Fantastic Fest wrapped a couple of weeks ago, and of course I was there, as I have been for all seven years of its existence. This is THE major event of the year for me, and it was almost completely spoiled by the paradoxical tragedy of my employment, as I started a job in July and was afraid I wouldn't be able to carve out any vacation time. ( Read more... )

My roommate Rambling Girl finished a fifteen-year slog through various colleges to at last achieve her college degree, and an EPIC CELEBRATION ensued. Her dad and stepmom came in from Louisiana and her mom and stepdad meandered in from New York. And an auntie and two cousins showed up from California. Fortunately, RG has many connections, and she ( Read more... )

As I've noted previously, I am a semi-professional of "What was that one movie where...?" queries on the Internet. As such, I have become quite familiar with the cult classic TV movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which was aired in a more laissez faire time, where parents were pretty willing to expose their impressionable children to deeply ( Read more... )

While on the one hand there are major sub-components of my psyche that still feel like I'm 20 or 21 or so, on the other hand for the most part I've been a grumpy old person for most of my born days. However, I have recently come to the realization that I'm hurdling headlong toward the AARP zone rather over-rapidly. Of late, I have been considering ( Read more... )

So on the 137th day of my summer vacation, I got a job. Contrary to the ancient Cheech and Chong routine, it was NOT to keep people from hanging out at the mall. I actually had one foot out the door, more or less, about to pack up and fly out to Richmond for a contract gig with a bank on some frankly ultra-lucrative terms. Then at the last minute, ( Read more... )

Had a most excellent weekend down in Galveston with my gaming posse. As always, three of them teamed together to rent a beach house for 10 days, and they let the remainder of us shiftless slackers abuse their hospitality by bum-rushing the place for the first weekend. Rambling Girl and I got down there a little after 11:00 PM on Friday night after ( Read more... )

I have just been informed by my roommate Rambling Girl that We Have A Problem. Since I got back from Denver, and she returned from her globe-trotting, there are now three people living in my house--me and two hot chicks. Advantage: me. In order to make this work, though, they're doubling up in the master bedroom, and I'm in the front bedroom. I get ( Read more... )

Since returning to Austin from Denver, I have been extraordinarily foolish with my money. I mean, I declined to get the cable hooked back up again, since I am angry at Time-Warner's exorbitant rates and I'm not sure I'll be staying in town for very long, but at the same time I go out to eat every other day or even more often. Sheesh, if I just ( Read more... )

Ever since I saw him a few years back on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh, I've been a bit of a fan of Richard Ayoade. So when I heard he was helming his own movie, adapted from a novel by Joe Dunthorne, I was pretty intrigued. Turns out it was well-received by critics on both sides of the pond, so when it showed up here in Austin, I ( Read more... )

I'd heard a bit of buzz on this one via several British genre magazines, so when a free advance screening materialized at the ever-popular Alamo Drafthouse, I scrambled to secure a pass. Got there one hour and ten minutes before showtime--and was isssued Ticket Number 201. Wow. Packed house ( Read more... )