I'm no nerd

All growing up, I considered myself a nerd. However the one thing that all my friends loved that I never did was the entire genre of high fantasy. Especially Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. Everyone I know was into both the books and the movies, but I just couldn't enjoy either. 

Now later on, I was recently watching the movies again with the family, and I can still say that I can appreciate the great technological accomplishment the films are, and the immense work that Tolkien did to complete his novels (like inventing the elvish language to say the least). I think they are both monumental works in their fields, but they still bore me to tears, and the only fantasy story that keeps my attention is Star Wars because it's in a sci-fi setting, even if it's not a sci-fi story. 

I dunno, I'm I just the weird one here? I'm not crapping on Tolkien or the movies, I'm just not entertained by them or most other fantasy stories. But as for something that is at least interesting if not entertaining is this:

Holiday Cheer

There are not only an endless sea of adaptions of Charles Dickens' a Christmas Carol, but a good majority of them, I would think are all pretty good.  However one stands out as being unforgettable in my family's mind and that is the one from 1984 with George C. Scott playing the famous Mr. Scrooge. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be one of the more remembered versions by the public at large, and is kind of hard to come by. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription and pay for the paramount + package, it's available there, but for the unwashed masses, the only place I could find it for free was at tubi (with commercials, of course. Ugh.)

It ain't perfect, but George C Scott is worth the watch for anything he is in. I mean, with a reputation of The Changeling, Dr. Strangelove, and The Rescuers Down Under he can do no wrong. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, how in the hell does Tig Notaro have a career in show biz? That woman is supposedly a comedian and I sat through over an hour long special without laughing once. Wish I could get that time back, as it wasn't even entertaining in any other way either. 

Of course, it figures that she would be a big fixture on STD, because that franchise isn't entertaining anymore either, and hiring talentless dolts is their specialty. Heaven forbid that franchise mean anything fun or interesting to anyone anymore. 

UPDATE: Totally forgot to mention George is most famous for his portrayal in Patton as well! Silly me. 

Whew!

Had a nightmare last night where I was late for work, then woke up, then was late for work again then I actually woke up. So yeah, not quite fully defrosted yet this morning. Maybe I'll post something later when I'm feeling more coherent. 

more retro gaming

With the Battlefield franchise slipping further up it's own orifice by trying to be more like COD, I've been really enjoying my time replaying Battlefield 2 again. The bone stock game kinda shows it's age, but with mods, it's still a great time to be had. 

I've probably mentioned it here before, but my far and away my favorite mods for BF2 (in order this time) are:

MG3s and G36s everywhere. I love it.

Point of Existence 2: I can't praise this mod enough. The setting is very original with mostly the fights being between Germany and Ukraine. The mod is fantastically balanced, extremely well-polished, and stable for any mod along with excellent models and animations. Best BF2 mod by far.

Crazy vehicles galore in AIX.

Allied Intent Extended: Specifically built for Co-Op with friends and is insanely over the top fun. really powerful vehicles and weapons abound. Not quite as well polished, but still extremely fun with a plethora of maps; just be prepared to have to deal with nearly a dozen installers (worth it).

Great for those missing the BF Vietnam days but don't want the old crappy engine.

Eve of Destruction 2: Vietnam is back with this one. The vehicle play and maps are not overly well balanced (a common problem with BF2 mods), but the Vietnam setting and equipment is well done and still fun. No single player support, though from what I remember. 

The best part is that these mods all still work and there's even more big mods still being developed that you can check up on at ModDB. There's all sorts of stuff in the works that show some promise, like Alpha project, a Warhammer 40k mod, and one that restores it back to a WW2 setting. 

The only problem now is that all my joysticks are broken and I'll need a good one for the helicopter and jet action. It's the only way to fly. Pics all from ModDB.

Bat bitten

Early Last month I wrote on here about my experience taking a short flight with my brother and then encountering a Vampire on the flightline. I had misplaced my actual photos of the experience, but thankfully my Mom had found the copies I had sent her about it at the time. So, without further delay here it is:

I certainly prefer the wartime camo paint to the newer black racing job. Note the gorgeous Grumman Albatross in the background, too. 

A nice view of the Wasatch Mountains from the air on our flight. 

The last picture here is from a nice little stop we made at the Utah National Guard West Jordan Armory.  The gate guard here being a nice Vietnam era Huey gunship. The place is still home to the 211th Aviation Regiment with an ANG AH-64 Apache attack squadron, a UH-60 Medevac unit, Aircraft Maintenance Unit, and the 23rd Army Band. I tried to find if there was any more detailed history on the unit, but I didn't have much time and results were sparse after a cursory google search.  

Precious Resources

Just heard on the news last night that the last of the men from Easy Company, 506th Airborne has passed away recently. His name is Edward Shames, and he certainly has quite the story to tell, with some amazing accomplishments. I'll link to the article here, just be sure to give it a read, as it's not worth missing:

https://www.dailywire.com/news/last-surviving-band-of-brothers-officer-a-jewish-soldier-who-toasted-his-sons-bar-mitzvah-with-cognac-stolen-from-hitlers-eagles-nest-dies-at-99?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro

Pretty sure I've mentioned how much I like the HBO adaptation of their story here before, as I can't think of a more accurate and respectful telling of that story on film. That being said, here's the fantastic and memorable intro to the show. 

I've also suggested to the family to make it a traditional viewing on every June 6th, and people seemed to really like the idea, and enjoyed it the first time around. Gotta also now see if we can watch The Pacific as well, since no one in my wife's side of the family has seen it yet. 

Aint got nothin

If you tell me modern pop music can compare to stuff like this, I'll have to respectfully disagree.

Eddie Floyd - Knock on Wood (Remastered)

Dang shames and high points

Was going to give another shout out to an awesome local restaurant (well, somewhat local), and then just come to find out a few minutes ago from a friend that the place just closed. Crap! Well, I'll press F to pay respects to the formerly wonderful Chile Amore restaurant in Bountiful. 

In other news, I took my father in law to go see the new Ghostbusters Afterlife movie yesterday, which makes it the third time I've seen it in theaters.  I'm trying to remember the last time I payed to see a movie that many times in a theater, and it's been so long, I just can't recall it. Though, I have a suspicion it was the last Incredibles movie. Basically, go see it if you still have a chance, it's worth supporting.

Totally worth it.

One big project

On a roll with these movie posts recently, but bear with me. The wife just found a neat little podcast the day before yesterday called Dis-Order which goes into pretty great depth on the behind the scenes trivia and details of the productions on Disney movies. I'm not the biggest fan of Disney in the world, but there are a lot of underappreciated gems that are among my favorite movies that I'd love to hear more on. Some of which are: The Rocketeer, The Emperor's New Groove (both of which I know they have an episodes on), Flight of the Navigator, and The Black Hole. Their goal is to go through all the Disney movies,which is a pretty tall order and they are only on their second season. 

They haven't gotten to most of my favorites, but even some of Disney's more standard fare would be pretty interesting too, like Lilo and Stitch, A Goofy Movie, and Tangled would be some I'd like to listen to. Had a good time listening to a few already with the wife and I'm planning on binging more of 'em during the slow hours of work. 

Modern zombies came from vampires

I love the story of I Am Legend, and I have watched the adaptations to films starring Charlton Heston and Will Smith (the latter being good but a bit inferior to the prior). Strange though, that I had never seen the first adaptation to film, The Last Man on Earth starring the late, great Vincent Price until now.

I was utterly enthralled with it, as it does a far better job than the newer films of building an atmosphere of loneliness and despair. It makes the job of surviving the post-apocalypse alone seem more of a routine shambling than living, along with a bit more terror. 

It's especially more effective in the horror, as it's a far more accurate adaptation of the book, in that it distinguishes that there are two types of vampires in the world, the more shambling zombie-like hoards and the more cerebral predators who can more carefully reason and think. Either way, both are willing to feed on their own when a lack of food presents itself. This makes Dr Morgan's life even more depressing in this version of the story, as he is constantly collecting and burning the bodies in a futile attempt to stop the spread of the disease. It also makes his hunting of the vampires far more personal and disturbing, as he's not able to use a gun, and has to stake them himself to prevent them form coming back. 

Freaking disturbing

As for the legacy of the movie and the title of this post, it's funny that the book it is based on won an award for it's depiction of vampires, with Interview With A Vampire losing out to it. Yet nowadays, Anne Rice's work practically defines the vampire genre, and I Am Legend is nearly alone in it's style of vampires. The only other work I can think of to use it, would be the anime Hellsing. 

However, it's legacy is not completely lost, as George Romero has stated this as his primary inspiration for making Night of the Living Dead and thus starting the zombie genre as we know it today. In a funny apocryphal quote, when Richard Matheson (the author and screenwriter) watched Night of the Living Dead and had afterwards confronted Romero about having adapted his work without permission, Romero put his hands in the air and stated emphatically, "I didn't make any money on the movie either!"

They also used extras for most of the bodies, making his handling of them very authentic and saddening.

For such a low budget film, it holds up really well, but some of that does show, especially in the action scenes. Overall, I still love it far more than the other two adaptations. If you have a chance, be sure to give it a try, as I think it's certainly the most true adaptation to the book.  Just be sure to watch it in the original black and white version, as it adds to the disturbing aesthetic as well as the colorized version being just inferior.