Running Over

When you think about it, is there really such a thing as a "modest" boob job?

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Donovan: "Sunshine Superman"

Strike

I feel for this guy.

Mood: Sympathetic
Music: Rockapella: "Zombie Jamboree"

Capital Offense

This is interesting.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Episode Six: "Alone Again Or"

Merry

I was finally able to start on The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle this afternoon. Pyle is probably better known as an illustrator, with his quality comparing to that of such contemporaries as N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish among the great American illustrators.

This will be the third classic Robin Hood text I've read, already having read Paul Creswick's work as well as that by Roger Lancelyn Green. I don't expect much variation in Pyle's rendition, but I am looking forward to his artwork.

The particular edition that I have acquired was found at an antique shop, and is actually a library discard, and thus bound in hardcover, in what is typically known as "library binding." It's copyrighted 1946, and is a reprint of the original 1883 edition published by Scribner.

Since I'm on the subject of Robin Hood... I've been trying to get Maryanne to watch the classic The Adventures of Robin Hood with me for a long time. With some caution I call it the definitive film version, for it is this version which Mel Brooks more closely imitated in his Robin Hood: Men in Tights, though Brooks did borrow slightly from Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Some of the elements of the latter, including a Saracen, a witch, and Robin's return from the Crusades, are included in Brooks' version, but he maintains the tradition of the characters of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Errol Flynn film, of course, gives the Sheriff a name (Sir Guy of Gisbourne), and features a cast that's hard to beat: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, and Alan Hale.

All of the movies, though, vary from the tales, cutting out a lot of material along the way from start to finish. Robin's origins are actually explained better in the books, and those origins do not involve the Crusades. All of the movies end with Robin's happy union with Marion, though in many of the tales she doesn't even exist. None of the movies give any treatment to Robin's demise, a tale nearly as woeful, yet as hopeful, as the demise of King Arthur himself.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Bad Company: "Bad Company"

Craptastic

Today I wanted to comment in Jenni's blog about her most recent post on American Idol. I was going to say something to the effect of "When did it become more important to 'be sexy' instead of having some talent and being able to sing and play an instrument? Twenty years from now no one will remember these people."

Thanks to the craptastic state of affairs at LiveJournal, though, I was unable to post said comment.

What a piece of shit.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Jefferson Airplane: "It's No Secret"

Wheels

Last Friday Maryanne and I had some errands to run that took us to Sun Prairie. While we were there I suggested we take a look at the lot at Stark.

We ended up leaving with a new car for Maryanne.

Mood: Pleased
Music: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: "Woodstock"

Impotent

I found an interesting op/ed piece about the situation in Darfur, the impotence of the U.N., and the potential ability of the U.S. the do what others will not.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Fleetwood Mac: "World Turning"

SoaP

Never underestimate the power of the Internet.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Animals: "Don't Bring Me Down"

Testy

Here's more on the SAT-scoring debacle.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Saturday Night Special"

Slippery Slope

Here's a law professor's take on protests on funerals and what could and shouldn't be done about them.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: The Alan Parsons Project: "Games People Play"

"Masturbuddy"

Things like this are why Oxygen gets more male viewers than Lifetime does.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Doors: "Love Me Two Times"

Beware of Dog

This could have some far-reaching effects if the proposed law in Massachusetts passes.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Yes: "I've Seen All Good People"

Brick by Brick

It takes a lot of time to do anything like one of these.

Mood: Amused
Music: The Yardbirds: "For Your Love"

Was ist das?

I'm beginning to get a real charge out of the new ad campaign from Volkswagen wherein they poke fun at ricers and the posers who drive them. The actors portraying the engineers sport heavy German accents with which they try to speak all the affectations associated with the typical riceboy or poser. The absurdity of the situation is becoming very amusing.

"Pozer say vas?"

Mood: Amused
Music: The Guess Who: "These Eyes"

The Island

I keep hearing these commercials on the radio for the Capital Brewery advertising a new beer called Island Wheat. Apparently the wheat for this brew, which is technically a wheat ale, is grown on Washington Island, which is part of Door County. The narrator of the commercial states something to the effect that he was lucky to return from Washington Island with the wheat. This statement baffles me. It's not like it's a particularly arduous journey. A round trip might require an overnight stay, but this is Door County we're talking about, and the hotels in the northern part of the county are rather nice. So why does he feel so lucky to return to Middleton? Did the locals try to drink him under the table at Nelsen's Hall? Did he fear for his life when crossing Death's Door on the Washington Island Ferry? (Maryanne did.) Or is he just a moron?

I really wish I had a sound clip from the ferry line's dorky radio advertisement.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: "Driftin' and Driftin'"

Changes

The first thing I want to note in this post is that today would have been Dad's 59th birthday.

The second thing I want to note is that there are more signs of spring in the air, despite the fact there are some light flurries in the air. Today not only did I see a couple of red-winged blackbirds during my morning commute, but I heard one singing when I took a walk during my lunch break. It was nice to hear.

The third thing to note is that I have once again given Blogger's commenting engine a try and after some trial and error have decided that it'll work. Any previous comments left through the old HaloScan engine still exist, of course, but they're just not accessible. Blogger gives me a little more control and more options than HaloScan does, at least without paying. These features include verification, moderation, and e-mail notification.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Yardbirds: "I'm a Man"

Tales

At long last I "finished" Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales. I put "finished" in quotation marks because there are some blank pages near the end of the book that prevent me from reading some of the stories. But I've read all the rest. I will probably take the book back to Barnes & Noble to see if I can exchange it or something.

Next, I've decided to try to finish reading the Novelist's Essential Guide to Creating Plot by J. Madison Davis. It's a nonfiction work, and along with some other books in a similar vein I hope to improve my fiction-writing skills. It's been kind of amusing so far because the author uses such strange character names in his examples.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: Led Zeppelin: "Over the Hills and Far Away"

Accents

I fear for the state of language in Wisconsin.

Mood: Sad
Music: The Beatles: "Birthday"

Historical Accuracy

The Vatican has recently changed its opinion on the Crusades, changing from a more apologetic one to a more historically accurate one.

I'm glad to see them making an effort to get things right.

Mood: Intrigued
Music: Rainbow: "Street of Dreams"

Baa!

Not even a place that we consider to be sophisticated and literate, like England, is safe from the menace of political correctness.

Mood: Annoyed
Music: The Cars: "Good Times Roll"