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Coming Soon

Here are a few of the movies that previewed before the movie this afternoon:

  • Escape From Planet Earth – Alien visitors are captured by an evil government organization and hijinks ensue.  Looks more like a renter to me, and maybe not even that.
  • Despicable Me II – This one had no fewer than three spots in the previews, including a trailer that asks the immortal question “How many minions does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”.  We loved the original, so we’ll probably go see this one.
  • Oz: The Great and Powerful – Back story of the man behind the curtain and a prequel to the story of Dorothy.  The visuals look outstanding, but I’m going to wait to hear more about this one before spending money at the theater.
  • Epic – Girl discovers that her crackpot father isn’t in need of medication when she finds that the ‘little people’ he’s been talking about do indeed exist.  The animation on this one is as close to crossing the uncanny valley as you can get without having James Cameron in as a consultant.  I will probably go see this one.
  • Smurfs II – Neil Patrick Harris, if you need money that badly, you should consider porn.  Shame on you for unleashing those little blue heathens on the world yet again.
  • Monsters University – Prequel to Monsters Inc.  Animal House meets Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.   Yet another offering from the Dominion of the Rat, so we’ll probably take Boo to see this one.
  • Jurassic Park in 3D – I only saw the poster for this one, but thought I’d mention it.  I’ve got a dollar that says that Spielberg has removed every sequence where the humans arm themselves and/or resist being turned into dragon dinosaur scat.  Probably pass, if for no other reason than I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count already, and that was for free on TV.
by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in movie

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/coming-soon-6/

30 Days of Dickens – Day 18

The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none. — Sketches by Boz

My Take – I have a duty to extend civility to everyone.  I’m not always friendly, and I’m rarely a smiling paragon of gregariousness, but I always try to treat people with respect.  It doesn’t matter to me how much money they have, or how they’re dressed, or where they’re from.  I like to be treated politely and with respect, so I deal with other people the same way.  I’m not perfect in my efforts, but I do try.

Not everyone behaves this way.  In fact, I see people be as sweet as honey toward people they like or they want something from, then crap all over someone who they believe is their inferior.  The lady in line for breakfast in front of me this morning is a prime example.  She was on her cell phone, talking in that high-volume, high-tone southern lady voice, bless her heart.   She was even smiling widely as she talked.  As soon as she got to the front of the line, she very politely excused herself to her friend on the phone, put it on mute, then proceeded to give the poor man working the cash register four rations of hell.  Her smile was long gone, her voice was an octave lower, she spoke to him as if he was wasting her time by taking her order, and the words “Please” and “Thank you” were gone.  To his credit, the man kept his cool, was polite and professional, and got on with his day. 

People like that are becoming depressingly common, and that’s regrettable.  Manners are a social lubricant, and the loss of them causes needless friction.  Their liberal use costs nothing, and can gain so much, that I cannot understand why more people refuse to use them.

by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Dickens

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/30-days-of-dickens-day-18/

Shoutouts

  • To Piers Morgan, talk show host on the biggest failing news network on the planet, bite me.  Anencephalic prats like you are the reason we had so much unpleasantness in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and are also why my Irish ancestors preferred poverty in Massachusetts to middle class in Ireland.
  • To Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, who has proposed firearm confiscation, bring it.  In fact, I wish you luck.  In the unlikely event that you can get your state legislature to commit suicide, political or otherwise, you’re going to have a hard time finding National Guard and police personnel willing to carry it out.
  • To Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, I suggest hydrogen peroxide to get all that blood out of your socks now that you’ve been dancing in it for a week.
  • To Wayne LaPierre of the NRA – really?  Creation of an entire class of publicly paid “only ones” is the best you’ve got?  How about proposing something constructive and cost-free, like just allowing law-abiding adults to legally carry firearms in schools?
  • To Amazon and other on-line retailers, you rock.  You are responsible for me being able to do my Christmas shopping without having to share oxygen with my fellow man.  It’s probably better for everyone involved that way.
  • To Juan Valdez, bless you.  You and your trusty goat are responsible for me being somewhat lucid and sane this week.  Not completely lucid and sane, mind you, just somewhat.
  • To Larry Correia and Kontra – thank you.  You have put rational discussion, logic, and facts back on the table.
  • To Awelowynt – thank you for pointing me to that article by Kontra.
  • To all of you, thank you for hanging with me while I did my yuletide tradition of working the night shift for a week.  I promise I’ll be less…. disturbed after I’ve gotten some real sleep.
by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in shout out

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/shoutouts-9/

Quote of the Day

“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”— Colonel Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle

by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Quote of the Day

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/quote-of-the-day-96/

Thoughts on the Day

  • Trying to sleep while the kids are home from school and cooped up in the house was a futile exercise.
    • I’m not sure what they were doing all day, but laying on the bed in the basement study, listening to the thunder above my head in the living room, I imagined they were re-enacting the battle of Marston Moor, or possibly Zama, complete with elephants.
  • I guess it was chilly in the house today.  I woke up with two cats cuddled up to whatever curve they could find on me.
  • Last night I received something I’ve wanted for years:  a krumkake iron.  Needless to say, I spent an hour or so making crispy, sweet little cookies.
    • Yes, I indulged my inner Scandihoovian.  It’s wonderful.
  • I’m enjoying my last night of graveyard shift tonight.  Something tells me I’m going to be exhausted by the time I get home.
  • This is my coffee.  There is much like it, but only this coffee is mine.
  • Had dinner tonight with my aunt and uncle who are driving south from North Dakota to spend Christmas with their kids and grandkids.
    • 3 decades is too long to go without seeing family.
    • Divorcing parents – You have no idea the amount of damage you can cause by uprooting your kids and keeping them away from your ex-spouse’s family.  Quit it.
    • I really need to go home to North Dakota, either on vacation or permanently.
  • My aunt brought me a package of lefse.  I will have lefse for Christmas, and that is a good thing.
    • I’ve tried making my own, but it always comes out in a consistency somewhere between roofing shingle and SAPI plate.
  • There are very few things on earth more funny than watching a movie, which was originally in English, was given Chinese subtitles, then had English subtitles added that are a translation of the Chinese subtitles. 
    • I really shouldn’t laugh.  Their English is better than my Mandarin.
by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/thoughts-on-the-day-77/

Today’s Earworm

 

Miss Jane singing bluegrass.  My mission is complete.

by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Earworm

Posted by daddybear71 on December 22, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/22/todays-earworm-289/

Today’s Earworm

Big Bear, big grumpy bear!

by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Earworm

Posted by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/21/todays-earworm-288/

30 Days of Dickens – Day 17

In the little world in which children have their existence whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice. It may be only small injustice that the child can be exposed to; but the child is small, and its world is small, and its rocking-horse stands as many hands high, according to scale, as a big-boned Irish hunter. — Great Expectations

My Take – One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to teach my children is that life is rarely fair.  In fact, I’ve had to teach them that life is usually unfair in a way that goes against them.  Thing is, whether they accept this lesson from me or not, they will learn it.  My way is just a little easier than having life itself teach it.

by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Dickens

Posted by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/21/30-days-of-dickens-day-17/

Is This Thing On?

It’s December 22 21, 2012.  If you all are still reading this, then the Maya were wrong.   Hopefully no-one repeated the Y2K mistakes.  Me?  I’m probably sleeping it off.

by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on December 21, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/21/is-this-thing-on/

Getting through the end of the world with your mind intact

According to the twinkle-toed, inbred, hipster douchebag who stood between me and coffee on the way home from work this morning, tomorrow is supposedly the end of the world.  Apparently some Mesoamerican dude chipped out a rather large multi-year calendar about a 1000 years ago, and tomorrow is the date he was working on when he got bored with it and moved on to his next assignment.  In response to this, a portion of the human race has decided to collectively lose their bloody minds.

Fox News, never one to eschew grabbing a few page views by publishing something frivolous, has put up a rather helpful guide on how to ‘cope’ with the Apocalypse.  Their advice pretty much boils down to thinking good thoughts.  Since I’m as much an opportunist as the next guy, here are my more concrete steps for dealing with the end of the world:

  1. Stock essentials – Beer, bourbon, bacon, and coffee.  Everything else you need to consume will be like ashes in your mouth if you don’t have the things you enjoy.
  2. While you’re at it, stock up a significant stash of booze that your spouse and other housemates don’t know about it.  The end of the world may take a long time, and if you’re cooped up with your family for weeks at a time, you shouldn’t do it sober.  Not saying you should get drunk and stay drunk, but it can’t hurt to take the edge off every so often.
  3. If you’ve ever been locked in the house with the kids due to bad weather, you know it’s imperative that you give the little imps something to do.  Here are a couple of suggestions:
    1. Have plenty of board games for them to play.  However, avoid games like Risk, Monopoly, and such.  Yes, they will keep everyone occupied for days at a time if they’re played right, but I’ve seen knife fights break out between family members over someone welching on a treaty over a campaign to conquer Eurasia.  No need to encourage bloodshed so early in the process.
    2. Movies are a good escape from boredom and fear of the afterlife.  While you’re at it, I suggest movies that prepare the children for how the world will work once the elder gods are done ravaging it.  My picks are “The Road Warrior”, “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome”, “Pale Rider”, and “Ice Pirates”.
    3. Encourage your kids’ creativity.  Hold a contest for which one can give the ice giant that is demolishing the next neighborhood over the best name.  Let the kids make dioramas of the destruction around them.
  4. Bring your guns.  Invite over all your friends with guns.  An M-1 Garand might not do much against the demon from the seventh pit on the left, but it can’t hurt.  And hey, you finally have an excuse to get that M-1 Garand.
  5. Once it’s safe to come out from your basement, hold a block party.  It’ll bring the survivors together as a community, strengthen the bonds of friendship and family, and allow you to size up the competition for the position of neighborhood warlord.
  6. If you have a Mayan in your neighborhood, get in good with him by volunteering to assist in constructing his step pyramid.  Be sure to oppose any actions by the neighborhood association to get it torn down, no matter what the covenant says.
  7. And finally, enjoy yourself. Yes, those-who-cannot-be-named are rending your world at the seams, but there’s no use in being a Grumpy Gus about it!  Find a way to smile, even if it means seeking out the forces of evil and joining their hellish crusade of fire and rampage.

Have fun everybody!  I’ll see you on the other side!

by daddybear71 on December 20, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in silliness

Posted by daddybear71 on December 20, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/12/20/getting-through-the-end-of-the-world-with-your-mind-intact/

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