2/23/2005
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Takes a Life...
Who would've thought it'd be his own?! This post is late but I am busy at work to a disgusting degree. I love HST. For me, he existed in an amazingly cool world. A world where you get paid to call swine 'swine,' then chat with your buddy Dylan or (until recently) Zevon. Could his loss be any more tragic than at a time when corporate media has fully castrated itself on the altar of greed and obedience? A time when mole reporters ask softball questions and "journalists" are actually on the government payroll. When a nation has seizures because of one bare breast but snoozes through countless deaths.
Aside from the obvious admiration for someone who called the PTB scum in a voice loud enough to be heard, I also admire that his outrage came from love. Love for a 'land of the free' that was becoming a place where you trade that freedom for convenience. If he had gone into suspended animation in '72, he wouldn't have been one bit surprised to see our nation today. He saw the real American Dream dying and a cardboard cutout of a dollar taking it's place.
There was something very American about this rebel with and without a cause.
I read that he wanted to have his ashes scattered from a cannon while Mr. Tambourine Man plays. Now that's a way to go.
|
Who would've thought it'd be his own?! This post is late but I am busy at work to a disgusting degree. I love HST. For me, he existed in an amazingly cool world. A world where you get paid to call swine 'swine,' then chat with your buddy Dylan or (until recently) Zevon. Could his loss be any more tragic than at a time when corporate media has fully castrated itself on the altar of greed and obedience? A time when mole reporters ask softball questions and "journalists" are actually on the government payroll. When a nation has seizures because of one bare breast but snoozes through countless deaths.
Aside from the obvious admiration for someone who called the PTB scum in a voice loud enough to be heard, I also admire that his outrage came from love. Love for a 'land of the free' that was becoming a place where you trade that freedom for convenience. If he had gone into suspended animation in '72, he wouldn't have been one bit surprised to see our nation today. He saw the real American Dream dying and a cardboard cutout of a dollar taking it's place.
There was something very American about this rebel with and without a cause.
I read that he wanted to have his ashes scattered from a cannon while Mr. Tambourine Man plays. Now that's a way to go.
|
2/16/2005
Vegas...
We started by taking advantage of the free first class upgrade, drinking the complimentary wine despite no real breakfast. It isn't often I'm having wine at 10:00 am.
The very first thing you see when you get off the plane in Vegas are slot machines.
We fought sleep depravation by touring the casinos after checking in. Gaudy to the nth degree? Yes, but still impressive. Vegas is one surreal place. It creates its own reality with the constant whirring of machines and neon lights. The place is a combination Disney World for adults and shrine to capitalism and greed unbridled. You can smell money in the air and sense the insatiable desire for it in both the tourists and employees. Look in any given direction and you will see money changing hands. Inside a casino there are no windows or clocks so they look exactly the same at any hour, day or night. You lose all sense of time and feel like a vampire when you actually see the sun.
That night we stopped in at the Tropicana just to get bus change. We stayed there all night. On our very first gamble of the trip, when I just put a dollar into a nickel slot for the change, we won $50. Then later Laura won $20, also on a nickel slot. We spent our winnings playing slots and blackjack, then catching the free show in the gambling area. Then a lady walks up to us and gives us show tickets she couldn't use. So, we catch a $100 show for free. Typical fare, showgirls with peacock headdresses, a comedian etc. It felt very old time Vegas. The complimentary drinks also played a small roll in our night at the Tropicana. I did my best imitation of a canteen filled with scotch.
Next night we actually took the bus and went to the Hilton and it's Star Trek wing. This was cool. Just general sci-fi geekiness is enough for you to really enjoy this. It's gigantic, with huge models of starships overhead, corridors, and bars right out of DS9, memorabilia and a show. The show was basically a 3D movie but there was a whole little skit leading up to it where you walk through spot on starship corridors while live borg chase you and your Starfleet guide. It was like being in the movie because there was no real life stuff around you to break the illusion. They really went to a lot of trouble. The borg even had the little red lights shooting out. We ate at Quark's restaurant where a Pherrengi (how the hell do you spell that?) engaged in some great shtick with our waiter.
The third day found us waking up understandably late and having to rush to the airport. Hence, the biggest gamble of the trip. We decided to eat at a nice, quaint (or should I say faux quaint?) chocolate shop we had seen. This meant seriously risking missing our flight. In classic Lauki fashion, we hauled ourselves and our luggage across three casinos (and they are freaking huge), wolfed down our chosen items, then ran like maniacs to find a cab. We made the flight and that was that.
|
We started by taking advantage of the free first class upgrade, drinking the complimentary wine despite no real breakfast. It isn't often I'm having wine at 10:00 am.
The very first thing you see when you get off the plane in Vegas are slot machines.
We fought sleep depravation by touring the casinos after checking in. Gaudy to the nth degree? Yes, but still impressive. Vegas is one surreal place. It creates its own reality with the constant whirring of machines and neon lights. The place is a combination Disney World for adults and shrine to capitalism and greed unbridled. You can smell money in the air and sense the insatiable desire for it in both the tourists and employees. Look in any given direction and you will see money changing hands. Inside a casino there are no windows or clocks so they look exactly the same at any hour, day or night. You lose all sense of time and feel like a vampire when you actually see the sun.
That night we stopped in at the Tropicana just to get bus change. We stayed there all night. On our very first gamble of the trip, when I just put a dollar into a nickel slot for the change, we won $50. Then later Laura won $20, also on a nickel slot. We spent our winnings playing slots and blackjack, then catching the free show in the gambling area. Then a lady walks up to us and gives us show tickets she couldn't use. So, we catch a $100 show for free. Typical fare, showgirls with peacock headdresses, a comedian etc. It felt very old time Vegas. The complimentary drinks also played a small roll in our night at the Tropicana. I did my best imitation of a canteen filled with scotch.
Next night we actually took the bus and went to the Hilton and it's Star Trek wing. This was cool. Just general sci-fi geekiness is enough for you to really enjoy this. It's gigantic, with huge models of starships overhead, corridors, and bars right out of DS9, memorabilia and a show. The show was basically a 3D movie but there was a whole little skit leading up to it where you walk through spot on starship corridors while live borg chase you and your Starfleet guide. It was like being in the movie because there was no real life stuff around you to break the illusion. They really went to a lot of trouble. The borg even had the little red lights shooting out. We ate at Quark's restaurant where a Pherrengi (how the hell do you spell that?) engaged in some great shtick with our waiter.
The third day found us waking up understandably late and having to rush to the airport. Hence, the biggest gamble of the trip. We decided to eat at a nice, quaint (or should I say faux quaint?) chocolate shop we had seen. This meant seriously risking missing our flight. In classic Lauki fashion, we hauled ourselves and our luggage across three casinos (and they are freaking huge), wolfed down our chosen items, then ran like maniacs to find a cab. We made the flight and that was that.
|
2/11/2005
Won't You Help a Starving Ninja?
Most people don't know that ninjas have fallen on hard times. The demands of a regular job in modern American just don't leave them with the time they need for training. Just look at this tragic video. For just the price of a cup of coffee, you can help aspiring ninjas like this get the quality training they need.
http://dimmona.shackspace.com/castin.gif
|
Most people don't know that ninjas have fallen on hard times. The demands of a regular job in modern American just don't leave them with the time they need for training. Just look at this tragic video. For just the price of a cup of coffee, you can help aspiring ninjas like this get the quality training they need.
http://dimmona.shackspace.com/castin.gif
|
2/07/2005
Tales From Dallas' First Cobvention...
It is not every weekend you hang out at an event that was primarily the brainchild of one Mr. Cob so I thought I'd do a recap. Let's go with a list type thingy.
Interesting highlights from the convention:
1) The Rocky Horror actress (playing Jane) choosing Laura's lap as the place to sit and curl up for her final lines.
2) Talking to the drugged (my guess) out of his mind comic writer who created the critically acclaimed Lost Boys of Sudan. He reminded me a little of Dylan ala '66 with his thin build, white skin, combed back/up hair and amphetamine speech. Despite his resemblance to the troubadour (emphasis on white skin), he continually insisted that he was, "Not a black man."
a) When Lauki tried to clear this up, with much merriment, we found out that the only thing he likes less than people thinking he's black is people thinking he's white. And on that point, who can blame him? Hence his protests of (shirt sleeve rolled up and arm pointed out for emphasis), "Look at me, do I look white?!"
3) Seeing stand up comic Barry Diamond's performance. This is a man who's been on Seinfeld, Friends and Curb Your Enthusiasm and has been in movies with Robert Deniro and Robin Williams. And here he is, at the not so glamorous Sterling Hotel. The Dallas hotel who's entire top floor (we learned) is a swinger's club, playing to a crowd of about thirty people, many whom looked like Comic Book Guy. It was hilarious! He made the most of it, ridiculing everything around him, but with just a touch of love. I cried my eyes out laughing at the absurdity of it all.
a) His best line, "Do any of you trekkies even know there's a big game in this country tomorrow (the Super Bowl)? God I hate you f***ing people."
4) Lauki's dance. There was a DJ spinning in a small ballroom with zero people in it (bad event planning there- they were all in the grand ballroom doing something else). So, Lauki made the most of it by dancing to a succession of our personal requests.
5) Bridgette of Madison County, the 6'5", muscular transvestite who played Nicole Kidman's character in Moulin Rouge for part of that show. As he/she performed up on stage, while being recorded by the documentary film crew that accompanied him/her to Dallas, I excitedly realized that this wasn't like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. No, this *was* Priscilla QOTD but in real life and with Lauki in the audience.
6) Feeling with it by being able to converse with the band from Austin about The Recliners (thanks Scott and Frank), the NY Deli on 6th street etc.
So that was about it, a surreal weekend with an odder cast of characters than Lauki has ever previously encountered.
|
It is not every weekend you hang out at an event that was primarily the brainchild of one Mr. Cob so I thought I'd do a recap. Let's go with a list type thingy.
Interesting highlights from the convention:
1) The Rocky Horror actress (playing Jane) choosing Laura's lap as the place to sit and curl up for her final lines.
2) Talking to the drugged (my guess) out of his mind comic writer who created the critically acclaimed Lost Boys of Sudan. He reminded me a little of Dylan ala '66 with his thin build, white skin, combed back/up hair and amphetamine speech. Despite his resemblance to the troubadour (emphasis on white skin), he continually insisted that he was, "Not a black man."
a) When Lauki tried to clear this up, with much merriment, we found out that the only thing he likes less than people thinking he's black is people thinking he's white. And on that point, who can blame him? Hence his protests of (shirt sleeve rolled up and arm pointed out for emphasis), "Look at me, do I look white?!"
3) Seeing stand up comic Barry Diamond's performance. This is a man who's been on Seinfeld, Friends and Curb Your Enthusiasm and has been in movies with Robert Deniro and Robin Williams. And here he is, at the not so glamorous Sterling Hotel. The Dallas hotel who's entire top floor (we learned) is a swinger's club, playing to a crowd of about thirty people, many whom looked like Comic Book Guy. It was hilarious! He made the most of it, ridiculing everything around him, but with just a touch of love. I cried my eyes out laughing at the absurdity of it all.
a) His best line, "Do any of you trekkies even know there's a big game in this country tomorrow (the Super Bowl)?
4) Lauki's dance. There was a DJ spinning in a small ballroom with zero people in it (bad event planning there- they were all in the grand ballroom doing something else). So, Lauki made the most of it by dancing to a succession of our personal requests.
5) Bridgette of Madison County, the 6'5", muscular transvestite who played Nicole Kidman's character in Moulin Rouge for part of that show. As he/she performed up on stage, while being recorded by the documentary film crew that accompanied him/her to Dallas, I excitedly realized that this wasn't like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. No, this *was* Priscilla QOTD but in real life and with Lauki in the audience.
6) Feeling with it by being able to converse with the band from Austin about The Recliners (thanks Scott and Frank), the NY Deli on 6th street etc.
So that was about it, a surreal weekend with an odder cast of characters than Lauki has ever previously encountered.
|
2/01/2005
Lauki Participates in an American Tradition...
The impromptu trip to Vegas! We decided to get away from it all this Valentine's Day weekend so that is where we'll be. We ended up giving a lady at the airport (had to buy the tickets in person) a jump start and fate rewarded us with a free upgrade to first class on the flight there! The agenda will mainly consist of seeing the different casinos and letting other people lose their money while we enjoy the free drinks, free shows etc. We'll gamble a little just for fun but it will be strictly small time.
So here's to last minute plans and the joy of well earned, grown up escapism!
|
The impromptu trip to Vegas! We decided to get away from it all this Valentine's Day weekend so that is where we'll be. We ended up giving a lady at the airport (had to buy the tickets in person) a jump start and fate rewarded us with a free upgrade to first class on the flight there! The agenda will mainly consist of seeing the different casinos and letting other people lose their money while we enjoy the free drinks, free shows etc. We'll gamble a little just for fun but it will be strictly small time.
So here's to last minute plans and the joy of well earned, grown up escapism!
|
