David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 224

Watching Little TV Leads To Watching Few Movies

I watch very little TV. I spend most of my non-work time reading and writing and just don’t end up watching TV very much. I’m okay with that, though I don’t consider it a principle or anything, but I recently realized that it has a role in how few movies I’ve been seeing lately.

I mean, back when I used to watch TV much more, I used to go to a lot of movies. In recent times, I’ve gotten to very few. To give you an idea, the last movie I saw in the theater was American Hustle. Before that, Argo. Before that, I can’t even remember.

I think you get the point.

I started thinking about this and managed to come up with a possible cause and effect relationship. I like seeing movies in theaters, but I almost never know what is currently out. I don’t know what is currently out because I haven’t seen any trailers on TV…because I obviously don’t watch TV.

I hadn’t realized just how significant TV was in promoting movies. I could go and look to see what’s out there, but I just don’t absent a commercial convincing me that there’s a movie out there I want to see. I just don’t get spurred to action much by myself.

Too bad for all those commercials I won’t see and all the movies I won’t go see because I didn’t see those commercials.

Instead Of A Post Today Let’s Watch This Sally Struthers ICS Commercial From 1991

Instead of a post today, don’t you want to watch this International Correspondence Schools commercial with Sally Struthers from 1991? Sure, we all do!

Happy publication day to “Hagridden” by Samuel Snoek-Brown!

Happy publication day to Hagridden by Samuel Snoek-Brown! I’m so happy about this, I told Columbus Press they could borrow my blog for a day to talk about it:

Hagridden is a historical fiction novel by Samuel Snoek-Brown, published by Columbus Press (ColumbusPressBooks.com).

Straddling the line of historical and contemporary literary fiction, Hagridden is a haunting drama that unflinchingly approaches race, culture, apathy and humanity stripped to its core. It reveals what real people will do to endure, how some morph into unrecognizable beasts while others hollow into shells of their former selves.

The novel follows two women struggling to survive in the war-torn South as the Civil War tumbles to an end. In a storm-ravaged bayou, their efforts and sanity are further threatened by the intrusion of a revenge-bent Confederate officer and supposed sightings of the fabled rougarou, a fierce wolf-like creature of local lore.

Shaded in Southern Gothic and classical motifs yet written in a sharp contemporary style reminiscent of Tom Franklin, Charles Frazier and Cormac McCarthy, Hagridden presents a strangely beautiful world where humanity plays the contradictory roles of protagonist and antagonist.

Hardback, paperback and e-book editions of Hagridden are available at Amazon.com and at all major e-book retailers.

Find Hagridden here!

Tim Tebow Makes Up Calls From ‘Interested’ NFL Teams

Tim Tebow has apparently reported that his agent has received calls from ‘interested’ NFL teams. He didn’t specify which teams, however. He also didn’t say what those NFL teams were interested in.

Tebow apparently stated: “You wouldn’t know them. They live in Canada. Met them at Niagara Falls.”

Needless to say, the world is skeptical.

(Note: If news comes out that Tebow is actually talking to a real team before this post goes live, then never mind. I don’t know crap about football anyway.)

Denver: Does Every Other Restaurant Have To Be Fancy Tacos?

Denver: you have a lot of great restaurants. I love it. However, I have to ask…does every other place have to be fancy tacos?

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. I love tacos, and I even like the chef-inspired take on traditional tacos. Also known as fancy tacos. Gourmet sauces and meats like octopus or sheep neck instead of just ground beef, chicken, or pork. They only cost something like $7-9 usually, but you usually need to order 4 or more for a meal. That starts adding up.

Expensive. Fancy.

Think of places like Pinche Taqueria, Los Chingones, and T/ACO. See? Without even having to consider much, I can come up with three right off the bat. That’s because it seems like every other restaurant that opens in Denver right now is fancy tacos.

Why?

I can understand the fancy taco is big right now, Denver…but other things are good too. We need variety. Once we get a certain number of fancy taco choices that are all good, we don’t really need any more.

We’re good on fancy tacos for now. Let’s open something else.

Should We Be Worried About The Number Of Supermoons?

Should we be worried about the number of supermoons? I saw an article about another one recently, and I’m pretty sure we’ve had something like twenty of them so far this year. I’m not feeling too good about that.

After all, though I never pay too much attention to these things, I get the idea that these are supposed to be abnormal conditions where the moon appears really, really big. But…if the conditions are abnormal, why do they seem to be happening all the time?

I don’t remember hearing about supermoons all the time in the past. I don’t remember ever hearing about them more than a certain number of years ago. Maybe we just didn’t talk about them then, or maybe we spread the word more now. Or, maybe there is some kind of situation we should be concerned about.

“The moon is going to appear super big tonight because it’s orbit is decaying and it’s eventually going to crash into the earth!” (Note: I don’t actually suspect that this is happening.)

Either way, I’m not really worried enough to look into this, but I’m mildly concerned. It’s probably all just a bunch of media crap, though.

Supermoon.

A Product I’m Glad Is Gone: OK Soda

I whine sometimes about products that have disappeared over the years that I still wish were around (like pudding roll-ups), but there’s at least one product that disappeared that I was glad about. OK Soda.

The stuff was basically a crappy soda that they tried to push through with a weird advertising campaign. It didn’t work.

Frankly, I hated this stuff. I was willing to drink it if it was there, but I preferred almost every other soda more (including Faygo). The advertising campaign is really what ticked me off, though. It was annoying as hell…and I was in their target demographic at the time.

Apparently no one else bought into it either. I’m just glad it died quickly. This thing deserved to die.

Dear Facebook: I Still Haven’t Downloaded Your Stupid Messenger App

Dear Facebook: I still haven’t downloaded your stupid Messenger App.

It’s not that I’m that worried about the adhesion contract you have as part of it like so many people are. I’m a little hesitant about that, but I figure there’s probably something just as bad in the normal Facebook App. I’d check…if I was anywhere near close to installing it yet.

No, I’m still ticked that I have to download a separate App to do something that used to be included in the main App. I still can’t see why you did that. There might be a reason out there that you’ve stated, but I haven’t gone to look because I don’t really care what it is. Whatever the reason, it still ticks me off. I don’t want a different App to do something my current App used to be able to do.

Anyway, the current App still tells me when I have a message. Then I can just go to an actual computer to look at it. Most of the time, I’m around an actual computer anyway. Frankly, there’s not a whole lot pushing me towards downloading that Messenger App.

Now, maybe I’ll cave at some point. Maybe. However, for the moment I’m still ticked. For the moment, I’m holding out. Just wanted you to know.

Sorting Out My Reaction To The Whole Fried Chicken Bloody Mary

I admit, I was intruiged when I first heard that there was a place serving an entire fried chicken as a garnish for a bloody mary.  However, then I realized that my reaction was a lot more complex.

After all, why not take this to an even further extreme? Why not an entire spit roasted cow? Why just stop at a whole fried chicken?

But, that was only one other reaction. Seeming cool, seeming like not taking this far enough, there was also my reaction that this was just pointlessly ridiculous. I can’t quite ignore that as well.

Besides, there’s also my reaction that this doesn’t actually improve the bloody mary itself. There isn’t any more alcohol and it doesn’t get you drunk any quicker. As such, isn’t it actually a detraction? You know you have to pay for that chicken, and that leaves less money for vodka. Further, doesn’t it make it kind of hard to drink the bloody mary? As such, one of my reactions is that this is actually a problem. Gets in the way of drinking.

See? I’m conflicted. I’m just not sure how to feel about the whole fried chicken bloody mary. It could take me a while to process all this. It’s complicated.

It’s Also Been About Six Weeks Since I’ve Had A Voodoo Doughnut

I wrote last week about how I’ve only eaten outside the house about once in five weeks since my wife has been at her grad school session (updated for one dinner with a friend at Queen of Sheba), mainly surviving on frozen food and other stuff in my house. This is still ongoing. However, more worrisome is that it has been at least that long since I’ve had a Voodoo Doughnut.

I think I’m going into withdrawal here.

Seriously. If you don’t know how much of a Voodoo Doughnut fan I am, just check out my comments in the Entropy column related to Cameron Pierce’s Die You Donut Bastards: “Entropy’s Favorite Donuts Inspired by Cameron Pierce’s Die You Donut Bastards!“

Yeah, it’s been way, way too long. On the plus side, I’ve dropped about 6 pounds in the last six weeks. Still, I want a Voodoo Doughnut.