No Country for Old Men

Earlier today, Big Texas and I went to a matinee of the latest movie by Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men. And you know what? I would've paid full price to see it. (Coming from me, that's saying something!)

Now, I'm a fan of other movies by the Coen brothers (Fargo, Blood Simple, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou, etc.), so I had an idea going into it that I'd like it. I had read a few reviews, and listened to Marin rave about it, so I started to get a little nervous that it would be hyped up too much, and that would skew my opinion. This was not the case, though.

I'm not going to go into the plot here. I've tried typing something down, just to get the basic idea across, but I felt like I couldn't do a good job at it. The trailer should give you gist of it.



I loved this movie. I think I loved everything about this movie. The sights, the sounds, the feelings. The actors were perfectly cast (the only exception may be that I did find it a little distracting to see Stephen Root in a more "serious" part), and did incredible jobs with their roles. From what I've gathered, the Coen brothers did a good job of keeping the script true to the novel from which it was adapted. It was violent and bloody and graphic, but not unnecessarily so. There was humor throughout, dark as it may have been (one peeve of mine was that the audience in the theater laughed at times that I thought were inappropriate, and then were silent when I was laughing. I obviously understood the movie more and therefore was smarter than everyone there.). This was also 2 of the most intense hours I've ever spent in a movie theater. I honestly would not be surprised to see this film nominated for multiple Academy Awards. And Anton Chigurh (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem) is one of, if not the, best villain, ever.


This definitely had a "Western" feel to it, which I appreciated. It mostly takes place and was filmed in Texas (though sadly, not in Austin), and all of the actors (who required one) had a great southern accent, even the Scottish Kelly Macdonald (another slightly distracting part was trying to figure out why I recognized her, then remembering that I saw her naked in Trainspotting. Yes, that actually wen through my head).

I feel like I cannot say enough about No Country for Old Men, but at the same time I don't want it to fall into the trap of being too hyped up for you out there. I don't want the three of you reading my blog to get such high hopes that can never be met, but at the same time I want to convey my feelings towards the movie. I'd have to think about the movies that I've seen recently, but off the top of my head, I can't think of a better movie from 2007. That's why it receives a whopping 6 Flenker Thumbs Up. Yes, it gets an extra thumb for being just an all-around bad ass movie. So go check it out, friendo.

A revisited quote of the day

I was looking through some of my old posts, as I am wont to do, and came across one of my favorites here. I thought it fit for my mood sometimes, so I'd repost it, just for fun. And because I haven't gone through and re-listened to the mixes from last time, so until then, this will have to tide you over.

Friday Recipe Korner: A spoonful of whiskey for every burden you shouldered in the name of getting the fuck by this week

Here's to some whiskey and gin, for getting the fuck by this week. Happy weekend!

If only I were in Pennsylvania. . .

I noticed on Project Jenny, Project Jan's myspace that they're playing with a band called Vampire Weekend tomorrow. Since I'm always looking for some new music, I decided to check them out, and they're not bad. Not bad at all. They have kind of a "retro" sound, maybe similar to the Beach Boys, with a modern influence mixed in. These guys are gonna be big, I can feel it! Check them out, give 'em a listen. I may include a song of theirs on my mix cd, you never know. . .

To the Beat of Rock and Roll (Alright!)

The second Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange is underway, emails have been sent and people are sitting by their mailboxes, waiting for it to fill with wondrous tunes from faraway lands, like Canada. So, like my Canadian brethren Jad has done (ok, exactly as he did it, so sue me!), I figured now is a good time to reflect on the last time around, starting with my own mix: To The Beat of Rock and Roll.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of my sweet-ass cover art to show everyone, but just know that it was indeed sweet-ass. And, I'm not sure how many of the participants realized or found this, but each one had a different interior to the "booklet." Will I do something similar this time around? Who knows?! Here's a tracklist, along with links you can click on and listen (courtesy of some space provided by the good people at Three Pints).

1. Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica
2. Figurines - Race You
3. Of Montreal - Lysergic Bliss (Daytrotter Sessions)
4. Apples in Stereo - Sunndal Song
5. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
6. Mono Puff - Devil Went Down to Newport
7. WHY? - Gemini (Birthday Song)
8. Blackstar - Definition
9. Menomena - Muscle n' Flo
10. Rock Plaza Central - Our Past like Lighthouses
11. The Eels - Fresh Feeling
12. Built to Spill - Car
13. Now It's Overhead - Turn and Go
14. The Mountain Goats - Somebody Else's Parking Lot in Santa Fe
15. M Doughty - Train to Chicago
16. Love - Alone Again Or
17. Uncle Tupelo - Acuff Rose
18. Cub Country - O Great Telephone
19. Belle & Sebastian - If She Loves me (live from KEXP)
20. Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
21. The Weakerthans - My Favourite Chords

So there you have it! You say you want the whole thing in a .zip file? Alright! Here you go!

I felt like it was a pretty good selections of some of my favorite songs, some tracks from the lighter side of Flenker. Some of the tunes, like Alone Again Or and My Favourite Chords, have special meaning to me, so I included them. (Part of understanding the Flenker and the Flenker's past is all tied up in these songs, yes, it involves a girl, but that's not a topic I'll get into right now. Right now it's about the music!)

I'm going to try to go through everyone's mixes from last time around, but not put up links to the songs, because it's kind of a pain in the ass to do. I may do a few mixes in each post. We'll see how ambitious I'm feeling. Lately, ambition has been near all-time lows. Hence the lack in posts. But I've got a feeling that may soon change. So for now, enjoy some tunes!

I LOVE ICE CREAM

I am not stretching the truth with this statement in the slightest: Texas has some of the best ice cream I've ever eaten in my life. I guess it makes sense that a place that has a temperature in the mid-80's in the second weekend of November would have such a cool, tasty treat. With Blue Bell Ice cream, I'm in frozen dessert heaven.

Blue Bell's website says that their's is the "best ice cream in the country," and I don't doubt that for a second. It kind of pains me to say this, but I think it may be better than Whitey's. At least when purchased at the store. Every flavor I've had from them has just been phenomenal. This include chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies & cream, anniversary cake, chocolate brownie overload (which had walnuts, whipped cream, and brownie chunks in chocolate ice cream. Usually I'm not a huge fan of the ice cream with the brownies already in it, but these were perfect), pecan praline, and hot fudge sundae. Yes, I've eaten a lot of it in the month-and-a-half that I've been down here. There's only been about a week when we haven't had a half-gallon in our freezer. Right now we have 2. I could be in the worst mood ever, eat a bowl of Blue Bell, and instantly have a smile on my face. This ice cream could cause world peace. And I totally believe that.

In summation, this ice cream fucking rocks. When you come to visit me (and I expect everyone reading this to visit), I will buy us a half-gallon, and we will share it, and you will know true happiness.

ARG! I've been tagged

Well a couple of days ago, the lovely Heather from Slightly Dramatic tagged me! (not to be confused with my Heather from As the Coffee Brews, which is finally being updated again. I'm pretty sure she will have something to say tomorrow. I promise) Here are the basic rules:

A). Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog...
B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself...
C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs...
D). Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
**You get it?? --- You got it?? --- [GOOD] --- So here goes:*

1. Believe it or not, I never tasted a drop of alcohol until my 23rd birthday. Not for any particular reason, I just never wanted to. I blame my friend Travis for ruining me. Apparently that night I called him and also blamed society for making me drunk. That damn society.

1b. OK, so that first one was sort of a lie. I did ingest some alcohol in high school, but not the normal, fun kind. For about a week, a friend of mine and I thought we'd be cool if we DRANK Listerine. Not for the alcohol or anything, but mainly because it told us not to, and we thought we'd be tough for doing it. Instead, we were just really, really stupid. And I know if I didn't list this here, KP would call me on it.

2. The most-prized items of sports memorabilia in my collection are (in no particular order): a personalized Roger Craig autographed 5X7 photo saying "To Chris, Be Good," (he's from Davenport, IA, and my uncle knew him and his mom, I've met him a couple times), an autographed Willie Mays baseball card, and a Buck O'Neil autographed baseball.

3. I have a strong desire to someday live in Boise, Idaho.

4. One of (if not THE) earliest memory that I have is from when I was about 3-years-old, being on the beach in Oregon, and getting knocked over by a wave. I can remember crying "The ocean got me!" to my mom, and seeing lots of gulls.

5. My favorite actress of all-time is probably Audrey Hepburn. There was a while there when I had a HUGE crush on her. It was kind of weird.

6. The reason I started playing the saxophone was Lisa Simpson.

7. The first movie that I can remember seeing was a showing of The Jungle Book at a drive-in movie theater. Be jealous.

now, for people that I myself will tag. . .

Of course H is there
As is Lucy
And WhiskeyMarie
Next is Christina
Then Nicole
Errr. . . and anyone else that wants to. I just needed to get my ladies out there first (I feel like some sort of blog pimp now.)

***

Also! Last chance to tell me you're interested in the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange! I'll be sending out an email soon with more details, so if you want to join in, let me know!

Happy Halloween!!

Shed a tear for the baseball season

There's still time for people to join up in the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange: Round 2! Leave a comment or email me if interested. And if anyone else out there with a blog wants to promote the exchange, feel free! I'll probably give it another week or so, then I'll contact everyone who responded.

Anyways, I've been in a little funk lately. I don't know why exactly. . . Things on the job front are coming along, I've had a few interviews, one offer, and a couple more prospects. So this time next week, at the latest, I will have a job. The weather has been damn near perfect, in the 70's with little to no wind, no clouds, just sunny, beautiful days to enjoy. I've been sitting outside and reading, but, unfortunately, I don't really have any destination to which I can walk. Unless I wanted to go to Joe's Crab Shack (which I will sometime, I've never been to one, but it can wait, I'm sure). I've made some friends, been hanging out with a couple of people, so that's going well. But there's still some sort of nagging feeling that just won't go away, not quite an unhappiness, but not exactly a contented feeling. I think I have a case of the blahs. Maybe it's from sleeping on an air mattress. I think that'll do it. I'm looking forward to going home for Christmas, mostly because I'll be able to sleep on a bed.

I've decided on a Halloween costume! It may be a little too late, a lot of people went out and hit the town in their costumes this past weekend, but I think the biggest night will be Wednesday. And I'm not really planning on going out and getting wild that night, but I may meet up with some friends just to people watch. And, if I hand out candy, it'd be fun to be in costume. I won't say here what I'll be yet, you'll have to wait for the pictures. . . I'll just say I picked up my main components today, a suit (from Goodwill) and some hairspray. Stay tuned.

I suppose I should mention something about the World Series. . . I was able to watch (most of) every game, keeping my streak of catching at least one inning of every Series game for as far back as I remember. I'm disappointed that the Rockies lost, more so that they were swept. Plus, I didn't want to see the Red Sox win again. The good news is that everyone in the country gets a free taco from Taco Bell. (Whether or not that is actually good news is debatable. I'm pretty sure that the "meat" they use is also used as an anti-tank weapon. But hey, from 2pm-5pm on the 30th, you can get one free taco! If you think I'm not going to eat one, you don't know me very well.) Then there was the not-so-subtle commercial for Taco Bell, in the Red Sox's dugout.



Why in the hell would Royce Clayton be miked-up? Was he being payed by Taco Bell to go around and talk to all the players about the deal? And why would he tell Ellsbury that he had to steal a base, and then he conveniently did in the next game. . . I'm sure there's some sort of conspiracy here, and I'll get to the bottom of it.

There are also some people upset at Alex Rodriguez for announcing that he'll opt out of his contract with the Yankees during the World Series, but I really don't blame him. I blame his jerkass of an agent Scott Boras. Boras is a major contributing factor to the problems in Major League Baseball. I can't blame a player for taking a $30 million a year deal. I'd do it in a second. It's a business, after all. But I think that agents like Boras are driving the salaries up. The other side of the problem is that the owners are willing to pay the price. It should make for an interesting off-season, though. Especially with the Mitchell Report looming. . . (for those who may not know, that is the report that supposedly names a huge number of players implicated for using steroids or HGH. Honestly, I don't think it will do too much. Sure, it'll be huge in the beginning, but by the time the season rolls around, it will have died down. It'll be interesting, though, to see how people react. I can't wait for all of the people who have publicly slammed Barry Bonds to try to backtrack and defend their favorite player. Or to see if people think that the World Series titles won by the Red Sox should have an asterisk next to them if someone like David Ortiz or Manny Ramirez appears on the list. Or the Cardinals with Pujols.)

Man, I just thought of something. My 3 least-favorite teams have all won the last 4 World Series - Red Sox (twice), Cardinals, and the White Sox. damn

Well, that's enough of a rant from me! I should be heading to bed anyways. Of course, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep, I may be too excited about getting that taco!

Round 2 - Fight!

It's time for the return of the Great Blogger Mix CD Exchange!!! For those of you who did it last go-round, I hope you all can do it again! Those of you who are newer around here, here's the gist of it:

Make a comment on here or send me an email (flenker@gmail.com) letting me know that you're interested. After a week or two, or when we get a decent number of responses, I'll get everything collected, sorted out, etc. While this is going on, you plan your mixes. Put anything you want on it, anything at all! Don't worry about pleasing people, don't worry if it's a song that everyone knows, don't worry if it's a song you wrote yourself! Make something that you like! It could be based on a theme (we had some very good ones last time), or it could be an assortment of tunes from your collection that you think everyone should be listening to every day. You could even go all out and make a different mix for each person (like the lovely Lucy did last time!). It's totally up to you! The idea is that you send a mix to everyone, and everyone will send you a mix, leaving each person with lots of new music to explore!

The GBMCDE went over pretty well last time, spanning the Midwest, to the East Coast, down South, and even Canada! I'm hoping this one will be even better! First off, there was one person who didn't send out last time. Luckily for everyone, I now live with that person, so he'll send out not only a mix for this time, but a 2nd one for his past indiscretion. I'll make him. Plus, since we live together, you won't have to send one to me and him, we can share.

So, don't be shy! This is a chance to share your favorite bands, songs, albums, even artwork! We had some very excellent cover art the last time. Post a comment, email, hit me up on facebook, find some way to let me know you want in on the fun! You don't have to have a blog to participate, so don't let that stop you. Right now, this is open for everyone! (Now if there's an overwhelming response, I'll figure something out. I don't know if people want to be mailing 20 mixes out. But if it reaches that point, I have some other options. Otherwise, I think this worked pretty well last time. And if anyone feels up to making some sort of neat image or something that I could use for this, I'll throw in a special treat with their mix when it goes out!)

Soup's on! (the latest Flenker Photo Story)

The weather finally took a trip down the thermometer here in Texas! Instead of approaching the 90's as we had been over the weekend, Monday it barely got into the 60's! Today it was a little warmer, but windy as hell. I would venture to say that if it weren't for the wind, today would have been a perfect day, weather-wise. Although, I must admit, I did love the almost chilly weather we had Monday. It was hilarious to see what people where wearing here. I donned my trusty brown jacket (featured in a few photos here, as well as off to the right, in that little picture up there) and jeans. Other people looked like they were preparing to go on an expedition with Sir Robert Shackleton. ([yay for Antarctic explorer references! Though to be fair, he is my favorite explorer of Antarctica. Way better than Robert Scott.) Any time I can wear my jacket, I'm happy. Some people call it a "track jacket." I call it an attractive jacket. (Damn, I was hoping that'd work better. Maybe if I said it aloud. nope. not any better. Now Big Texas will wonder why I'm talking to myself.)

Since the weather had gotten colder, I thought it would be the perfect time to try out a new recipe, from a brand-new recipe book Marin sent me from New Orleans! And while this wasn't a very Cajun-style recipe, it was damn delicious, and great for a cool day. Since no one could sample it, I figured I'd do the next best thing: take a bunch of pictures of me preparing it, then post them to my blog! So, without further ado, here is the latest photo story, Flenker-touille.

The star of the show, Marty "nobody calls me a" Chicken! (yes, I named the chicken. And I may have made voices for my different ingredients, including a homophobic can of corn named Rodney, and Steven the onion.)

I chop a mean garlic

Steven never stood a chance. (yes, I know the garlic is un-chopped here. An editor has been fired for this continuity error.)

Steven's remains are unceremoniously tossed into the pit

This looks like an artistic shot, but really, I'm just looking for something to add to the soup. And yes, I occasionally wear a hat while I cook.

And a Miller Lite shirt. At least I found the pepper grinder.

Marty is feeling like he's had better days. He doesn't even know the half of it. . .

Oh no! He shouldn't have been snooping around, trying to find out what happened to Steven. And he was only 2 days away from retiring!

The final resting place.

Dished up

That's right

I was pleased with how the soup turned out. As you can tell by the final picture. Not bad for my first effort, and it leaves me with LOTS left over for the rest of the week. Awesome! And in case you missed the other photo stories, you can find the first one here, and the second one here!

One last thing, be sure to check back in the next day or so. It will be the return of a couple of Big Ideas. . .

There's a ska band on my street

Ok, so this is the second time I'm writing this post, since my computer crashed and blogger apparently didn't do any of it's automatic saving that it usually does. I'm a little peeved right now, but the show must go on, I guess.

Anyways, a few weeks ago, I had said something about writing another post about ska music (ok, so it was almost two months ago, and I promised it in the next week, but those have been a busy two months). This is that post.

In the halcyon days of 2000-2002, I was in my first go-round at college, but heading home almost every other weekend to practice with my band. A ska band known as hyrule (we got the name from a video game - "The Legend of Zelda").



I played the saxophone in the group, which usually consisted of 6 members. Though occasionally there were as many as 7 or 8 people, and once as few as 4. I thought we were pretty okay for what we were, I mean, we played with a lot of national groups, like Against All Authority, MU330, The Honor System, The Wunder Years, and N.I.L.8 (who even had a sticker visible in the movie High Fidelity!). We usually had a good number of kids at our shows, whether they were at the Old YMCA in Muscatine or Gabe's Oasis in Iowa City. But most of all, we had fun.

Our trombone player set state high school records for passing yards and touchdowns in a season, our trumpet player wore an old school Nintendo controller as a belt in his homecoming court speech (in which he won and became king), our bassist who tried coke at least once, our drummer who was about 3 years younger than most everyone else in the band, I was 2-3 years older than the others, and our guitar player who had a huge Pez dispenser collection, which he hid around his room during practices. I wish I had more pictures to share, but I've been through 2 motherboards and 3 or 4 hard drives since those days, so most of what I had on my computer is gone. I have a ton of pictures in hard copy, but I don't have the patience, or a scanner to put them on my computer again.

Something that has survived, however is our "CD," cleverly called (demo). (It was never really meant as a demo, we didn't send it to any labels or anything, as we finished it about a week or two before our last show.) So for the first time in 5 years, here is the hyrule CD, available online! (Thanks to Jad for giving me a space to upload the songs!)

1. anthropogenic tradition is no excuse for obstinate folly
2. the hold up
3. well well well
4. keep walking
5. try
6. winter months
7. maple

My personal favorites are 1, 3, and 4 (sorry KP, no slowfuse, we should have recorded that one just for you).

The band broke up in the summer of '02, since most of the members were going off to school in different places (or, in our bassist's case, the Navy for about 2 weeks before being kicked out). Andy, our guitarist/singer, still has a band; he's a member of Raccoo-oo-oon (although they're on a temporary hiatus while he's out in LA for a few months, they're going to Spain sometime soon to play some huge festival, and I am incredibly jealous.). I'll never forget the band, though, because of the fun that was had, and the songs that we did record. And also, because of the tattoo that I got that tied in with my love for the Zelda video game series (I'm a dork, so what?) as well as the time spent in the band.



Just a quick story about another band I was in, this one during high school. KP and I, along with our friend Grant, joined up with some other guys in a band called Tredd-Safe (or maybe it was Tread-Safe, I don't remember. . .). At first it was to do a cover of Less Than Jake's "My Own Flag," but then we kept playing with them and added horn parts to some of their older songs. As far as we know, we were the first ska band in Muscatine to have a horn section. Not that it's that impressive of a thing, I'm pretty sure hyrule was the last ska band in Muscatine to have a horn section, but still kind of neat, I guess. I think the "scene" was thriving at that point, and I think it's all but dead now. It's too bad, it was really fun while it lasted.

And now, for your viewing pleasures, Charles!

As I mentioned in my last post, there was a "chubby white dude" doing a killer dance during Fujiya & Miyagi. Well, it just so happens that he stumbled across here, his name is Charles, and he has quite the collection of dancing videos on his site, Glitter Parade! So that's a new link on my sidebar here. Check it out often, and suggest a song for him! If you're reading this Charles, may I suggest dancing to Of Montreal - "A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger." That would make my day!

Anyways, here's a clip of him in action! This is Fujiya & Miyagi's "Photocopier." Enjoy!

PJ,PJ, F&M, OMG!!

Just got back from the Project Jenny, Project Jan and Fujiya & Miyagi show with my socks barely intact. It was great. PJ,PJ put on such an energy-filled set, lead singer Jeremy Haines was all over the place, and the results were well worth the effort. The duo had a projector set up, displaying videos to accompany the music, changing images at a pace as upbeat as the tunes. These guys put on one of the best shows I've seen. I know I probably say that about every other band that I see, but I really mean it. I'm extremely glad Jad had reviewed their album a few weeks ago. That man knows his music!

The headlining band, Fujiya & Mitagi, were pretty incredible, I gotta say. They were a lot more tuned-down than PJ,PJ, but it didn't take anything away from the atmosphere. The trio launched into song after song, staying tight the whole time, playing some great music. The highlight, however, had to be when a member from the crowd jumped on stage during one of their songs (I wish I was more familiar with their tunes, so I could give you a name, it was the one that has the lyric "I've got a slow, slow metabolism," if that helps) and stood around behind the band for a second, then went into this epic dance. He definitely had some mad moves for a tubby white dude (best part of the dance - the guy pointing to his belly when the aforementioned lyric about metabolism was said).

Both of these bands would be worth seeing on their own, the fact that they played together was almost too much for me to handle. Worth every bit of the $12 I paid, and then some.

What is this? Is this actual content??

First, let me say I hate looking for airfare. (more like air un-fare, amiright??? thanks, I'll be by myself at the bar all night.) I'm trying to get home for Christmas, but not currently having a job is making it difficult. Luckily, both of my parents have graciously offered to help out, so it will be a very Flenker Christmas in Iowa.

Speaking of jobs, I had an interview last week, and have something else lined up soon, so hopefully one (or both) will come to fruition, and I'll actually have some sort of income to spend frivolously. (is there any other way??)

With no job, and basically no friends in town, it sometimes makes me feel very isolated and antsy (example: on my "Things Chris Needs to do List" for today there is 1) go to the post office, then 2) watch Heroes tonight. And the baseball game. exciting. And the post office might not happen, since that would require putting pants on). It's been a while since I've made friends with people other than co-workers or friends of friends. And since Big Texas was hoping that I would help introduce him to new people, I've got an uphill battle going on. My first few missions have been failures, but I've got another coming up tomorrow: the Project Jenny, Project Jan and Fujiya & Miyagi show. I will do my darndest to meet at least one person there.

I have met a couple of people at the Iowa Alumni Club game watches, so that's nice, but have yet to do anything with any of them. (Maybe tonight I will call to see if people would like to hang out. I think that's how it's said. Oooh, that could interfere with my Heroes watching, so maybe not tonight.) Note to networks airing games from Iowa City: you don't have to show cornfields and hogs and rusted-out trucks sitting on a farm every time you're in Iowa City. You could show actual scenes from downtown, or the Old Capitol Building, or university buildings or something. I mean, we were a shot of a jug band in overalls, sitting on a porch, away from looking like Missouri. And no one wants that.

It's amazing how the Iowa Hawkeyes football team winning a game can change my mood so drastically. I was downright giddy after their win this past weekend. Which is kind of sad, to be excited about a win over the annual whipping boy of the Big Ten - Illinois. But something needed to happen, because I was basically inconsolable for the 3 weeks before. (The Hawks hadn't won since I moved down here, and their only two wins were games that I attended. I was taking the blame, I felt like I was jinxing the team, letting everyone down. These things rattle around in my head. Yes, I'm nearly 27 and college-educated. Thankfully I realized that wearing my Fred Russell jersey during the game is good luck. I also discovered the proper position in which to sit to make the team play better. And if I have to eat the same, kinda gross hamburger that I ate last week, so be it. Disaster averted.)

Stolen from H

I'm stealing this video from H, only because it's hilarious, it's made me laugh out loud every time I've watched it, and really, I'm having trouble coming up with stuff on my own at the moment.



I sometimes wish the Royals had someone like Bert Blyleven. But, Denny Matthews is a joy to listen to on the radio, one of the best in the business.

I guess now is as good a time as any to delve into the playoffs. Unfortunately, Bill's dream match up of Cubs vs. Yankees is already out, as both teams have been eliminated, as have the Angels and Dodgers. I'm hoping for an Indians/Rockies Series, mainly because I hate the Red Sox, and have a soft spot for the Rockies. I went to a Rockies game their first year in existence, 1993, when I was in San Francisco (Rockies won 5-1, I believe). I have a cousin that lives in Denver, her apartment is right next to Coors Field, a beautiful stadium. But then I also have family in Arizona, who love the Diamondbacks. But I have yet to see them play in person, so I'll stick with Colorado. Plus, the Rockies have been white hot lately, winning something like 18 out of their last 19 games, regular season and post-season included. Matt Holiday is a freaking stallion and MVP candidate (and carried my fantasy baseball team to the championship round, which will discussed in another post), Kaz Matsui has turned into a monster once October came around (I saw him play for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Rockies' AAA team, a season ago, and caught a foul ball he hit), and besides having a name that's fun to say, Troy Tulowitzki is not only a Rookie of the Year candidate, but he turned an unassisted triple play (only the 13th such play ever), and then about two weeks later, was putout on a triple play. Wacky! (Maybe the Rockies are becoming my favorite NL team!)

So there you have it, my pick for the World Series Champion. Which means, now that I've typed it out, they don't really stand a chance. I just have that effect on teams.

The Final Season

A few hours ago, I went to the free screening of The Final Season that a local theater was having. I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while, ever since filming started in Cedar Rapids. I mean, a baseball movie in Iowa? Sounds like a winning combination.



Now, you have to understand while you're reading this that I have a big bias towards this movie right off the bat. I love baseball, and have a soft spot in my heart for Iowa, so I knew going into it that there would be a pretty good chance that I would enjoy this movie. And although it falls short of me saying that I loved it, it's a great story, it's got some good-looking baseball scenes, with good acting (especially for a cast made up of a number of locals). Some of the facts weren't 100% accurate, some names were changed, but it stays surprisingly true to the original story upon which it was based. The writing could have been a little better, some of the characters could have been a little more well-developed, but overall, I enjoyed it, it made me want to play catch, and made me a little homesick. Four Flenker Thumbs Up!








I'll be back with a real, non-movie reviewing post soon. There have just been a lot of good movies that I've been seeing, and I figured that without lots of little pictures of me giving a goofy "thumbs up" pose, my loving readers would not know which movies to see!

King of Kong

The Alamo Drafthouse was showing King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, so I was not about to miss a documentary about arcade games, especially if beer and fried foods were involved.

This was my first trip to the Drafthouse, a theater that has a full menu that is served throughout the duration of the movie, including beer. I ordered myself a locally brewed brown ale and some jalepeno poppers, and made myself comfortable. The previews before the movie were for video game related movies like Tron, The Last Starfighter, and The Wizard, as well as commercials for old Atari games, and a clip from the live action Mario Brothers show. It was like a trip through my childhood.

The movie itself was excellent, documenting the trials and tribulations of attempting to break the Donkey Kong world record score, and the lifestyle of those involved.



On a personal note, there were a lot of scenes that were filmed in Iowa, specifically Fairfield and Ottumwa, towns that I used to drive through about every other week, and locations that I recognized from driving past. So that was neat. (Walter, the guy in the referee outfit lives in Fairfield, as does the guy wearing the Doom shirt.)

Even if you don't have that personal tie-in, or didn't spend all of your quarters at an arcade, this is still a great movie that will entertain, maybe my 2nd-favorite documentary, behind Wordplay. If you get the chance, see it! This gets four-and-a-half Flenker Thumbs Up!











In the coming week, there will probably be at least two more movies that I'm very excited to be seeing. First up is The Final Season, another movie filmed in Iowa, about the Norway High School baseball team. It opens on Friday the 12th, but there is going to be a free screening of it here on Tuesday!! Then, on the 12th, Wes Anderson's newest film, The Darjeeling Limited, is released. The Drafthouse will be getting that one as well, and will be having a special menu of Indian food. I will not be missing that!

I'm a rice pudding guy, myself

Friday night I caught a late showing of the movie I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With, a movie in which Jeff Garland (he plays Larry David's agent on Curb Your Enthusiasm) not only starred, but he wrote and directed as well. It was kind of funny, earlier in the day Bill had sent me a link to this trailer:



and then later in the day, I was flipping through the newspaper, and saw that it was showing at a theater in town! How lucky could I be? It was a late show, so I didn't have to deal with traffic, I parked in a ramp, but got my ticket validated for 3 hours, so free parking! It was turning out to be a good night. And the movie didn't disappoint.

The cast is great, including Sarah Silverman, Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson himself), Amy Sedaris, Bonnie Hunt, Dakota Fanning's younger sister Elle, and Phyllis from The Office. The movie takes place in Chicago, where James (Garland) is a down-on-his-luck actor, living with his mom, lacking a love life, just basically struggling at everything. But I guess if you watched the trailer, you already knew that information.

One thing that I was surprised with was the length - this movie lasted just over an hour, although it felt longer. Not in a bad way, I enjoyed it the whole time. I was just amazed that I was getting out of the theater with a little less than 2 hours left of free parking time. I don't really know if I'd want the movie to be longer, it could be one of those situations where if something is added, it could detract from the experience. I guess a better ending would've been nice, but the ending that it has isn't terrible. It fits, but feels kind of cheap. Not enough to make me dislike the movie, though. The movie fit my mood almost perfectly, and left me feeling really good about my choice to see it. That's why I'm giving this movie 4 Flenker Thumbs Up, in spite of the its title ending in a proposition.

It's a fact!

You know you're in Texas when the grocery store has more brands of barbecue sauce than toothpaste.

I am an excellent steel horse

Adam is out of town until Sunday, so I have the place to myself for a few days. He's barely been gone for a day, and I already feel like I've trashed the place. I have a shirt laying on the floor, I moved some of my computer stuff around, and have books everywhere. Hold on, I just picked up the shirt, this place looks better. Never mind.

Last night, Rock Plaza Central played with o'death at Mohawk here in Austin. I think that Mohawk may have become one of my favorite bars in town. The inside part kind of looks like a dive, but the outside is amazing. It has 3 different levels of patios, along with a good-sized area for shows, which you can see from all of the levels.

The show was most excellent, I wasn't familiar with o'death, but was blown away with their performance. They're kind of a country/punk band, complete with a banjo and fiddle, with lots and lots of energy. Definitely a band I'd see again.

I had seen RPC before, but it was a set cut short due to time constraints, so I was anxious to see them play a full set. Even without the full band (a couple members weren't there last night, the violinist and the accordion/flugelhorn player), these guys remain one of the better live bands I've seen. And nice guys, too. I talked with the lead singer Chris Eaton for a while afterwards, about the Iowa City show and other stuff. So go see these guys (Jad, they'll be a Zaphod's in 3 weeks!), and tell them I say hello!

Austin Ink

Here are a few pictures from my excitement from yesterday. This is something that I've been wanting to get for a while now, from one of the Vital Flenker Tracks, "Concierto de Aranjuez." It's the first few bars (I originally wanted more of it, but it would've ended up bigger than I was wanting, and a lot more expensive. A lot more expensive.), along with a couple of figures from the cover art of Sketches of Spain, the album the song appears on.





If you can't tell, this is on my upper right arm, wrapping around. It's neato, at least I think so. And just to show it, here's the tattoo that I had gotten many many years ago.



It's on my back, right between my shoulder blades. Yes, it's from a video game, I know. It means a little more than just that, it's also representative of a band I was in at the time, and just a big part of my life. But that's something for a different post. For now, I need to get off of the computer and go to bed. Let me know what you think, though!

If only it would not get into the 90's for just one day

Another weekend has passed in Austin, and this time I actually did stuff! Well, not on Friday. I didn't do a damn thing that day. Or really Sunday, either. I don't know if I left the apartment on either of those days. But Saturday, phew, that was a packed day!

Adam's taking a couple of classes in addition to his full-time job, so Saturday was his day to study. And since I was feeling rather restless, as well as just feeling like a turd after sitting around all day Friday, I thought I'd get a ride with him to the University of Texas campus and check things out. The plan was that he'd meet with his study group, then work on a paper, then we'd find somewhere to watch the Iowa game before we went to the Animal Collective show. Of course, I had to wear my Iowa shirt, so I thought I'd be hearing about it all day long. Much to my surprise, I didn't hear a single comment about the Hawkeyes. And I had never seen so much burnt orange in one place in my life. I would estimate that about 85-90% of the people I saw were wearing the color, and I'm being totally serious, not exaggerating at all. It was honestly kind of scary. I thought all of the Longhorn fans would turn to me with glazed eyes and try to eat my brain and then drape me in a shirt proclaiming my love for all things Texas. I think the Iowa shirt actually helped me out, though, they were probably too busy trying to figure out if "Iowa" was a foreign country or a band. Like "Iowa and the Hawkeyes" or something like that.

Anyways, the campus is pretty nice, definitely a different style than any I've been on. There are very few green areas, mostly buildings one right after the other. The architecture is a nice change from the usual university-type that I'm used to. Plus, they have a couple of fountains and a turtle pond, which I thought were nice touches. (again, I've taken pictures, but they're with Adam's camera, so I need to get them off of their. I'm pretty terrible about that lately. . . sorry)

We ended up going to the bar where the Iowa Alumni meet to watch games, which I think will be a regular weekend spot for me. The parts of the game that we saw were great, the Hawks leading 10-7 when we had to leave for the show. Unfortunately, things didn't end as well, as they lost 17-13. And it killed me to not be able to watch the end. We didn't have to leave, but I paid $15 for the ticket and I really wanted to see Animal Collective again. Although, we probably could have stayed for the rest of the game (which ended around 11 pm central time) and still made it in time for Animal Collective (doors were at 9, show was supposed to start at 10, the opening band didn't start until shortly after 11). So that put me into an even worse mood, especially when I decided I wasn't in the mood for the openers. So what do I do to make everything better? Order a Jack and Coke!

The show that Animal Collective put on was enough to pull me out of my pissy mood (for the most part). They put on one of the best live performances I've seen both times I've gone, so I would really recommend seeing them if they head to your area. They can attack you with a huge sound, and then a minute later be playing a delicate melody with some light, airy vocals floating over top. They played a great mix of songs off of their new album Strawberry Jam, as well as some older ones and yet-to-be-released songs (one such song is one of my favorites of theirs, so I'm hoping it'll be on some upcoming release). While they didn't play their song about kitties, or the one about puppies, they had enough great material to make the show enjoyable throughout. I'm glad that this was my first show in Austin.

Here's a video I'm "borrowing" from youtube that someone took from this show. It's of an okay quality, of a great song, so enjoy! (I'm pretty sure this is the same song that I posted a video of from when they played in Iowa City. Weird!)



Now tomorrow is a big day for media releases, the new Iron and Wine comes out, as well as the new Weakerthans album. Also, on DVD, Knocked Up will be available. But the biggest, most hyped item hitting the shelves will be Halo 3. Now if I had an xbox 360, or $700 to spend on one and the game, I'd definitely be buying it. Seeing as how that's a substantial chunk of the money I have (without any more coming in at the time), I think I'll pass. I'll just try to make friends with people lined up for it, maybe they'd invite me over.

Alright, time for me to go out and buy some new sheets. Exciting, right? Well, there may be some more excitement, and if there is, I'll definitely post pictures. Promise.

Also, some links!

I forgot to mention it before, but there are a coule of new links off to the side over there! Jack has his excellent photo blog, while Cap'n Crab has excellent tales of piratin'! So check 'em out, along with all of the others that are listed. You think I would lead you astray?

Still wandering around

Things in Texas have been going well. I'm starting to learn my way around a little, today I was able to drive from the grocery store to the apartment without the use of any navigational items, a small victory for myself. That was after I was trying to find an eatery called "Fast Dogs", something that came up on Adam's Garmin (a neato GPS thing). I assumed that a place called "Fast Dogs" would be a hot dog-type vendor, seeing as how it came up under the Food header. So I set off, anxious to see what sort of hot dogs I'd be eating, what sort of tasty toppings were available, and just really, cause I wanted to see what "Fast Dogs" was all about. Unfortunately, no such place existed. The GPS had me driving around a residential neighborhood, where the closest thing to what I was looking for was a "Beware of dogs" sign. I thought about knocking on the door to see if they happened to have any franks on the grill, but decided against it. In search of food I went, this time without consulting any sort of gizmo, just driving in the general direction of home. And much to my delight, I found a Mexican place (that I cannot recall the name of right now, I know it started with a T and had a Q in it, but that's about it. I could find it again, that's all that matters) along the way. I was a little surprised to find the menu mostly in Spanish, but I figured that it was a good sign, and ordered a burrito and quesadilla without too much trouble. And holy, cow, this was some good food, the burrito was about the size of my face, and the quesadilla was dripping with cheese, just how I like them! All in all, I'm glad that I was eating that instead of a hot dog.

My other exciting news is that I've gotten a job! I'm going to be giving private lessons on saxophone and guitar in the Austin area. I'm pretty pumped about it, but I'm going to start off taking it a little easy with just a few students, and see how it goes. It's probably not anything that will turn into a career, but it's an income, and doing something that I've been doing for years now. There are a couple of leads on other jobs that may become available to me, but for now, this will be something that I think I'll enjoy.

Well, I'm off to play some more online Scrabble. H, I'm sorry that I keep getting the 7-letter words against you, but don't worry, it's not just you.

YAR

Thanks be to Cap'n Crab for remindin me that today be Talk Like a Pirate Day, yar!! So Avast ye who don't know, to the plank with ye!

It's all happening so fast!

Things are going alright here in Austin, still trying to figure out the city and the strange on/off "ramps" that are only about 50 feet long, and the turnarounds and other stuff like that. And the 90+ degree heat, when it's in the 40's and 50's back in Iowa.

I'll have some pictures soon, but right now I apologize for not getting on here more often. I'm a little overwhelmed by all of the concerts that are coming up: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone on Monday, Animal Collective on Saturday, Rock Plaza Central next week, Regina Spektor soon, as well as Of Montreal, Maria Taylor, Rilo Kiley, just in the next month or so. And that's not even including the Austin City Limits Fest that's occurring as I type. Adam and I walked around downtown a little bit Friday night, and it was kind of impressive to hear live music emanating from just about every other bar we walked past. I don't think I'll be bored here. I just need to get used to the traffic and stuff. Oh, and find a job. But I've gotten started on that, we'll see what happens.

For now, I've gotta get back to watching football to check up on the 49ers and my fantasy players. Like I said, I'll have some photos up soon, I promise!

Keeping Austin Weird

Well, I'm much further south than the last time I posted on here, and much hotter, and much, much more tired. After about 14 hours in a car today, including a little less than 2 that were spent attempting to sleep in the car at a gas station parking lot, Adam and I made it. It's hot. And humid. Couple that with the fact that I've gotten about 45 minutes of sleep in the past 32 hours, and I'm a happy camper. Actually, I'm not too grumpy, just kind of gross.

Pictures will follow soon. For now, everyone can relax, I'm off the road.

one last time

I've only got time for one quick post here, I've got kind of a busy day ahead of me. . . I still have to pack up the car (I'm about halfway done) and get on the road, with a stop in Iowa City to see a couple people on my way outta town.

It's been a stressful past few days, but definitely fun, and I'm fully expecting the next few days to continue the fun. I'll have my camera with me, so you know if anything awesome or ridiculous happens, I'll do my best to document it.

Friday may be the day I set up my computer and all that fun stuff, so I'll try to check in then at the latest.

See you later Iowa. It's been a lot of fun (most of the time), but sometimes, people have to go out and explore. That's what I'm doing. I'll be back, you can't keep me away that easily.

A weekend of long goodbyes

My last weekend as a resident of Iowa was an excellent one. Between great food, great fun, and great friends, I couldn't have had a much better time. Marin made it into town on Thursday, Jim and Haley on Friday, and Bill eventually made it (after some car issues) on Saturday, as well as Jeff, who made the trip all the way from northwest Cedar Rapids. After some drinking and Wii playing at my brother's place Friday night, Saturday was spent in Iowa City, taking in some of my favorite restaurants and sites one last time before I left. And oh yeah, there was a football game. For those of you who may not have noticed, the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Syracuse Orange 35-0 in front of 70,585 (mostly gold-clad) fans in Kinnick Stadium, in only the 3rd-ever night game hosted in the historic stadium. The first couple of pictures were taken from where Marin and I sat for part of the game, the last one was where everyone else was seated. We weren't able to get 6 tickets together, but it went alright with 4 together and 2 others. (I'm pretty proud of the pics, since my camera is broken and all)




The weather was beautiful, the Hawkeyes looked great (it could be that Syracuse looked terrible, but either way, I'm happy with the result), and I think a good time was had by all.

Of course, I had to forget my phone charger at my brother's place this weekend, so my phone died midway through the day on Saturday, and I wasn't able to get in contact with a lot of the people I wanted to, and made things more difficult overall, but we pulled it off pretty well. And it may have been for the best that I wasn't able to get a hold of a lot of people, because then I would've probably been stressed with trying to get everywhere to see everyone. As it was, it was a rather relaxing time with some good friends. We ate at all of the places I needed to hit one last time: Oyama for sushi with Marin, Oasis for one last falafel, Hamburg Inn for breakfast Sunday morning with everyone, The Pit to have some excellent Iowa BBQ (before I get some Texas BBQ, which may be even more excellent), and Whitey's for some wonderful ice cream. (For those of you not from Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois, yes, there is an ice cream chain around here known as "Whitey's". It's delicious ice cream.) Then yesterday I hung out with Travis for a little while before I had to go, then dinner with my dad and step-mom.

There were a few times where I think the air was rather dusty, it made my eyes water up a little. I don't know what the deal with that was. . . But I was so glad for how things went, and for my friends that were here that read this, I hope you all know how grateful I was for you guys to come down and hang out with me on my last weekend in town. For my friends that read this that weren't able to make it, no worries, we'll have more opportunities to get together. Everyone is welcome down in Austin, any time! Just give me a little warning.

Now today is going to be spent washing clothes, packing, getting my oil changed, buying some new sandals (Kenna ate mine last night), and watching a little bit of the 49ers game tonight with KP. I promise I will post one last time before I go, and will post more pictures from this past weekend as I get them from the various people that took them.

Starting my final tour

The past couple of days in Ames were pretty fun! Bill and I basically hung out, we didn't do anything too wild. We watched Superbad, which was pretty hilarious, went to the batting cages, where I was straight-up destroying the pitches (most of the time), and having a good old time. Some delicious foods were eaten, including a tres leches cake that I made Wednesday night. I was a little nervous about how it'd turn out, as it was a little more labor-intensive than the usual boxed cake mixes, but it actually came out wonderfully! Then on my way home last night, I was able to hang out with Captain Crab for a drink or two, which is always fun! Sorry, though, no pictures were taken.

You see, I had a little mishap with my camera while I was at Wrigley Field. It was in my pocket, got jostled around, and ended up with a broken LCD screen. So while it still takes pictures, I can't preview them or actually see what it is that's in the picture while I'm taking it. It was kind of disappointing, especially since I've only had it for a couple of months, but I only spent $100 on it so it's not like it was a top-of-the-line camera. But still. I'll make do for now, like I said it still takes pictures (almost all of the pictures that I posted from the Chicago trip were taken in its current state). Eventually, however, I'll have to break down and buy a new one. Probably after I actually have a job and some sort of income.

Well this will probably be my last post for the weekend, I'll be running around trying to fit everything in and see everyone that I want to see while I'm in Iowa City this weekend. But I'll be back on Sunday and Monday, and will try to have some epic, worth-while posts. This will probably be a little bit of an emotional weekend for me, so there may be lots to report. Until then, go Hawks!!

Frantic times, I swear

Now most of the time that I come on here and say that I've had a busy week, it's not really true. I'm just saying it to excuse me from not posting for a few days. This week, however, has been kind of busy. Sunday I was hanging out with some family, eating lots of food, and doing things that a person moving 1000 miles away should be doing (save for packing, of course). Monday I was on puppy patrol all day, and couldn't really get away for long to go all the way upstairs to the computer. Plus, there was an all-day marathon of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel, so do you expect me not to plant my ass on the couch and watch it? That goes against the very fiber of my being. Really, I could watch the Discovery Channel all day long, between Dirty Jobs, Survivor Man, and of course, MythBusters. I did make some time to grill a chicken breast and bacon-wrapped shrimp, and made a pretty gnarly couple of wraps. (Yes, I used the word "gnarly" and am not ashamed) And had a little time to hang out with KP, so it was a good Labor Day. Even if I didn't realize Labor Day was arriving until Sunday afternoon. Such are the troubles of not being in school and not having a job.

And now I'm heading off to Ames, for it is Bill's birthday, and I thought that it would be sad for him to spend yet another birthday alone. I have also been telling him I was going to make it out there one last time before I left, and I guess I decided to make it about as close as I could. But there should be some good times, I'll bring my camera and report back when I can.

These next few days are going to go by quickly, I will be super busy. That's more than just regular busy by like 13. I do have some posts in mind that I'm going to try to squeeze in here, so just bear with me, I'll do my best! Until then, happy times, all around!

My kind of town

This past weekend was a blast! A huge weekend in sports, and a fun trip for the Flenker(s)!

My dad and I started for the Second City early Friday morning, so we could make it in time to take a shuttle to the Cubs game. All along the way, we saw cars full of Hawkeye fans making the trip east for the weekend, a sign of things to come. If you were in Chicago this past weekend, there was a very good chance that you saw black and gold all over the place. Like in this photo I took at Wrigley Field on Friday:

(click to get a better view!)

The game was fun, Hunter Pence was a one-man scoring machine on this day. He hit 2 homers, drove in 5 of the Astros' 6 runs, and the other run he scored. The highlight for me may have been BJ Armstrong singing the 7th-inning stretch, and the fans saying "Root, root, root for the Hawkeyes" instead of Cubbies. It was great. Another great thing? The Royals winning 9-4 over the Twins in the first game of the doubleheader! (I'll get to the second game in a bit.) I had to put this picture up there for H. I'm sure she will appreciate it. . .


After the game, my dad and I headed to our hotel, just in time for the nightly serving of freshly baked cookies. These may have been the best chocolate chip cookies I've had in a long, long while. I wish I had had my camera with me to take photos of my dad and me stuffing our faces. If the cookies weren't enough, we hit up a Lou Malnati's for some Chicago-style pizza. Delicious stuff!

We made it back to the hotel in time to see the end of the Syracuse game get interrupted since a pitcher was throwing a perfect game through 8 innings. A Twins pitcher. Against the Royals. Now I'm a fan of baseball, I would always root for a no-hitter to be thrown, let alone a perfect game. But not when it comes to the expense of the Royals. So when the lead-off man in the 9th was walked, I was cheering. When Mike Sweeney came up to bat for the first time in nearly 2 months and promptly hit a laser into left-center field, I almost jumped off of the bed for joy. Sorry Twin fans, I just couldn't see my team be a part of history.

Saturday morning we got up and headed downtown, towards Soldier Field, and the first game of the Hawkeye's football season. And again, the sea of gold was prevalent. This was the view of the south parking lot, full of gold flags and thousands of drinking Iowans.


And this was the scene inside the stadium, for what was supposed to be a "home game" for Northern Illinois. Unfortunately for them, they were outnumbered by at least 2-to-1 by Iowa fans.

(Their fans are in red. Everyone else was cheering for Iowa!)

Also, this was the view from our seats, not too shabby, even if they were in the second-to-last row. This is one of my favorite moments of any Iowa game, when the team comes out as a group, with the "IOWA" flags out in front of them!


And, one last picture, this time of the mass of people trying to get out after the game had ended.


This was an awesome weekend, I'm extremely glad I was able to go, especially since it was my dad's first time at both Wrigley and Soldier Fields.

This coming weekend should be even more exciting, as Iowa plays their first home game of the season, the reason why I'm still here, why I waited to move. I needed to say one last goodbye to Kinnick as a resident of Iowa. And, I needed a good time to have some people in town and have a good old time. So if you're in the area, you're more than welcome to stop by Iowa City and join in any fun, there should be plenty to go around! But for now, I'm exhausted, enjoy the pictures!