Fri-YAY!

12/10/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Jesus. This has been the LONGEST WEEK EVER!

Nothing terribly exciting to report from here. It’s been the same old “wake, treadmill, eat, struggle through the work day, eat, sleep” routine. I guess old fart status has really been attained since I am in bed by 9:00 every night. Sheesh. I am still struggling with my mood too. It’s in full on yo-yo mode. Yay. That also makes the days fun and probably contributes to wanting to be in bed early.

Months ago, I signed up for OnlyFans and have a page there complete with semi-anonymous name (though my scowling mug can be seen clearly). For some reason (probably the desperate need for validation), I keep circling back to the idea of posting some content there. But, would anyone want to subscribe for free, let alone pay for content (which would be the ultimate goal)? More importantly, do I have the time to self-promote and talent to make anything hot enough to get said subscribers and cash?

Ah, well.

Meanwhile, I could resist buying this film nerdy shirt. Paul Verhoeven doesn’t get enough credit for the years of awesome movies he has given us. Seriously!

Plus, it’s been pretty exciting to find out that The Fixx have released a new single and will have a new album out next year. Give the new single a listen. I command it!
<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start">?</span>

Rockin’ the “D”

10/6/202110/6/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Wow. Life and my brain chemistry sure are trying their best to knock me down. But, I am still here. Sorta.

We braved the COVID infected crowds and went to Gatlinburg for the day this past Saturday. It had been well over a year since we had been … and the lure of moonshine and getting the fuck out of the house proved to be too great to resist. We sampled moonshine and hard cider, plus had a disappointing lunch at our favorite place to eat.

Sweet, sweet ‘shine! (And yeah … I need a beard trim.)

Besides the disappointing lunch, the worst part of the day was that the Mysterious Mansion didn’t open until 5:00 pm. This picture was taken at 2:00 pm. There were a fuck ton of people on the street and in stores with absolutely NO safety precautions in mind. So, we didn’t want to hang around and kill three hours until they opened. Maybe next time, Mysterious Mansion!

And now there will be 10-14 days of paranoia about whether we both got infected while in Gatlinburg. Was it worth going? I guess time will tell.

Meanwhile …

I am one week away from hitting the big 5-0! On Sunday, my friends threw a fun little surprise party. It was really great to see the selection of friends that showed up. It feels like it’s been ages since I have seen that many people I know in one place at one time. Food. Fun. Fellowship. It was a really nice afternoon.

Honestly, it feels like the slide started years ago.

And, this is what it looks like when you open a box and there are books that you wanted inside. Books make the best presents! Well … books and Blu-rays and records and CD’s. Ha, ha.

And, what do you do when you are nearing 50? Why, you pre-order an insanely expensive, oversized, limited edition coffee table about the making of one of your favorite films. To be honest, it’s not the book that’s insanely expensive … it’s the shipping from the UK that is. #25 Trainspotting looks like it’s going to be really awesome! The same author and company are working on a book about Taxi Driver which I am fairly certain I will end up ordering as well. Yay, books about movies!

New PTA!

9/27/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Squee!

Commando

9/24/20219/24/2021 Chas.1 Comment

I have not worn underwear for two weeks (or so). So, I guess jockstraps are out for the time being and freeballin’ is in.

I just know this is the information you were dying for on this sunny and cool early autumn day. Ha, ha.

In News Unrelated to My Underwear Status:
John Kenneth Muir’s Horror Films of the 2000s has finally been announced for release in January of 2022. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited this makes me.

Christmas in October!

9/10/20219/10/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love The Guest. So, when Second Sight Films in the UK announced in August that a fancy, limited edition 4K UHD set, I knew I would be ordering this. Dang. This set looks amazing! And, yeah … I spent too much money on it and I don’t care.

Special Features

Limited Edition of 5,000
4K / Blu-ray dual format release
Brand new grade for both formats supervised by Director Adam Wingard
UHD presented in Dolby Vision HDR
New commentary by Director Adam Wingard and Writer Simon Barrett
Archive commentary by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
The Uninvited Guest: a new interview with Actor Dan Stevens
A Perfect Stranger: a new interview with Actor Maika Monroe
By Invitation Only: a new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
Producing The Guest: a new interview with Producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder
Light and Fog: a new interview with Director of Photography Robby Baumgartner
Lightning Strikes: a new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock
The Sounds of The Guest: a new interview with Composer Steve Moore
Deleted / Alternate Scenes, Outtake Gag with optional Director commentary

Limited Edition Contents

Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Adam Stothard
Various Artists Soundtrack CD
160 page book with new essays by Tim Coleman, Zena Dixon, Craig Ian Mann and Zoë Rose Smith; Script-to-Screen featuring storyboards and script extracts, Behind-the-Scenes photos and Adam Wingard soundtrack notes
6 collectors’ art cards

Exclusive to Second Sight orders

3 art card reproductions of the on-set Halloween Dance posters

The Guest Limited Edition 4K UHD / Blu-ray from Second Sight Films

Stick a Fork in Me

6/22/20216/29/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Life is still … plodding along. But there have been some distractions along the way.

Yes. I bought a kiddie pool. And, yes. It’s for me. When the temps get hot, you will be able to find me laying drunk in the cool, cool water. I have already warned the neighbors.

Yes! It’s the limited edition release of StudioCanal’s 4K restoration of Basic Instinct. The timing couldn’t be better since my Lionsgate Blu-ray from 2007 has shit the bed and won’t play past the first promo trailer on the disc. This is seriously one of my favorite movies. It’s so perfectly trashy and awesome.

Yes. I finally fixed the bottom step (that was rotting to pieces) off the back deck. The price of lumber had been making me delay this task. So, I got crafty and found some old lumber from a picnic table I dismantled a few months ago. Quick work with a hand saw and a few nails means a sturdy new step is now in place! And, yes. I was dumb and didn’t take a “before” picture.

The tracklisting on No Gods No Masters, the new Garbage album, is slightly different on the vinyl versus the CD. Aren’t you happy that you now know this useless bit of information?

And now for the “I’m Done” portion of this post …

It’s always great to see your design work lifted and then solely credited to another person. This really made my eye twitch when I saw it last Friday. Granted, the person that is credited did drop new photos into this design, but they in no way should get the sole credit and all the kudos they were getting in the comment section of this post.

I quit working at this theater last summer because I was overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Nobody there could ever seem to remember I was on staff even though they had no problem piling extra design work on me anytime they needed it. It really sucked. So, I quit. Fast forward a year and they still can’t seem to remember the work I did or the time and energy I put into it … and it still REALLY SUCKS.

Worked For It

4/30/20214/30/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

The weekend is FINALLY here! Thank God. Work has gotten slow again and that makes for long, drawn-out work weeks that never seem to want to end.

At least there are some fun plans on tap for the weekend!
– Firepitting tonight with Shortlegs and Co.
– Tasty Boojum Brewing beer and food with Michelle tomorrow night
– Visiting Biltmore on Sunday for the first time since October

Hopefully, David is cool that I am all “fuck you I am off to do fun things without you.” Ha, ha.

And … the big news for the day is that I finally have the Arrow Video Battle Royale 4K UHD Limited Edition in my greedy, consumerist hands. This set is a BEAST!

Movies and Music

4/5/20214/5/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Well. Life is slowly chugging along. There is still lots of just hanging around the house for the moment. Spring is finally underway here. So thankful for warmer temps! David is now fully vaccinated and I have one more shot left to go before I am. I am really looking forward to being able to hang with friends and have some limited movie gatherings. Yay!

We did brave the elements and went and saw Godzilla Vs. Kong in an actual movie theater this past Friday. Lordy, I have missed movie theaters.

The movie itself was fine. The plot was nonsensical at times but big monsters destroyed a lot of shit … so I was pretty happy with it. Plus, Alexander Skarsgård is so pretty. *Sigh* I still think Godzilla (2014) is the best of the MonsterVerse films.

Meanwhile, John Grant and Garbage have both announced new albums. Yay!

John Grant’s Boy from Michigan drops June 25th. I *might* have pre-ordered the limited edition, deluxe vinyl.

<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start">?</span>

Garbage’s No Gods No Masters drop on June 11th. I *might* have snagged the Deluxe CD + Neon Green Vinyl Limited Edition with Signed Print before it sold out. Whoo!

And, hopefully, I will get back to some sort of regular posting schedule. I really something to focus on other than pandemics and hurt feelings.

Alive, Not Kicking

1/18/20211/18/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

Not much to report here really. Just navigating the winter and pandemic doldrums.

I wish we would get some warmer weather. I miss (socially distanced) fire pitting with friends. I want to get out on some camping trips. I am tired of just sitting around the house worrying about finances and COVID-19. I want my county to get on a roll with the vaccinations so that I can get my shots (of course I am in the very last “everyone else” category).

And, I am tired of feeling underappreciated. It’s making me bitter. I have felt bitter most of the day … for most of the last several days, to be honest. Sometimes it just feels like people are just paying a lot of lip service in regards to my abilities/training. I am always getting duped into feeling the expectation that someone is going to put in a good word for me when they are not. And after months of lip service, I am bitter. Honestly, I think I’d prefer to be treated with indifference. At least then I wouldn’t have these expectations that people are standing up for me or are advocating for me when they are not.

Meanwhile … I finally got the two packages that the USPS has been holding hostage. Yay!

This Week’s Excitement: Trump is out of office! Thank Christ.

Off to the Races

1/7/20211/7/2021 Chas.Leave a comment

And 2021 is off and running. The Biden/Harris election win is official, Democrats have taken the majority in the Senate, and Trump Cultists stormed the Capitol because “Boo hoo! Trump lost.” What an amazing time to be alive. (Psssssst … that’s sarcasm.)

And now, some randomness.

This is always a fun sight to see when you actually haven’t told your PC to update. Thankfully, Geek Squad nerds got me back up and running in a few days with no major data loss. They think the hard drive was starting to fail. Pretty lame for a computer that is only four years old. This is why I have a Macbook Pro for all my non-official work and personal stuff.

We rang in the New Year by drinking the last of the egg nog. I was asleep before midnight. Old Fart for the win!

The USPS *finally* came through and delivered the last Christmas presents well after Christmas.

A&A sent these really awesome Divine/Pink Flamingos-themed socks and I LOVE THEM! Now, if I could just get David to watch the movie.

And, David got me these stupidly expensive yet totally awesome screenplay books from A24. I am a total sucker for their brand of slow burn, artsy horror.

Now if the USPS would locate and move along my copy of Arrow’s 4K release of David Cronenberg’s Crash, I would be the happiest man on the planet. It’s been stuck in South Jersey since December 21. Ugh.

Beast Mode

12/21/2020 Chas.Leave a comment

The big excitement recently has been the arrival of Vinegar Syndrome‘s new 4K UHD release of The Beastmaster. I have very vivid memories of seeing this at the local movie theater in 1982 (when I was on the cusp of turning 11 years old). I pretty much knew I was different at this point in my life and that men grabbed my attention more women. It was a weird, scary, and thrilling feeling. The Beastmaster just helped reaffirm all this. Marc Singer running around in a leather hula skirt that barely covered anything was an amazing site for these young eyes.

It’s weird to think now that my parents probably thought I was excited to see Tanya Roberts topless in this movie. Nope. I was all about Marc Singer. I mean, c’mon … look at him!

The Beastmaster is one of three films from my childhood that I feel helped solidify my gayness. The other two are Flash Gordon and Gwendoline. Maybe it’s of note that all three are from the fantasy/sci-fi genre … and maybe it’s not.

Updates and Things

11/30/202011/30/2020 Chas.Leave a comment

Yeah … I am still alive. I just haven’t felt like posting.

Thanksgiving came and went last week without much fanfare. Our friends who normally host a “Friendsgiving” that we go to every year (wisely) decided to not host this year. It was disappointing but understandable. So, David went off to see his family and I stayed around the house and didn’t really do anything but consume pizza and be a generally depressed bastard. Yay, 2020!

I did get this year’s batch of egg nog made on Thanksgiving Day. Later this week, I get to decide who has been nice enough to receive some and who’s on the shit list and is out of egg nog luck. Ha, ha.

COVID-19 case numbers are going crazy here in our little mountain county. It’s a bummer since we’ve done pretty well for most of the year. It seems like precaution fatigue has people letting their guard down and thus getting infected. I am so ready for all this to be over!

One (well, two really) of the bright spots of the past week has been the arrival of the Dawn of the Dead 4K UHD Limited Edition release from Second Sight and the Midsommar Director’s Cut 4K UHD Limited Edition from A24. Squee!

Second Sight Dawn of the Dead 4K UHD Limited Edition

On Saturday, I had a solo shopping appointment at my favorite record store in Asheville, Harvest Records. I managed to snag the 2020 Black Friday Record Store Day release of Amiee Mann’s Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo. I also found a rare Japanese pressing from 1985 of The Sisters of Mercy’s First and Last and Always. So cool!

Aimee Mann's Bachelor No. 2 RSD 2020 Release

First and Last and Always Japanese Pressing

Sunday morning, we went for a fancy brunch at The Ascot Club at Highland Forest. We have recently become social members there because a) the membership is cheap and b) all of our friends were joining and we didn’t want to be left out. The food is good and the atmosphere pretty quiet. So, it’s a great place to go for a relaxing meal. We drank mimosas and had fancy brunchables … Chicken and Waffles for me and Steak Caesar Salad for David. Très chic.

Since there were no Black Friday sales to go to in person, I bought a few movies online for cheap. Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season arrived yesterday. Horray for 2-day shipping! But, thanks to Amazon’s amazing pack job, it’s already being returned. The slipcase was damaged and (it might be hard to tell from the photo) the case is actually curved and bent. Amazon’s crapping packing/shipping strikes again. Sheesh.

Some other randomness that I might post more about later:
– I framed some enamel pin sets I have recently acquired.
– We watched Unhinged. It’s nowhere near as bad as the critics made it out to be.
– I have become obsessed with color matching my jockstrap and shirt colors when I can.

The workweek is now underway. December is nigh (which means 2021 is just around the corner. And they are calling for SNOW tonight!

Oh, and … because I was bad and missed the actual day on the 21st … Happy 18th Birthday to The Boy Wonder. I guess this blog finally legal! I know I say this every year … but, damn … I never thought it would last this long. So, a big thanks to the constant (or even occasional) readers that still come here and read my ramblings.

Editor’s Note: No links ’cause I’m lazy.

Yes, Please!

11/18/202011/18/2020 Chas.1 Comment

The first Collector’s Edition from A24, Ari Aster’s 171-minute director’s cut will look as crisp on your bookshelf as it does on your screen.

Disc comes enclosed in a clothbound, Hårga-yellow slipcase, accompanied by an illustrated 62-page booklet featuring original artworks from the film by Ragnar Persson and a foreword by Martin Scorsese. Choice of Standard Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD.

Make mine 4K UHD, please!

Side Note: I think it would seriously cool to have a tattoo of that flaming bear art.