October movies week three

October 24, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

The Invisible Man. 2020. Didn’t live up to the hype. Some decent special effects. Ending is a disservice. 59/100. Watchable once, but not a Halloween treat.

Cabin Fever. 2002. Disappointing. Was on both of my unseen recommendation lists. Cerina Vincent provides most of the eye candy. Old script. No surprises. Meh. 25/100.

And I think we’ve finished up the questionable entries and will be pretty good from here on out.

Suspiria. 1977. Not the remake, which has more eroticism but just lacks the Argento flavor. Dropped it a few spots this year but still gets 94/100.

Fright Night. 2011. Highly recommended on BOTH lists! And rightly so. Perhaps the best of the previously unseen although three higher ranked remain. Bodes well. A solid cast. Good sets, costumes and sfx. Plot was a bit predictable but the touches of humor in the script seemed JUST right. And no sex. Several attractive female characters, all of whom stayed mostly completely clothed throughout. Actually the MALES showed more skin iirc. There’s an outside chance this one makes the list on its own NEXT year. 76/100

Bride of Re-Animator. 1989. I’m not a fan of most of the film versions of Lovecraft’s work and this is no exception. Horror’s are played more for laughs or gross-outs than for sheer terror. Fabiana Udenio and eventually Kathleen Kinmont are long as eye candy, but barely fill even that limited roll. 11/100 although your mileage may vary.

Feast. 2005. Penultimate unseen. Quite a cast including Henry Rollins, Navi Rawat and a Clu Gulager looking a LOT like a 65 year old Joe Biden. Interesting approach and production choices. Doubt if it’ll be watched again but not as bad as a LOT on the list. 57/100.

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. 1920. Dropped it a score of slots this year. Should drop on the list but still make it next year as it’s on mine AND the masses. 97/100.

It ain’t King of the Hill

October 19, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

To put it simply: the person who lives in the White House isn’t the President of the United States. The President of the United States gets to live in the White House.

In early August, the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) released a report suggesting that President Donald Trump would not likely leave the White House without an unprecedented struggle. The TIP, a self-proclaimed “bipartisan” group of some 100 people, was entirely composed of those firmly opposed to President Trump. So what? I mean yes it would be terrible but come January 20, 2021 if he loses the election he won’t be POTUS anymore. So WHAT if he “refuses to leave the White House.” Occupying the property is irrelevant to our Constitutional power structure. No problem.

I grew up the son of (among other wonderful things) a football announcer. So I learned the game. I learned the RULES of the game at all it’s levels. I know the difference between OHSAA, NCAA and NFL. I dote over the “innovative” rules of new leagues. So when something weird happens on the field I don’t freak out. Because I know there’s a rule that covers it. I might not LIKE the rule. I might not agree with the outcome dictated BY the rule. But there’s a rule. And knowing adds to my enjoyment of the game.

What does the second ‘graph have to do with the first? Well, there are rules. We’re gonna have an election with an result unknown for DAYS. Weeks and months are not out of the question. But what happens if? And I’m hearing more and more people spouting nonsense about “what happens if” who have no idea that the rules for “what happens if” have already been written.

What happens if Biden or Trump or both die before election day? It’s in the rules. What happens if there’s a tie in the EC? It’s in the rules. Who gets to decide what? It’s in the rules.

So instead of adding to the insanity that IS 2020, cool your jets. Posit your “what of.” Then do a little research and find out what the rules say. You might not LIKE the rule. You might not like the outcome dictated BY the rule. But there’s a rule.

And it ain’t King of the Hill.

Makes my head hurt

October 17, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

Hate to keep flagellating the deceased equine but DAMMIT this one’s important to me.

Voters Will Have a Chance To Save Ride-Sharing and Delivery Services From California’s Regulators

On a positive note, but not positive ENOUGH: Department of Labor Proposes New Rule Protecting the Right To Be a Gig Worker

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Denver City Council approves delivery fee cap. Unintended consequences anyone? This is why those who leave blue state messes need to be told not to vote to create more blue state messes.

Scab

October 15, 2020October 17, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

Never liked the word, probably because I grew up in a family of either self-employed or entrepreneurial individuals. So it’s been a weird week in a weird month in a weird year. I’ve been subbing every day for three weeks, although only have two days scheduled for NEXT week. Have over a dozen days on offer from a high school I said I’d never go back to. And was recently offered $175/day to sub online for another school whose faculty has opted to strike for reasons I have yet to determine despite reading all the news coverage thereof and discussing it with union leaders in the community.

Let’s start with the school I said I’d never go back to. Discipline issues. BUT. Most schools are going on reduced enrollment so I’d be dealing with a reduced class size, which helps. Many classes lack the critical mass it takes to be truly disruptive, although I suspect the cm needed there is a good deal less than at other places. Additionally the everpresent mask seems to be cutting down on classroom issues. No whispering so no sub-rosa shenanigans to escalate. May well give this school a second chance should I find myself needing a gig.

Then there’s the school I barely missed qualifying for a bonus from last year. Principal recently approached me and offered a long term gig subbing for a math teacher with a high-risk pregnancy. I of course said yes. Good school atmosphere. And the bons is still out there. If this gig is long enough it could get me close to qualifying … again.

And then there’s the strike. I’ve stayed away for ONE reason. We’d be subbing remotely. 100% on line. And the classes would be accessible by the public (parents and striking teachers.) There’s no WAY I wanna become the feature figure in THAT national news story.

Otherwise the gig is going well despite da gubmint’s best efforts to screw with it. Students are being educated. And I’m keeping food on the table the the wi-fi turned on.

edited to add a few links:

If Your School District Pulls What One Tennessee District Has, Know Your Rights.

I Just Went Back To School In Person. It’s Not Scary

Faculty Struggle With Burnout During COVID-19.

I feel like faculty, overall, have had things a lot easier than say grocery workers or meatpackers, but they’re also a bunch of delicate complainers.

HOMESCHOOL! IF YOU MUST USE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR BABYSITTING (NO JUDGEMENT) THEN HOMESCHOOL AFTER SCHOOL. What Our Children Learn In School.

October movie list, week 2

October 13, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

Godzilla vs Destoroyah. 1995. Intended as the last until the 50^th anniversary. Emiko Yamane is played by Momoko Kôchi, the same actress who created the role in Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla (1954). This was also her last film role. She died of cancer three years later. This would be the final film score for composer Akira Ifukube whose association with the Godzilla films went back to the original 1954 feature. This was also the last Godzilla film on which producer Tomoyuki Tanaka worked. He was the only person to produce all of the previous Godzilla films. Pedestrian. Makes the list as an unseen recommendation from all Flickchart users. 25/100

The Conjuring. 2013. The one that started it all. STILL good chills. Actually moved it up a bit fro 199 to 131. 98/100. Makes the list as a personal favorite. Am I wrong here?

American Werewolf in London. 1981. Another on my personal list but this time the masses agree. Best sound track on the list. And I’m STILL seeing things I missed (or don’t remember) from previous viewings. And Jenny Agutter, as promised. Dropped it a few spots this year but still gets 94/100.

The Wailing. 2016. A previously unseen gem recommended by horror fans. South Korean. 76/100. Watchable at LEAST once.

The Others. 2001. Better than The Sixth Sense. Atmospheric. Well filmed. Well acted. Solid and creepy even AFTER you know the twist. High on MY list but none of the others. 98/100 but I did drop it quite a few places this year. Should still make my list in 2021 but it might not be around much longer without a few others rating it highly.

Land of the Dead. 2005. Some actors I like with a director I don’t. All these “of the Dead” movies are the same to me, with an occasional interesting 15 seconds. No exception. Made my list as the top movie haven’t seen as rated by the horror fans on Flickchart. 1/100. Probably deserves better but that’s where it landed.

The Shining. 1980. Top rated horror movie on Flickchart by all users but not in the top 30 among horror fans. Should tell you something. I DO see something new every time I watch and it IS getting better. Bumped it from 76 to 88/100.

As the silly season approaches

October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

When substantive justice and procedural rules of competition and fair play come into conflict, which should win?

Voice from beyond the grave (since it’s October ‘n all.)

and, debunking Harris’ Lincoln story

annual October movie list

October 8, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

here’s the drill … I use Flickchart.com to generate a list of horror movies. MY top rated ones, all users top rated ones and horror fans top rated ones. I rank those lists from 31 down to 1. I also take a list of horror movies I haven’t seen (as rated by users and by horror fans.) I dump all of it into a spreadsheet, sprinkle it with powdered pumpkin dust and other magical stuff and voila – out pops my October movie list. There are a couple “cheats” on the list (The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, Great Pumpkin, Season 4 episode 1 of X-Files) but otherwise it’s a gooey mix of unseen movies, classics and personal faves. The unseen contributions are usually pretty bad because I have seen a LOT. Flickchart recognizes 8,569 horror movies and I’ve seen about 20% of them. So without further ado or fanfare I give you week 1:

Child’s Play 2. Horror fans seems to enjoy the series. This season it’s the lowest rated horror movie I haven’t seen. And probably won’t be watched again. The ONLY good thing about it is an appearance by the timeless Jenny Agutter who we’ll see again in a few weeks. 2/100

John Carpenter’s The Thing. Not a fan but I DID bump it well up my list after this viewing. Need to rewatch the ’51 version soon. 64/100

Bride of Chucky. Sadly there are five MORE of these! Jennifer Tilly but limited use of her two talents. Alex Arquette before he became Alexandra. A young, pretty Kathryn Heigl. STILL not good. 13/100.

At last something watchable. Lon Chaney and Evelyn Ankers in The Wolf Man. 98/100. Classic October fare. Surprisingly it only makes the list because it’s so high up on MY list. Rejected by the masses.

The Hills Have Eyes. 2006 remake. The horror fans seem to like it. I’m not crazy about it. A few good moments but unlikable characters and not enough to redeem it, including Kathleen Quinlan. 13/100. One step above Bride of Chucky.

Severance. A more violent, less campy British horror film in the vein of Shaun of the Dead which preceeded it by two scant years. A few good scares. A few more good laughs. And the scene of the bra-less escort shooting the automatic was the best thing about it. Watchable but not REwatchable. 63/100

The Cremator. 1969 Czech movie set in the late 30’s just before the Germans invade although it looks like the 50’s. Starts slow but grows. Black comedy. Once you realize where it’s going you realize you can’t stop the ride. Rewatchable but I doubt it’ll make subsequent lists. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for something a little …. different. 88/100.

Show me the Science

October 2, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

Started back to substitute teaching last month. Was the first sub “back” in five buildings so I got to be the guinea pig <wait! Is that racist?> The public is being told that public schools are “following the science” to keep everybody safe ….. but ARE they?

School District #1 (in no particular order) requires a temp check at the door. No other school district (in my experience) is doing this. What’s the margin of error on the device being used? It’s self administered and we’ve received no “training” on its use. And what’s my baseline temperature? If you don’t know what my normal body temperature usually is, how do you know if I’m running a fever? Lots of science-shaped holes here. Pandemic theater.

District #2. Practice HAD been to keep doors closed during class sessions, because that’s safer if we have an intruder. Already set up for the ALICE drill, etc. But NOW they want the doors left OPEN because we don’t have people wiping their filthy corona-infected hands on the door handle all the time with all of that in and out stuff. Really? I wanna see the science that determined that putting our dear little bundles of joy at risk of injury or kidnapping are sufficiently lower than the risk of them contracting da Rona from a door knob. Otherwise it’s just pandemic theater.

District #3 has invested in these cute little 2 ½ – 3 foot tall tri-sided windowed table tents for their desks. And students are required to wipe down their desks with disinfectant after every class. But not the table tent! I’m thinking because its a pandemic theater set piece it must be immune to da Rona. The other fun thing here is that the secretary in charge of us miscreant subs refuses to open her office door. We shout back and forth at each other through (?) the window and she leaves your documents on a desk outside her door. She DOES have a couple co-morbidities so I’m kinda understanding here.

District #4. No medical inspection upon entry. No open/closed door policy. No magic table tent equipment. Just the ever-present signs of coerced (anti-)social distancing. And masks. And smaller class size. After the other three this seems almost normal.

Faculty and administration is all over the place regardless of school policy. Had a teacher mutter to me under her breath “damned Commie masks” the other day. Had another (science) teacher upbraid me in front of a class of 5^th Graders for not rigorously enforcing the mask mandate. She did this from less than a foot away with her mask tucked neatly under her nose. High schoolers seem to be dealing with this reasonably well. I was actually in a classroom earlier this week while seven students listened to the actual teacher lecture via Zoom. Desks are cleaned. Doors are left open or closed (guess different schools have different science.) Behavior seems MUCH improved. Of course class sizes cut in half helps. And the masks. Most classroom noise starts at the whispered level and then grows. Without the ability to communicate with a whisper there’s nothing to grow FROM. But it’s sad. No smiling faces. No funny looks.

Those who told me my side-gig of substituting was over due to Covid seem to be quite wrong (as the Coronobros n hos have been about pretty much everything.) Since starting back 9/14 I’ve had one day “off.” Currently have 10/7 open and then full until 10/19. So … steady. I HAVE added three new districts but haven’t accepted a gig a two of them. Will probably drop them soon as unneeded. And that’s with NO gigs from the district I’ve done the 2^nd most the last 2-3 years. Not sure what’s happened to them.

Frankencourt

September 22, 2020 ohiohedgehogLeave a comment

This just popped into my head so I wanted to blurt it out on the interwebs. Since it looks likely that we’re gonna re-do the Supremes soon let me suggest the following to REALLY mess things us.

Fifty judges. One from each state. Senators recommend candidate to the POTUS. POTUS can accept and send to the Senate, or reject and ask for another. Senate can then either consent or withhold consent. VP breaks ties. Require a minimum of 25 of them to be seated at any one time.

Oh. And repeal the 17th Amendment while we’re at it.