Life

The Drive-in Hangover

In spite of the lovely day we had attending the parade, followed with grilled turkey burgers and cold beverages, I was kind of beat today. The culprit you ask? The big screen.

The biggest screen in fact. Last night I took the boys to the drive-in. There are two within 20 minutes or so of us, actually, so I routinely check the weekly listings when they are updated on Friday mornings throughout the Summer. This week was an interesting double bill: the new Shrek movie followed by Iron Man 2. With the day off from work and school, how could we skip it?

I must admit, I love the simple pleasures. Sure, I can appreciate the niceties of a Redenvelope.com  gift like anybody else, but the drive-in is pretty high on my list of minor pleasures. It’s a cheap ticket for the double feature, and I don’t have to worry too much about my chatterbox boys getting us thrown out. Sure, I have to deal with a squirming 4 year old on my lap behind the steering wheel – and he really doesn’t stop moving the entire time – but there are a lot of worse things than a 90 minute hug. Even if it is a hug of necessity.

But the price must be paid the morning after. Early in the season it doesn’t even start getting dark until after 8:30. The second feature didn’t start until 10:30 at least, and summer blockbusters being what they are…Yeah, I got to bed just before 2.

I mean, I did sleep in way past the usual wake up with the kids. Yeah, it was almost 7 when I rolled out of bed. But it was all worth it. Movies with my boys, popcorn and sodas in the front seat with the windows rolled down and the soundtrack coming from the radio. I’ll get some sleep tonight, and on Friday morning I know I’ll be crossing my fingers for another kid-friendly first feature followed y a rock ’em sock ’em summer smash in second place…when they finally pass out from exhaustion.

We’re gonna have some fun this summer.

PS Blog

The Parade

It was a happy Memorial Day, indeed. I hope yours was lovely too. The parade in town was probably the best we’ve attended in the last 5 years or so. It was sunny and warm but not humid, a great start. The baby didn’t fuss once, and the 4 year old picked up a ton of candy. Yeah, these days they throw candy to the kids along the parade route. How’s that for a mega-change from what I grew up with.

Along with the requisite fire trucks and jeeps, we saw karate demonstrations and classic cars, horses and riders sporting fancy equestrian clothing, and even a couple of burros. And of course, along with the vets and active service men and women, we saw the scouts.

That was big fun because our oldest was marching with the Cub Scouts. And he actually wasn’t acting too crazy. In fact, he looked like a proper little gentleman and well prepared scout as he marched by. So cute.

Somehow, though, in spite of his proper appearance at the midpoint of the route where we were positioned, he managed to end the parade with a hat full of candy. I mean it. FULL of candy.

Different times.

Life

The Real Deal

I’ve noticed that more and more people are painting stuff on their cars. Business stuff. I’m still seeing the magnetic sign slapped on the side of their Ford F-150 offering affordable landscaping., but now there are other sites. One I’ve seen a lot is Loan Modifications. I’ve seen a few different Loan Modification vehicles around, my favorite being a massive Hummer with dollar bills painted all over it. I don’t know why, but it somehow makes me feel…dirty.

One time I saw a lawyer’s Volvo with a list of services painted on the hood: Wills and Trusts, Real Estate Closings, Non-Contested Divorces. Personally that’s not an 800 number I’d write down, but we all have different standards.

I’ve also seen a lot of Realtors with fancy paint jobs. I feel like they’re the ones who have really moved from the magnetic door sign to the all over paint job in a big way. Driving to work a couple weeks ago I saw a painted Realtor car. It was a Land Rover with pretty sweet paint job – a house with a nice lawn spreading around the front fender and onto the hood. Almost photographic in quality, and way better than any unicorn van job from the 70s. It had to cost a mint.

But the problem was the car was seriously dinged up. The bumper was pushed in and the driver side fender had a big dent. The driver’s door was all crumpled, like it had been driven too close to a tree. Way too close. I was thinking this guy might do better to advertise cheap car insurance or something. It must be a nightmare getting a car like that fixed, have to redo the whole paint job. He might need one of those loan modifications deals. Maybe he’ll catch site of the dude with the dollar bill Hummer.

Noise

When Punk was Punk

Many years ago when I was doing college radio I remember having conversation with a good friend about punk rock. We agreed that punk rock was great because it never really changed. There are different styles and you can always slip in some ska, but overall, punk rock is punk rock. Thematically, politically and stylistically you pretty much knew what to expect from, say, a punk rock show.

And then something really awful happened. First you had the crossover acts like Green Day. They were, at one point, of of the all time great 90s era punk bands. And when they grew up and started branching out I couldn’t have been happier. But then Disney got involved. They started pushing these pseudo punk bands through their various outlets – movie soundtracks, TV shows, Disney radio, etc. And it wasn’t just Disney, but they are an easy target for pointing fingers.

I say pseudo punk because they had the three chord energy all right, but there were two big problems with most of these acts.. First, the singers did this whining little kid voice thing that was really irritating. Second, they sang sappy love songs and lamented third period math. WTF? Joe Strummer must be rolling over in his grave.

I see these kids with their iPods cranked to Bowling for Soup or Good Charlotte and I can’t help but wonder where we all went wrong. The entertainment industry screws everything up. Even punk.

But there is hope. You can make a difference. Go out there and find some of the great punk rock records and go to school…old school. Yeah, there’s the Ramones and the Sex Pistols and The Clash, but check out Black Train Jack or Face to Face, The Descendants and All, NOFX and The Mr. T Experience, Elastica and Magnapop. Seriously, you won’t be disappointed.

Life

Hate the game

I just had an interesting conversation with my wife about chunkies. We discussed chunkies at some length. Who they are, and what they mean to me. You see, I don’t have anything against overweight people. I am one myself. Many of us struggle to fit a certain ideal or physical model, for all sorts of reasons.

Some of us want to be hot. Some of us want to be more healthy. Some of us don’t want to pay extra for double XL sizes. Whatever. It is not easy having a lame-ass metaboloism or [insert other excuse for not being slim, muscular and physically perfect).

So, no, I don’t hate overweight people. I do, however, hate chunkies. You will notice that when disparaging these peeps who should be spending more time reading fat burner reviews and less time in trans fat country I am using some of my favorite code words. Chunky is the big one (unavoidable pun).

A chunky is often, though certainly not always, female. A chunky is absurdly overweight with no sign of muscle tone anywhere on his or her body. A chunky is frequently tattoed, though this is not a requirement. A chunky wears inappropriate clothes, often excessively revealing. A chunky will usually display great attitude…my wife described it thusly: they think they’re all that and a bag of chips and then they eat the chips.

Chunkies can often be labeled as trashy, or white trash, or trailer trash. They can be very easily compared to pizza dough or the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. They curse a lot, smoke a lot, drive crappy cars poorly and think people who drink Bud Light are snobs.

It is not the weight problem that I dislike. It is the attitude of the individuals who share these traits. And so I say this: Don’t hate the player. Hate the game. The chubby, chubby game.

Life

Magnet

We were on line at the store the other day and it happened again – a completely unbalanced and borderline insane person struck up a conversation with me. She did the same with the cashier, my children and my wife, but she focused most of her attention on me. I must admit, I am a crazy magnet. I have suffered this affliction all my life. Put it this way: a crazy person metaphorically parks their car in your spot every once in a while, they move into my house, eat all my food, use up all my toilet paper and sleep on my pillow…and that’s just for starters.

This one was a real trip. She wasn’t as interesting as that guy on the train when I was in high school who was trying to get to the VA in Peekskill (which I think was shut down by then) who described plucking out another man’s eye and mushing it on his forehead. It wasn’t a particularly vioent or menacing manner with which he told the story, and he actually chuckled when he said the guy’s eye continued to stare at him.

And then there was Billy. He was using the “home’s” community bike for a ride through the park the day I picnicked with Carol. Weird, but at least we have a hell of a first date story.

This woman on line was particularly off. Despite her stylish green eye makeup and 1988-style sunglasses, wrinkle removers or age-defying cream of some sort might have been in order. Particularly as she went on and on about being almost finished with her degree in Child Psychology.

This from a woman who thought my 11th month old daughter in pink with pink accents and an extra bit of pink garnishment was a boy. She also told me a joke that I think was supposed to be a dirty joke, involving a blond and a dozen cops. I didn’t hear her all that clearly, but even if I had, I don’t think the punchline would have, you know, delivered.

The freaky part of the joke was that she actually named 12 cops. She had their names and ranks, some were detectives, and she kept saying things like “Do you know Detective So and So,” and “Ooooh, Sergeant Blank is really handsome.”

I said, “I wouldn’t know” and wished she would stop saying how handsome my baby girl is.

Life

Still worked up

I have to say, I’m still really pissed about the whole Japanese Fighting Dog thing. Am I taking crazy pills or is this totally outrageous? To me, a pet store owner who keeps a wild animal as an ersatz pet in the store is not unlike a Wine Boutique owner pouring Cisco at a wine tasting.

Abbie, my Mom and Aunt’s poor maltese is suffering horribly. Never a pup that would require apidexin or anything, she now has barely eaten in two days. Since teeny tiny lampshades are not a great idea, she is now sporting a toddler’s turtle neck to keep her from chewing the open wounds on her neck.

And they shaved her. How much more wrong could it get? I mean, frou frou dogs are all about their frou frou haircuts and tartan winter coats. With her shaved neck and turtleneck she looks more like Knight Rider era David Hasselhoff then a delicate little purebred pup. And that’s just wrong. So wrong.

Life

Dog Days

I’m not sure if this is a legitimate legal issue with precedent and all that, I don’t know if this shows up during lsat prep or anything, but I’m pretty sure it should… When big crazy dogs that are known as ‘[insert country] fighting dogs’ bite small, innocent, domestic pet dogs, they should be punished.

No lie. A pet shop owner (PET SHOP OWNER!!!) with multiple ‘exotic’ dogs had in her brood what she referred to as a Japanese Fighting Dog. Said fighting dog has been known to bite other dogs in the past. Yup, there are witnesses. So whenever my Mom or Aunt approach this pet shop, they actually pick up their dog, a teeny maltese, and carry her safely past. Just in case the Fighter, or one of the other exotic canine miscreants, gets out.

A couple of days ago, before my Mom could lift her pup to safety, the Fighter slinked out of the store and attacked. She bit the maltese ten times (the tenth bite was not discovered for 2 days because the other woulds were so fierce) and my mother at least once. The dog is massively traumatized and my Mom needed a tetanus shot.

You know what the worst part of this unnecessary tragedy was? The next day, the pet shop owner had the dog tied up outside where it was nipping at other dogs as they were walked by.

Have you ever seen one of those shows where a dirty cop goes before a judge and the judge says he should be punished especially severely because he’s a cop? Don’t you think a pet store owner should have extra culpability?

PS Blog

The Green Machine

Hey, a recent license plate sighting of note – I was behind a metallic green SUV the other day with a couple interesting markings. The license plate was amusing enough, being SOURPCKLS. But the little white oval sticker (you know those things that are, like, pseudo-European and usually tout the Outerbanks?) read PKLFEST. This cracked me up. Picklefest.

And here’s the funny part. Despite the somewhat feminine nature of the SUV, it was driven by a guy. A thirty-something, shaved head, chambray-shirt-wearing guy. I was wondering if this was somebody with a real sense of humor, or just some dude who thinks he’s got the package from heaven.

Of course, chances are, it’s just some guy into project management software and Battlestar Galactica, but isn’t it more fun to imagine some super 70s guy who’s all “come on down ladies, pickle fest is happening in the way back of my Honda…stat!”