Sunday, June 28, 2009
Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - Swing Vote
The film stars Kevin Costner as Bud Johnson, and egg processing plant worker from the podunk town of Texico, New Mexico. He's a divorced drunk, a slacker and an irresponsible father. The real adult of the household is his twelve-year old daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll), who splits her time by being an intelligent, civic-minded student and primary caretaker of her dad. She can't decide if she wants to be a veternarian or chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Through a series of complicated, yet plausible events, Bud finds himself being the deciding vote in a deadlocked presidential election. Because of a voting machine error, he has 10 days to re-cast his vote, giving the two presidential candidates time to sway him in any way possible. This is where the movie really struck a chord with me.
Anyone that knows me is aware that I am extemely cynical of the political process, especially national politics. By reducing the election's results to one man, the film does an excellent job of revealing how the two political parties truly view voters. The candiates (Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper - both conservatives in real life, BTW) are decent men, surrounded by political hacks that will sell their mother's souls to win the election. The movie's satire really becomes absurd when you see a Democrat making a pro-life commercial and the Republican catering to the Greenpeace crowd. Even though the film take's the situation to the extreme, I never thought that it veered too far from reality - which says something about how pathetic the political process has become - or always has been.
And of course, you know in a movie like this that there is going to be a rousing speech by Costner that will make all the guilty parties, including himself, feel very badly about their very bad behavior. The film doesn't take sides politically - it's just a call-to-action to get involved. Bud's speech is followed by pure fantasy - a real person, asking real questions to the two candidates, in a real debate. Never happen.
This movie was better than I expected. Coster is good as the shiftless Bud, keeping the character sypathetic. Madeline Carroll is one of best things about Swing Vote. She plays an intelligent child without being annoyingly precocious - a seemingly impossible task in most Hollywood films. Their relationship is really the heart of the film. Other than a minor plot distraction involving Bud's estranged wife, things moved along pretty well. Also - Bud has a slight problem with profanity (but he's working on it), so fair warning to those who are easily-offended.
Swing Vote is not the most sophisticated of political satires, and it won't change the world, but it did brighten my little corner of it for a couple of hours. I say "Go."
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Today's Updates...
Old desk...
First Anniversary of Our New Old House...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
New Stuff...
First up- Jim's ferns.... He is very proud that he transplanted many of these, and planted the rest, and none of them died. In fact, they took off so well that we have jokingly referred to this area as Ferngully.
Last week we hired our friend and former neighbor, Jim Bergman, to paint our front porch. We had just done it last year, but it had not held up well through the winter. Hopefully this will last better, and we like this color so much better than the one we chose the first time around.
Here's is the "before" shot (except it was taken last year, when the paint was fresh)...
And with the new paint (See- isn't this color so much better?)...
And finally, the daylillies are starting to bloom nicely... A wonderful way to welcome the summer.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
A Trip to the Strip...
In Infamous Penn Mac...
And finally, I love this sign which had no other discernable message other than...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Somebody Needs a Home...
So if you are looking for a new furry friend, might I recommend you take a look at Jinx? He's at the Monroeville Petsmart and I'd be happy to get you more info if you need it. Thanks for looking!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Random Funny...
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Something's Blooming at Our New Old House...
Don't know about these either. They kind of remind me of tiny Rhododendron blooms, but they're not...
And just for fun... the house next door is still vacant - except for this guy who has taken up residence in the ivy. At least he's a quiet neighbor :)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Road Trip Recap... by Jim
This is something that we've been doing for six years now. It was actually an idea of Carrie's. Since Matt and I live so far apart, she suggested that we take a weekend road trip. Over time it has turned into a really fun excursion.
The original idea was to pick an interesting route and plan some music gigs at a few locations-playing for tips, food or whatever people would pay us. The first two years, we went to Williamsport, PA and Hocking Hills, OH. The third trip, we ventured out the Lincoln Highway to Chambersburg, PA and Hagerstown, MD. We had such a great time at these locations that we have been back to Hagerstown for the last four years.
This year's trip started out in Pittsburgh, actually. Matt came down Friday afternoon and we played an all-acoustic show at Big Dog Coffee, on Pittsburgh's Southside. It's a beautiful shop with great food and drinks. The owners, Nikolay and Cortney were extrememly nice and we hope to return soon. A big shout-out to Carrie, Pastor Bill and my friend Barb for stopping by. Be sure to visit BIG DOG COFFEE on Sarah Street.
You can't really miss the sign...
Cephas & Milo in the flesh...
Matt, er...Cephas, and Barb hanging out after the show...
Inside Big Dog Coffee...
As is typical in the Southside, parking can be hard to come by... I like the double signs.
Then it was on to Hagerstown. Despite bald tires and a perpetually "on" Check Engine light, the 1998 Ford Escort sputtered it's way to our destination. Carrie booked Matt and I a nice room at the Hagerstown Hotel - we even got to play at an open mic they had in the lounge Friday night.
Potomac Street...
After our complimetary continental breakfast, it was on to play at the Gourmet Goat Restaurant and Bar. It's a cool place - awesome food and great owners, Paul and Steve. We have now played there three years in a row. We schedule our trip during the weekend of the Maryland Blues Festival, so there is always tons of people in the city and a great musical buzz about the town.
A clip of "Midnight Special" (click below) ...
Me playing a solo (click below) ...
One of the best things about doing this is all of the nice people that we've met. It's cool that people remember us from previous years and come out to see us again, or buy our t-shirts and Matt's CDs. I hope this is something that we are able to do for a long time to come.
Check out Matt's music at myspace.com/matttexter.