “Runaway Train,” but still.