Normal bloggerel...doggerel, recommencing, shortly-ish.

Long-time readers here may have noticed the relative dearth of new posts around here lately. It's not just that I've been working too much, though: afraid I've been without internet, and cable TV, for um, a month, month and a half? Two months, is that right? Huh. I had set up a batch of posts ahead of time, but between Christmas and work, I haven't had the money or the time (or both at the same time) to get set back up until now.

So, what did I do when I wasn't blogging?

Slept.

Played a lot of Gator Golf. Am currently about $40,000 in the hole to the Oldest. Skins game my ass.

The Oldest and I may have to crack and buy real putters, or at least ones that are meant for taller toddlers. The Youngest has a little golf set, but hates the clubs for some reason. I think he wanted me to throw them away at one point, and now he won't even let me get them down from the top of the cabinet. No idea why.

Started X-Men Legends II. Back when I wrote this, neither the Oldest nor I remembered where we are in the game, what we were doing, or what our goals were. So, it's like where I am in the X-Men comics now. Hey-oh!

Set up the new computer I got for Christmas...then couldn't really use for three weeks.

Watched a lot of movies, quite a few on VHS, since there's a batch I've never gotten around to (or may never get around to) replacing. Some of them:

Blade Runner (VHS Director's Cut) And re-read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which I absolutely recommend: the book has a lot of differences, but I can find something new in it every time I read it.

Shadow of the Vampire I had an unopened, used copy of it, and finally popped it open. And...it was all right. Maybe better if I had seen Nosferatu more recently than twenty years ago, or maybe it's not a strong enough premise for a whole movie.

Wu Tang Clan Not the rap group, but one of the pile of old kung-fu movies I've picked up on the cheap over the years. Not the best one ever, but it does have a novel plot.

Hard-Boiled, the Killer, Bullet in the Head, A Better Tomorrow I&II...I do enjoy the John Woo. I have Just Heroes, but have never been able to enjoy the crappy VHS copy since the subtitles are cut off the screen, an occasional hazard when picking these up. If you haven't seen Bullet in the Head, it's not one of Woo's best known, but it's like his Apocalypse Now, in the sense that it too is a Vietnam War piece and I believe it too was by all accounts, absolutely brutal to film. Still, it ends with a demolition derby-like shoot out, so there's that.

Peace Hotel, the Postman Fights Back, Full Contact, and Hong Kong 1941: I'm also a fan of Mr. Chow Yun-Fat. Full Contact is probably the closest to his traditional action roles, Postman is a kung-fu period piece, Hong Kong 1941 is set during wartime, and Peace Hotel I hadn't seen until now: it's almost like a spaghetti kung-fu western, I'd say. Standoffs and double-crosses. (There may be a longer post in this sometime, but Harrison Ford from Blade Runner and a gangster/killer Chow Yun-Fat, are two of the few unmade action figures left on my wish list, as far as movies go.)

Versus Yakuza mobsters versus zombies and an ancient evil. Pisses me off that I have a ream of old VHS I can still watch, but my DVD of this is skippy.

Star Trek, the Animated Series, the new movie, and any episodes I had lying around.

All of Justice League Unlimited; which I heartily endorse, unless you plan on reading any current DC comics, as they'll pale in comparison.

Finally watched the second X-Files movie, which wasn't bad, if you ignore that most of the case could've been solved with rudimentary detective work, like posting a couple guys outside when you storm the building, or following up on sales of the drug in the victims. Then again, that's not how the game is played there.

And we watched Pixar's Up about a bazillion times. You should too. You know how sometimes, you're watching a movie, and you think, "Oh, they could never do that," or "that would never work"? Yeah, you don't during Up.

Regular bloggerel doggerel commences now, and a new strip is up tomorrow morning.