Is this gonna be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug hunt?

 

 

 

 

Local critters hanging around the not quite open Howler Cafe...

Pre-emptive Strike

 

So we were chillin' in the dining room last night. Doors open..no AC, commenting on how this "vacation day" involved the Wife being at work --pro bono-- for a 9 hour stretch, and in walked this fella...
We are not unfamiliar with scorpions, after all Jezebel had immaculately conceived 17 of them in my care, but this one was walking across the floor. Very healthy, medium claws which means pain not death, but as you can see no small beastie.
I thought a couple things: wife might be upset if I kill it which would mean long debate about killing things that are genetically mean and could ruin a potentially good Friday night forecast, or I could take the let the scorpion be and kill bugs that don't bother us until it stings us in our sleep..
So I killed it.

Nicaragua Contrasts

 

 

 

 

Nica Culla!

 

 

 

 

Nicaragua Pictures

Tourist Visa in Costa Rica is a flat 90 day Visa. This means one must apply for an extension or leave the country for 72 hours. Those of us staying here have 2 drivable options: Nicaragua or Panama. My main man had overstayed so I went along for the ride.
He is my partner at the Howler which is still “under construction”. We have a party of 25 booked for February 18th. I am hoping we nave been up for a week before that, but I digress...suffice to say I chalked my trip up to “research”. San Juan Del Sur is a tourist town, nice roads, running cold water and 90% uptime electricity. I'll be posting pics here and on flickr (sign up, viewing is free. Add me as a contact and see all the weirdness in macro) On to the snaps!

Nica at Night

(written in MyScene Notebook, 2am)
It is 2am in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. The 75cl of Queen Anne scotch is empty, if not dry.
I am reading Delillo´s Underworld. Listening to dogs bark. Deep, not low, bass music with a woman singing. Echo, reverb, wind.
The beat is a stop start throb. The voices (not the singer) are audible/overlapping but incomprehensible as I speak less than pidgeon Spanish.
It was later than this last night when I was jolted awake by the sound of sex in the next room.
The pain raised then was different than this. This is drink and existentialism and the loneliness of 4 days away from the woman I love.
I need to look up Bruegel´s "the Triumph of Death" tomorrow b4 returning to Costa Rica.

Angry Island - Hunting the English

This is a collection of essays by A.A. Gill. My wife first brought the author to my attention with a restaurant review from the London Sunday Times. You know, London, where we met ;)

His review was delicious.

This collection revolves around the conceit that the English are noted for their barely controlled rage. He makes a pretty good case. Most of the blurbs take the book as satire/humor and seem to leave it at that.

Perhaps it is my being a stranger in a strange land here in Nicaragua, separated from the aforementioned wife who is not in London but nonetheless distant, but I got a lot more than a couple of good hours in the pages from this.

Not sure if the book imprinted better by my being jolted awake at 3am by the local talent in the adjacent room, but imprint it did. Let me spoil an essay:
Voice -- is an essay that discusses class structure and upward mobility based on accents, with an emphasis on the various English accents. I learned to speak watching TV, and have been known to jibe at my Kansas friends for their pronunciation of words like "cement" -- you know "see-ment", and "lawyer".

Boy, do I feel like a jackass.

This skinny book is replete with behavior altering, cool insights, just like that. From the guy that doesn´t like comedy, I highly recommend it!

Costa Rica Color Study(s)

More pics from the back catalogue.
New new stuff coming Wednesday!
The trick to blogging from internet cafe in Nicaragua: 1 pic at a time!

Nicaragua

Internet cafe too slow for me to upload pics, so a current events instead:
Woken at 5am this morning by roosters that warned the trucks would be coming soon anyway, I might as well get up.
Used keys to open shared bathroom for the cold shower. Soap supplied by hotel = 1 sliver of a travel bar. Contacts out in borrowed case, purchased solution for 7 dollars, actually in date. For perspective: room with 2 beds = 18 dollars a night, with 2 towels.

I was surprised the fifth of "Queen Ann" scotch was only half empty, but remembered the full bottle of vino tinto I drank at the "Dolce Vita" prior to the late night Howler strategy session. Dinner for 2 with 1 scotch, 5 beers and a full bottle of house wine = 35 dollars. Food was good, service hot. After dinner drinks marred by the arrival of rude gringos arranging tables the way they like without regard to seated customers. I cringed when the table leg hit the back of the eating customer without even a half hearted Spanglish apology.

Drank the bottle of wine watching spanish dubbed low rent Hercules meets Froddo in the bar.

Bar, tables, roofing and lighting now set for the Howler.

Coffee and Hummus for breakfast at the Gato Negro, delicious. Bought the wife a copy of a fat book that I never got back from Ken, back in the day, Delillo´s "Underworld".

Walked to Spencer´s dream home designed by a dictator a couple of leaders back, took a bunch of snaps I hope to post "soon". Lunch at the Gecko. Met the owner of this themed bar after a couple mid-Sunday margs -- a Spanish major with a minor in foreign relations -- talked about the downward spiral the states are in and the sharp look to his establishment.

Another restaurant this evening for research. Walked to Pali looking for lemons and Cardamon. Looks like a stop will be in order in Pachera..

the Way to Costa Rica

Thanks to several complaints about file size, exposing everyone´s email etc, I have decided to share the "new life" pics here on the blog, pending the launch of the HowlerCafe website...
I am a few big emails behind, but wanted to get started, so ENJOY...
(yes, I will caption the new stuff)
I have chosen to not reactivate my Facebook account as the "college students" doing "homework" via Facebook has soured me to that social network. Feel free to comment on the pics as you see fit here..

Night at the Iguana on the Isle of Jura

The delicious Jura beat back the cold on this the final movie night hosted by the 2404i crew. Big thanks to Steve for a fine scotch pick. A shout out also to David, for recommending the too good for the iPod generation film, "Night at the Iguana".

Movie Night ended then at the 2404 location.

Movie night will return 5 days a week and a Sunday Matinee relocated in Tambor, CR pending renovation of the existing building and acquisition of a DVD projection system.

Planned schedule: Monday - Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10:15pm. Sunday Matinee at dusk. Admission free, seating limited. Accepting suggestions for "Grand Opening Film"..

Quantum of Solace

The Vesper Martini: 3oz Gordon's Gin, 1oz Stoli, 1/2oz Lillet, lemon peel and we all know how to prepare it. Served a batch before the Midnight Opening, and it set the tone for a normal Bond film: excessive and in good spirits -- but this was no normal Bond film.
Let me whip out a reviewer word "hyperkinetic" and then continue down that path - nope! Can't join that whining line o' chatter.
Never mind the title sequence, just enjoy the cool title track and the rest of the film's "Bond variations" soundtrack. Where is the tracking gunbarrel and blood wash? Where is Q? Patience!
This film is edited in shorthand. The fourth wall is chalk outline. I went to the film with the usual suspects and the newcomer, my less than 2 month hitched wife, who has not seen every Bond film 3 times like some of us. She has not scoured the intertubes looking for bits about Parkour or even contemplated seeing "Blood and Chocolate" for the Parkour alleged therein..so the editing was a little hectic for her.
Just right for me though. The film was like a conversation between two East-Coasters -- half sentences and interruptions and a whole lot of ground covered really quickly. Bring it on. I am sure I am not the only one looking for the next level.
Recommended!

Obama. I still can't believe it. Wow!

Fingers crossed that the new boss ain't the same as the old boss. Hope. There is still time to fix this big country. Darren was right, racism has lost. I predicted White Fear to stop this, and I am happy to be wrong. I thank Science Fiction, and the dream of a color blind world. Now if we can just get the media to stop fanning the ashes..

Electric Dragon 80.000V

This is Japanese CyberPunk from Sogo Ishii. Yes, yes, the guy that did the insane "Burst City". "Electric Dragon" is a touch more linear, and benefits from that for my tastes. This is shot in black and white, with deft camera movement and embedded animation, Manga style. I'd like to comment on the terrific music that Dragon Eye Morrison (our hero) wrenches out of his electric guitar.
The movie is short, loud and fast. It has a stripped down lean feel, like an old biker film with a sheen of art and better editing. This is highly recommended with the caveat that it is not for everyone. It is non-linear, abrasive and gorgeous. The soundtrack is psychedelic punk guitar. There are no Asian women, no Kung Fu, just the crackling of 80.000v!

babylon AD

Vin's "Children of Men" earned a 4 on the "Tomatometer". Partly because it was "Children of Men", partly because it was Vin, and most assuredly for the editing of the fight scenes. That being said "4" is harsh and wrong and a collection of straight world reviews. PS: not all science fiction has to transcend the genre.
This is genre, it is chock full of cool things, it has the Belle Parkour Team doing the stunts -- and if you don't know who those guys are you haven't been paying attention. Did I mention Michelle Yeoh as a co-star? No? A 4 -- shame on your tomatometer. Check out the interactive folding map in the trunk and then you give it a four.
Recommended

Red Belt

Next time you catch a rerun of Married With Children -- and I don't care if it is for the sharp writing, Christina Applegate or Peg's Leopard top -- try to get your head around "Al" being a Black Belt. We already know from the "Spanish Prisoner" that he and Mamet work together..but to this Kansas transplant they seem an unlikely pair. Apparently Ed O'Neill (Al) has some martial arts in him, and got Mamet involved.
"Redbelt" is the first child of this pairing on that subject, and man is it good.
Like all Mamet it is important to have the guests seated and focused and well-lubricated prior to pressing play(you assume correctly Grasshopper, this did not make the 50 mile travel for a movie radius). "Redbelt" opens hard and fast and keeps moving. The moments of stillness that come in the film are oasii of reflection and conjecture as the none riveted parts of the mind fill in the backstories, the time and the place of this wonderful tale.
Top notch writing a given -- this is Mamet -- and the actors are up to the task. Camera is good, if not excellent, as is the soundtrack. The story may strain plausibility -- but look at the VP on the Republican side -- truth can be stranger than fiction.
This is highly recommended on several fronts, not the least of which is my love of action films -- which this qualifies as easily, though is not confined by the label, and as another feather in the cap of Mr Mamet.

Mad Men

I will start off by mentioning my bias: I am an ex-salesman. "Glengarry Glen Ross" is not a sad movie about desperate men for me but a tour de force by Mamet that captures the biz on key, perfectly. Additional bias includes watching the series on Blue-Ray with a beautiful woman that loves the show. No, she does not call me "Don Draper" at inappropriate times...
All that being said, here is a quick synopsis, and a couple o' comments. "Mad Men" are a self-promoting group of Madison Avenue advertising guys in the late 50's - early 60's. The 1st Season introduces the team, and their office -- and the politics of the office and the times.
This is done with a hyper saturated palette and sense of irony. The viewers already know the results of their campaigns (or at least we should -- I work in an office that thinks Pinochet is a wood puppet) but the entertainment is in the details. Like the Glengarry Glen Ross crew these guys are charismatic, focused, and completely wrong on so many levels.
The show is nuanced enough to keep you watching, and caring, for these b-(ad) men and the women that love them. As a period piece it may be way over the top. As a costume drama it is nearly as interesting as "Rome" -- yes, the costumes are at that level -- and the colors of Rayon and Polyester pop amidst the clatter of manual typewriters and glass doored office spaces.

I am so looking forward to Season 2!

Twilight Samurai

This poster is a little misleading: there is precious little blood in this quiet, moving film. Apparently the critics mistook Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun Fat's understated acting as turgid and unemotional way back when "Crouching Tiger" landed on US soil. Not sure how this could have been said, as every gesture and glance spoke clearer love than I can even imagine, never mind endure..
"Twilight" has as powerful an emotional feel, in a slightly different period of time in history.
I'm betting the critics were too busy reading the subtitles to see the actors! A common complaint, "I want to watch movies not read 'em," apparently extends beyond the Kansas borders...
"Twilight Samurai" is the first part of a trilogy I have been hounded to watch for over a year now.
I was not fooled by the cover, and imagined a slow period drama sleeper, in spite of the stand up guy that recommended the film. I should have been more trusting, as this film is superb.
So you lean back, mumble a bit about my incoherent spoiler free reviews and think, well, he says it is a Samurai film without blood and has love at the core, so how could his original assertion that the film must be a boring period drama have been so wrong?
Alienation does not always mean tattoos and piercings or even that we are all storage cells for the hive mind!
Recommended

RIP Bernie Mac

As my sister once said, "Bernie Mac is one funny motherfucker."
"Kings of Comedy" was the movie we were discussing. Bernie Mac, bigger than life with a bigger heart. He will be missed -- and I don't like comedy. We could talk about his show, we could talk about the smartfellas trying to find a place for this very funny guy -- from his TV show to the "Transformers" and yeah "Charlie's Angels 2". That list should let you know just how hard they tried and failed to contain/showcase his talent.

Anthony Wilson "Adult Themes"

The nature of my day job is largely thankless. We replace electronics for the insurance industry, so are customers are not repeats, usually suspicious, and have just been ripped off by thieves -- not the best environment for fun. I am no longer a rep, but the IT guy. I do answer the phones once in awhile, and, as luck would have it, found a fellow Jazz listener.
I recommended Kip Hanrahan, he recommended Anthony Wilson. I ordered "Adult Themes" on his rec, and was delighted with what I heard. Anthony Wilson has put together a terrific album. I enjoyed it from the first listen, but took a couple more spins just because.
"Because", the Beatles tune, is one of the covers on this record, and it is very well done. It is nice to have a familiar melody deconstructed and exploded by guys at the top of their game, and this is a pretty solid cover.
The gem on this disc is the "Adult Themes" suite, which closes the record. It is done in several movements and really swings. This is big band music with intimacy and chops that hold up to repeated listenings. Like Mr Gold(thank you), I will have to recommend this one!

Dark Knight

Darren says: Best comic book movie ever. Christopher Nolan says, damn skippy.
"Memento" rocked. "Batman Begins" rocked. That is just the director.
Toss in Christian Bale -- "American Psycho", "The Machinist", "Equilibrium". "Reign of Fire", "The Prestige" and even "Velvet Goldmine" -- as the darkest Batman yet and the only thing that could go wrong would be the villain.
Actually the hardest part of the Dark Knight is knowing Heath Ledger is dead. He made a lot more movies than James Dean, and leaves us with quite a legacy. The marketing suits play up the connection, but it is absolutely unnecessary, excessively tawdry, and even worse than all the damn product tie ins that play during the previews/tv ads.
Ledger played the Joker unflinching. A masterful performance. I could not watch, just as I had trouble with "the Crow", and forget that the guy I was watching was dead. A true shame.
On the positive side, this bleak uncompromising vision of Gotham has terrific camera. I was actually able to see the heightened depth of field of the Imax equipment, and Nolan was able to show it off. Fight scenes were brutal, quick and physical. Until the blinking blue eye caps we are treated to Bale in the blackest black suit and the clearly real world engineered Batmobile with a dose of real world weight and heft unmatched in the artificial light of the CG choreography that rules the modern actioner. No F15s in midtown Gotham!
Nolan does not live in a bubble, and like every film made since 911, he pushes the Iraq War into our face. Batman faces his heart of darkness, we must face our chickenshit response to a conflict we choose not to understand. We must face the absurdity of serving evil to destroy a perceived threat, and understand the cost to our own soul.
Heavy stuff for comic books.
That just means you haven't read any comics lately. Comic writers have been grappling with power and the abuse of it long before Bush took office, but the lines have never been drawn with such emphasis. Artists are sensitive people, and the assault on morality and reason has been unrelenting for the last 8 years. Enough is enough, and that plain fact has bled onto the screen, into the comics, and blogs and the cereal aisle at Dillons.
Janet Jackson (fine rescinded) was charged a half million dollars for a breast flash while we waterboard human beings. Thank goodness the Pentagon has a voice in every newsroom to make excuses.
The overt critical movies like "Rendition" and "Stop Loss" died like "Talladega Nights" should have, Nolan is smart enough to wrap his message in Batwings and serve it hot, in the dark.
Since every man woman and child in America will see "Dark Knight" twice (if the box is to be believed) perhaps the tide will turn -- no more eviscerated, bubble-gum "Fantastic Four" movies, and no more draconian laws and pardons for the illusion of safety. When the corporate ties to modern evil are a given (A la Iron Man) and government collusion (Lord of War) not even a twist, perhaps the voting public will make the connection.
"The Sheep Look Up" if you will, with all apologies to John Brunner.
Recommended (even though you have already seen it)

Hellboy 2

Hellboy 2 was worth the wait! Real time seemed to pass very slowly, as it was clear all Mr Del Toro needed was a green light to make this sequel. In the interim we received "Pan's Labyrinth" and that pedigree is evident in Hellboy 2. Maybe pacing had some issues, maybe silly and slapstick were pushed a touch far -- but you can choose to let the bowling pin sounds in "Burly Brawl" ruin the film or just go with it.
The creatures and attention to detail will have me watching this on Blue Ray over and over.
There a section of the film that plays as an homage to the puppeteers of that underseen gem "Strings".
Jim Henson is smiling from the grave at Hellboy. The Brothers Quay and even Tim Burton have to love what Del Toro has done!
This movie slathers a little weight over the lightness, and a little silly romance...We lost our straight man Myers and the cigar smoking bald guy has also undergone a script castration, but Ron Perlman is Hellboy. No one else could pull it off, not even Christian Bale! It is about time Perlman got the DaVinci/Lovecraft symbols cut into his flesh -- they look great, and think of the time he will save in make-up for number 3!
Our ace badguy, the long haired sword swinging freak in the trailer, was my last concern that was completely demolished by the very first scene of advanced Tai Chi with stick and blades.
Recommended

Brave

A Thai action-comedy. You can see above cool haircut, glasses and even legible titles...
This was the film I saw the trailer of on the "Chocolate" stunner reviewed earlier. There were several trailers on that disc, this was the one I did not already have. It appeared from the trailer to be a must see, and, thankfully, did not disappoint!
This film has some very nice stuntwork, a convoluted plot and a couple of high kicking receptionists--the only thing missing the Thai Trannie! I am getting used to the slapstick Thai sense of humor, I suppose it may atone for the over the top brutality of the Muay-Thai elbow. "Brave" is not a Tony Jaa or even a Jija Yanin Vismitananda take no prisoners elbow smash stunt man wounding epic, but it is no slouch either!
Ultimately it will be my kick along while watching heartrate that eventually stops me from watching these crazy films, but until then stay tuned.
Recommended

RIP: Thomas Disch

A suicide along the lines of Spaulding Gray perhaps? Done on July 4th, so perhaps a touch more pointed, but Disch was a poet. He was also a science fiction writer.
I found him after reading a blurb from him on the back cover of Theodore Sturgeon's "More than Human."
Follow the journey, pick up a copy of "Camp Concentration." This is not your father's Space Opera.

4th of July Reflections

I have a dirty secret. I listen to Limbaugh on the way home at lunch, a 7 minute commute. I don't make it home without shutting it off in disgust, but last week I found myself sitting in the car in my driveway listening while he read the following text:
A Not-So-Glorious Fourth
When he finished reciting he launched into a tirade about the Left and the Media and I enjoyed my lunch, "Rush free." I looked up the editorial, read it through a couple more times, and chose not to celebrate Friday.
Chris Satullo hit the nail on the head. Thanks!

Blue Ray B-13

I vowed I would not rebuy movies I already own just because they are available on Blue Ray. The image can't be that much better can it? My flat screen only goes to 1081i, what is the point? The movies are more expensive! Yes, I have 105 other reasons not to make the jump.
I did it.
It is that much better, even in 1080i.
District B-13 is, like Crank, a perfect "B" movie. Unlike Crank it showcases Parkour, and the clarity that Blue Ray brings to the image rules. There is absolutely no excuse not to see this movie now. Get to it!

Resistance: Fall of Man

I finally finished my first borrowed PS3 game. "Resistance" is an FPS, and if you ask around those that know will tell you I am an iD fanboy with a Quake tat where my heart belongs. That should give you all the necessary clues to recognize that I am not a console gamer by nature!
Regardless, I played on medium setting and had a blast. This alternate past alien invasion shooter made the hours go by with amped up heart rate and twitchy finger. Hardest thing for me was to not mash the right stick and go into zoom mode during melee.
Artwork looked great -- what doesn't on the PS3 -- if somewhat dated. Concept stuff was cool, if derivative of all our FPS favorites. Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Halo et al. Thank goodness they left the "only what you can carry rule" out -- I must have had an arsenal of 10 cool weapons in a sack. Gameworld paused while I switched weapons, which is very handy for a guy who wants to hit the 3 key for the shotgun!
Medium was not particularly challenging, which is good because this has a "checkpoint" save system, and we all know how a long checkpoint through total crap play can ruin a game. I have to kill all the flying pigeons again??!! That being said, there were no standout desperate must get to checkpoint moments.
Apparently this has a multiplayer component, but that will remain untested. Tuesday I return the game with a sincere thanks.
Recommended

Hancock

Summer Fluff?
I think not! Sure, Hancock is shiny, has Will Smith, and some really funny bits we have all seen way too many times in the trailer -- but Hancock has meat. Hancock has emotional weight -- unlike "Iron Man," who had a heavy suit. I am not denigrating "Iron Man" just pointing out the differences.
There are parts of this movie that will be really heavy for young kids. I don't like trailers, never mind spoilers, but suffice to say that the 8 and under crowd may find parts of this disturbing, and not in a gore way but in the consequences of modern, broken families.
I cannot underline enough my pleasant surprise with "Hancock." It is the flipside to the comic book cynicism of "Wanted" -- where the comic artists are grappling with new view realities that recognize secondary consequences, and just what we have been doing over the last 8 years and how that has shaped the national psyche.
Christ, look at the deep-ness of this summer movie review.
Hancock! See It!

Wall e

The opening Pixar short was absolutely fabulous. Inventive, with not a frame wasted...
"Wall e" does not suffer the same economy. Because this is "I Am Legend" or perhaps more apropos "Silent Running" there is not a lot of dialogue in the single robot in post apocalyptic world scenario...and plenty of sprawl.
This freaked the adult audience out..they squirmed more than the kids at the showing I saw! That being said, this is not for the short of attention, perhaps too long for kids, like "Speed Racer" before it.
"Wall e" is light satire, but should be understood by all as not an illogical conclusion to our present behavior as a species. It reminded me of "The Happening" -- a film I went in wanting to like but was put off by the gore -- but I am still thinking about both of these films, days later. "Wall e" tells a great tale, gently. Humans are the cause, and the cure. There is hope in this film, and a warm gentleness that might let its message sink in.
Recommended