PooBahSpiel

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Weekly Dose of Mark

Sunday, March 12, 2023 • 03/12/23

It was just Corey Macourek and me at Freelance Fandango on Monday. Stan Brown came down with Covid. We hope it’s a lighter case. When I spoke to Stan later in the week, he still suffered from symptoms. Corey and I looked over his plans for his “Ghost in the Shell” poster. He had three different comps. I told him which one was my favorite. I think he had additional input besides mine but he did go with the one I favored. Since it was just the two of us, we decided to go out early and try a taco restaurant neither of us had been to before. We agreed it was not as good as the last taco restaurant we tried. We decided we should try another place in the future.

Two new faces showed up at Epic Sketch Time on Tuesday. I’d posted on my Facebook page about the event and asked folks to send me a direct message if they wanted a link. So there were five of us in attendance, and we all had our own projects going. The hour went by so quickly. The whole week went by so quickly.

Thursday was a lot of fun as my younger brother Stan came to town. He’d just returned from a ski trip to Japan. We spent the afternoon at the LeMay car museum. It was Stan’s first time and my third visit. I was drawn to all of the cars I’ve seen in movies. I took several pictures but wished I’d taken more. I took one of Stan’s next to the model of Porsche, on which he learned how to use a stickshift. We sent the picture to our older brother Cliff. It was his porche whose gears were tortured by Stan. We also looked for other cars that had special places in our memories. We left at 5, giving us enough time to pick up Krista and head to El Gaucho. Earlier that day, I’d gone to Costco. You can pick up gift cards for restaurants there and save a few dollars. El Goucho’s food is incredible. It’s the type of play where you must have reservations in advance. It’s also as dark as a cave. We were given pen lights to read the menu. Stan and I decided to get a couple’s dinner that provided a bit of a sideshow. I think one of the reasons it’s so dark is that the table performances by the staff have extra flare- literally. The meal was fantastic, and we left stuffed. I’d been doing long walks and exercise routines so that I could enjoy all of the extra calories. Stan gave me a souvenir from Japan. I’d asked for him to bring back a Manga digest. Most Manga in Japan is published in digests containing episodes of several story titles. They are about the size of an old fashion phone book. The paper is colored pulp using black and white art. Stan gave me two of them, one a weekly and one a monthly. I’m looking forward to showing them off at the next Freelance Fandango. About 400 kanji are used for newspaper publication in Japan. The Manga is a great way to learn these kanji as they usually have the phonetic alphabet printed smaller to the side of them to help younger readers learn. I look forward to when I can read these Manga. I didn’t bring back any Manga with me from when I stayed in Japan. I’ve since been given a few items in used bookstores from the era by understanding friends. Stan also gave me some Manga when he was last in Japan during college. And my friend Joe Manfredini brought me back some when he last visited.

I had a bit of a scare on Saturday. I sent a letter to my friend Charlie who has troubleshot my Mac before. It’s what he does for a living. I’m hoping he can give me an evaluation of my Mac. It took three start-up attempts before my ancient Mac started up. It’s running now, but I’d like to know what I can do to ensure I don’t lose a bunch of stuff, like my projects from the last ten years or my financial records.

Sunday began with a rush. I woke Krista telling her that her sister Rebecca texted me to look for a woman in yellow with magenta hair. My sleepy brain was figuring out this cryptic message when I remembered that the sumo tournament had started that day. We love to people watch as you can see both the wrestlers, they are called Rikishi, and the audience. This startled Krista, fully awake. She’d set the alarm so as not to miss the morning show. However, she hit the snooze button and fell back to sleep. So it was a mad dash downstairs to catch opening day. We then enjoyed some biscuit breakfast sandwiches.

I drove up to Seattle to my older brother Cliff’s house. Some forty years ago, Tennison Reed was a foreign exchange stunt who stayed with us. He’s kept in touch with the family over the years with occasional visits from various family members to his country and trips back to the states for him. I missed all the previous encounters, so I was thrilled to see him again after all these years. I’m so glad that he prospered. I met his son, who now works at his company. Also in attendance were Cliff’s wife, Lori, their kids, Melina and David. David brought his girlfriend and their new puppy. The puppy is a golden retriever, which isn’t too much of a surprise. There has always been a golden retriever in their house. Back to the attendees. My parents, my oldest brother Randy and his wife Evi, My older brother Scott, his daughter Brianna, Kat, and her significant other Nick. Cliff prepped a big spaghetti with meatballs dinner. He made meatballs without cheese for Krista. But Krista sent me hugs for everyone. She felt a little off this morning and didn’t want to risk it being something she brought back from going to work on Friday. I wish I had taken my selfie stick. The photos I took without it were a little amateurish looking. But I did manage to capture some of the fun events. I should have only put two meatballs on my plate instead of three. I went home feeling a warm glow. I might have been all of the lovely family and friends, or it might have been the spicy meatballs.

Alley News

Krista’s work and desire not to get wet on walks have kept her from going for a walk every day. As a result, I’ve been outside longer and walking slower. On those days, I’ve been walking with my neighbor Pat Smith. The reason is Pat is learning Pokemon Go and has yet to master the skill of walking and playing simultaneously. I don’t claim to be skilled at the game, but I’ve been helping him with the basics. He is already up to level 20.

I had some dreams this week.

March 6

#IDreamt I found a sea turtle hatching bed in WA. Most of the beaches here are rocky. But climate change is messing things up. The dream was turning into a musical when the alarm went off.

March 7

#IDreamt if you had a loved one who died long ago and thought about them all the time, then there was a good chance that those memories would form a new entity. It would often become a ghost, but not always.

March 8

IDreamt I went back to school at the Japanese High School I attended. In return for my scholarship, one of my tasks was to muck out the animal stalls, which we set up in the hallways for some reason.

March 9

#IDreamt some of the old Greek legends were still sound. Daedalus was keeping a low profile. He didn’t want Mercury to know where he was. It had something to do with a disagreement they had in 1808.

March 10

#IDreamt I was staying at a French Aristocrat’s house during the time of ‘the terror.’ I tried to convince him to leave the country, but he was too engrossed in playing mind games with an acquaintance.

I watch two Marvel series, “Loki” and “Moon Knight.” Krista watched the first episode of “Loki” with me, but she couldn’t get into it. I found the series improved with each episode. And I liked “Moon Knight” as well. I haven’t read any of The Moon Knight comics, so I was going in with no expectations.

24. March 10

Gilda (1946) Rating: 7

I watched it with my wife on a DVD from Netflix. It turned out both my wife nor I had never seen this film. I’m glad we did. Some plot points and songs in this movie became staples over the years. And if you ever want to learn where the inspiration for Jessica Rabbit from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” came from, this movie is a must-see.

25. March 10

The Maus (2017) Rating: 5

I expected this to be a creature feature and got something more than I bargained for. This is a horror of PTSD manifested. War crimes are monstrous. I watched this film on Netflix.

More next week,

Mark

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Weekly Dose of Mark

Saturday, March 4th 2023 • 03/04/23

Freelance Fandango was Stan, Nori, and me. Stan brought in his collection of Gahan Wilson books for me to enjoy. I loved looking at all of them. He also returned the Bill Peet autobiography. I thanked him for that as well. Nori did not bring in his camera. But he did mention that he took it out with him this morning and took several photos of birds. The camera can be noisy. This is why he only took a few photos of a Barred Owl over the weekend. He didn’t want to disturb it too much. I told Nori that I was very intimidated by the size of his camera. I scheduled the room for the next month through to April. But another group beat us to next Monday so we will have to gather at an outside table for part of the time we are there. John Draper caught me as I was leaving. I’d forgotten that he’d called and asked me to linger to help him figure out how to create a second Instagram account. Normally I would be against him creating yet another account as he has a hard time growing his audience. But this was to be an anonymous account where he posts or reposts his postings while he is high. Normally his kids and I get these postings, and then he forgets that he’s ever made them. This will be a location for him to do those posts. Hopefully, when he is high, he will remember to log off from his public account and into this one before he posts whatever cat meme catches his interest.

I had to take a detour driving home. Our street was blocked off. Telephone poles along our street are being replaced. As I drove the detour, I smelled a stench. When Pat Smith called and asked me for a walk, we walked over to investigate the work crew. There were several trucks, including a fire truck, besides the usual equipment. One of the trucks was marked incident response. There were a lot of workmen on the scene. We asked one if there was a gas leak, and he confirmed that there had been one, but it was being dealt with quickly. Pat and I walked another block and met a young man returning to his house. His wife called and said the house had a bad smell about it. He noted it in the air, and we told him what was happening with the gas leak the next block over. He was relieved as he was concerned he would have to move his wife and baby out of the house. Pat and I continued our walk. It started to hail on us after I bought some lottery tickets at the corner convenience store. We were crossing a street corner that had a roundabout when a car nearly drove over us. The driver was impatient with the line in front of him and was driving around them in the oncoming lane and did not see us crossing the street. It was a near thing; we almost got hit. The other cars honked at the fool while we yelled and waved at him. The crew stayed working on the street all night, and it wasn’t until late the following day that they finished up and moved to their next location.

I nearly forgot to mention that Pat downloaded Pokemon Go onto his phone. Our walks have slowed as we stopped to talk to new neighbors, and I’m teaching him how to catch Pokemon. I think he’s starting to get into it. “I spent all last night tossing balls at critters and not catching any of them.” He complained. I tried to comfort him that maybe there was a glitch in the programming. I asked if he had turned it off and started it up again. He said he had and handed the phone to me. I tossed a ball at a Pokemon and caught it. “You fixed it,” I told him.

Wednesday, I spent taking my Dad to various medical offices. The first trip was to the Urologist, who sent a scope up and took a look at his bladder. Aside from being ninety-two years old, his bladder and everything is just fine. We then went to the optometrist, where they repaired a new pair of glasses. The frame and screw popped out of them when they were dropped. They fixed it for free in five minutes. We then went to the hearing aid clinic. Dad’s hearing aid can use a Bluetooth connection to connect to the television so the speakers won’t blast my mom. Dad said it worked in the morning but not in the evening. The tech turned them off and then back on again. She gave Dad a splitter for the box at home. As a reward for being his chauffeur, Dad took me to a Japanese restaurant where I ordered a couple of Bentos featuring tempura and sushi. Dad has been going to the gym. He showed me the muscles in his arms. He’s definitely getting toned. My father was a very fit man when he was young, a gymnast whose hunky muscles appealed to my father. I always saw him as a strong man. The hearing aids worked with the television just fine before we even tried to do additional troubleshooting. Mom was back from her day out when we got back. Krista had me take them six chocolate chip cookies. Only three were left when Dad and I rolled back in the door. Dad called out from his chair, “Bring me a cookie!” Which I did. I think he had fears that they might not last until dinner. It turns out he already had a splitter for the box attached to the tv. The speaker didn’t have a port for it, and not one for the cable that came with the box. After hugs and kisses, I drove home and had some leftover spaghetti for dinner with Krista.

Friday night, I went to the Grand Cinema and hung out with Mark Brill as he sold the poster he created for “Assault on Precinct 13.” I helped as folks were also buying past posters out of the binder. I had a bit of a scare halfway through the film. I couldn’t feel my left arm. I thought perhaps I might have had a stroke and would have to ask Mark to drive me to the emergency room. The Grand Cinema has very tight seats. It turns out my wedged arm merely fell asleep. After moving it around, all my sensations and dexterity returned.

This week's dreams:

Feb 29

IDreamt I was hired to do sketching at the future site of a casino in Clallam County. Fearing the worst, I took camping gear. Good thing I did, as the client was a survivalist with an odd sense of humor.

Feb 30

#IDreamt I was the lead on a soap opera during the 1950s. The cameramen thought it would be funny if they caught me secretly shot me devouring a Cornish Hen when I was supposed to be off camera.

March 1

#IDreamt I got funding to open an apartment building for down-on-their-luck creatives who were trying to get back on their feet. There were supporters and nay-sayers. And one very shabby building.

March 2

#IDreamt It was the ’90s, and I was the IT guy for a Canadian traveling circus. Most of the performers went by nicknames taken from the comic “Alpha Flight.”

March 3

#IDreamt I believed myself to be the cause of a giant whirlpool on a small lake. I managed to stop it by turning a valve on shore. Several small boats and canoes bobbed to the surface.

March 4

#IDreamt, my jailers released me onto a Mutant Reservation. I was nearly ostracized again when I told them I’d been charged as an AI freedom fighter. It turned out there was an android prison on the reservation.

This week’s movies:

23. March 3

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) Rating: 6

It's been four decades since I last watched this violent exploitation film. It has a rapidly increasing body count. As a child of the seventies, nothing looks out of place in it. Kudos to the child actress portraying Kathy. I watched at the Grand Cinemas with Mark Brill, who created a Weird Elephant movie poster for the event.

More next week,

Mark

Monday, February 27, 2023

Weekly Dose of Mark

Sunday, February, 26th 2023 • 02/26/23

Monday was President’s Day, which is a Federal Holiday. That meant I got to sleep in, something I enjoy doing a great deal. Krista and I then met with Stan Brown, Corery Macourek, James Stowe, and his two kids. We all met at sushi revolution for lunch. Unfortunately, this meant that we had to break into two tables with Stowe sitting with his kids. We had a great time and spent a small fortune on small plates. The next time I get a sushi craving, Krista and I will just order a large plater from the best place in town as there might be a small saving. But having a wonderful conversation with my friends with delicious food is priceless.

Wednesday evening, I went down to the Grand Cinema. I met before the drawing session with the cosplay model Peyton DeSanta. Last month I sent a query to the Tacoma-Lakewood Cosplayer Facebook page to see if anyone would be interested in modeling. Peyton was the first to raise her hand. She is one of my fans, and we’d met previously at a convention. I was concerned about 6 o’clock as we were the only people there. But, by 6:15, the room was filling up. And we had even more folks show up by 6:30. In the end, we had nine artists drawing Supergirl in various poses. RR Anderson brought Miss Darcy and his son Max. Also in attendance were Sean Hall, Mark Brill, and a few new faces. Both Stan Brown and James Stowe couldn’t make it as they were not feeling well and didn’t want to chance to spread a cold to the group. As the organizer, I was a bit nervous at the start of the evening but by the end, everyone was really jazzed. I remembered to get a group photo. I was also pleased with my sketches. The last one of Peyton’s books came out really well. I think I might use that image down the line somewhere.

Saturday was Tacoma’s Night Market. I tried to get in, but since they never responded to my email, I guess they were full up. I thought about going down and checking it out. But, I spent the week cranking on a deadline for Solid Waste Management and was tired. You would think sleeping in on Saturday might have allowed me to recover, but I stayed up late the night before watching a movie. I’ll have to ask my friend Eli how it went for him. Another one of my friends was at the Atlanta Comic Con and reported that he didn’t sell anything during the entire show. The people next to him only sold one or two items. I’ll have to ask him if the show was thinly attended or if it just lacked buzz. It’s very odd for him to do a show and not do well with sales.

Krista’s old iPad’s battery isn’t holding a charge anymore. She can only use it now if it is plugged in. Rather than getting a new one at the Apple Store, she decided to save $100 and buy it through Costco. The only problem was the model she wanted was only available via delivery. She was relieved when it finally arrived on Friday. She spent the weekend setting it up. But it’s still not synching with her phone very well. So she has more troubleshooting to do there.

Alley News

The weather has turned cold again. A light coating of snow has been renewing itself on the ground. Every few days, it warms up enough to rain, then another dusting of snow. Aside from small patches of black ice in the morning, it's not too dangerous. But the dampness had us adding another layer and bundling under blankets when we watched television. The only time I get to see my neighbors is when Pat Smith calls me up to see if I want to go for a walk. Audrey’s cat Nugget is the only wildlife I’ve seen this week. The raccoons sited in the alley the week before must be hunkering in their dens to keep warm.

I managed to write down some of this week’s dreams:

Feb 20

#IDreamt while visiting a psychologist, I cleaned her television screen. On the way home, I found a plaster casting form. I poured clay into it and found it was a life cast of Bruce Dern.

Feb 21

#IDreamt when a young suffragette died, she returned to the family mansion as a very powerful poltergeist. She changed the dynamic of the others ghosts there. In winter, she plows snow as a statement against patriarchy.

Feb 22

#IDreamt a high school prom committee decided they wanted to be progressive and have a nudist-themed prom. The teachers were against it but agreed to cite health concerns instead of dress codes. This was set in the ‘80s, like a teen movie.

Feb 23

#IDreamt I found myself stowed away on an enormous freighter. They were so shorthanded that I easily passed myself off as a new employee.

Feb 24

#IDreamt of Samurai family in feudal Japan. The father favored his older son, who favored the sword. His younger son favored the brush. He barely acknowledged his youngest child, a daughter who favored politics.

Feb 25

#IDreamt James Stowe and I were walking by a building shared by several congregations. We went in and found a communal potluck starting. We decided to stay and draw the scene.

Feb 26

#IDreamt I became a numismatist.

#madeyoulookitup

Here are the movies I watched this week:

20. Feb 23

Pineapple Express (2008) Rating: 5

I watched this movie, wondering if I'd seen it before. I usually have a great memory for movies, when I saw them, and who I saw them with. But my memories of this movie are vague. Just like the ramblings of these potheads bumbling their way through the day as various bad guys are out to kill them. Most of the dialog feels like it was improvised. I watched this film on Netflix.

21. Feb 23

Troll (2022) Rating: 6

I wanted a monster movie. What we have here is a small Kaiju movie with Norwegian flair featuring all the tropes associated with a Kaiju movie. I would say it is better than Reptilicus but not as good as Troll Hunter. I give it an extra point for having a dog with a name. I watch it on Netflix. I watched this film on Netflix.

22. Feb 25

Lou (2022) Rating: 7

I always wanted to see Alison Janney as a lead in an action movie, and it finally happened - an extra point for that. This film has a dog named Jackson, often shortened to "Jacks" - an extra point for that. It's set in the pacific northwest - one point for that. The storm in question is just the regular rainfall from the last year - one less point for that. The plot slowly provides exposition, so big reveals aren't so big. Plenty of plot holes around the various action movie tropes. I watched this film on Netflix.

More next week,

Mark