I know I put this in the Dutch category yet this was spotted in Denmark, well, my friend Jeremy saw it and he lives in the Netherlands, so it counts as Dutch.
It is odd in how the description underneath the name is in English too. How does it taste? No idea, Jeremy wisely didn’t buy one. If it’s anything like all energy-based drinks, it’s probably awful which it besmirches my college nickname!
The news came in last night followed by the new lament in my adopted home…”Welcome to the New Austin.” I don’t disagree with the sentiment. All the great things that made Austin special, great and weird are dying thanks to all the Californicators, Red Texans and/or their broods and Tech Brohs moving here. Inflation is nothing compared to all the shit this unholy trinity has done to rents and property taxes. But after 38 years, the owner is calling it a day and I’m confident the bloated rent on South Congress pushed them out. If I won the lottery, namely the outrageous billion someone in IL landed, I would find a way to keep them going with a new, larger location.
Oh, what is (soon to be was) this place? It’s Austin’s best costume store for rentals or buying; Starting on 8/31, the store’s inventory will be liquidated to the public yet Lucy will keep going until the end of the year, lessening everyone’s panic for Halloween 2022. I have great memories with Lucy and their very helpful staff. They assisted on my legendary 1995 outfit to go as Patsy Stone of Absolutely Fabulous, they had the captain’s hat I needed when I went as Daryl Dragon (Captain of Captain & Tenille), they rented me an excellent wool suit I wore for Alamo’s Clue quote-along since I tried to resemble Professor Plum and we scoured them last year to get the right jacket for Jennifer’s Cyndi Lauper. Best run-on sentence ever!
Lucy was the best solution especially when Costume World on the north side shut down about a decade ago. Will another incredible shop rise from Lucy’s ashes? I sure hope so. Those temporary, pop-up Halloween joints and Amazon “solutions” just don’t cut it. Sometimes you need to go shopping in person to find the right inspiration and assistance from experts.
Meanwhile…another wonderful element of Austin dies as we continue our slow, painful slide into becoming a hybrid of South Dallas, North Houston and Eastern Silicon Valley, complete with douchebags, Suzies and Teslas.
I’m catching up thanks to my ongoing streak which hit 47 days in a row and I have arrived at the Central African Republic city of Bangui. No idea what it looks like. The first I heard of the place was when I needed to find a destination between Beijing and New Delhi as the distance between those two was formidable; trying to avoid another 1000-mile-plus gap. Those stretches involving LA and Honolulu, blech! Getting only one or two percentage points a day can be a demotivator!
Next up, New Delhi which should take over a month at my 17-miles/day method.
After July was the hottest frickin’ Summer on record for at least Central Texas, I think I’m going to enjoy the burger wars as long as I can before Climate Change takes away a favorite lunchtime choice. I recently signed up for the Whataburger App too because it will save us a little money, with the car situation, we have to tighten our belts. I also got hooked on this really great peppercorn chicken sandwich and a bleu cheeseburger. Another great feature, unlike McDonald’s and Jack in the Box, their shake machines are always operational.
John’s passing was announced Sunday afternoon but I have been busy with other crises at Castello di Maggi as you see from earlier posts. It was sad to see the news from the Austin Chronicle‘s e-mail alerts yet it was not surprising, he had a stroke a few years ago which led to his late 2020 retirement. I’m saddened that poor health likely followed thanks to Amerika’s for-profit medical system.
For roughly 50 years, John hosted his show Eklektikos on KUT and then KUTX when the station acquired 98.9 from a Media Barony fire sale. While on KUT, his weekday morning show ran from 8 AM to 2 PM until the bosses cut it back to make more room to broadcast additional news programming. Moving him over to KUTX was an easy decision as the point was to provide Austinites a choice between all news/information via KUT and musical variety via KUTX. Trust me, if I’m not playing stuff from my iPod Touch in the car, it’s these two stations or KMFA, our Classical station. Austin’s commercial stations suck.
Despite Eklektikos pertaining to a Classical music term, John played whatever he felt like against the tradition of most public stations being enslaved exclusively to Classical or Jazz. You’d hear Jellyfish’s “I Wanna Stay Home,” followed by some Gregorian chant stuff and then a novelty song by the Austin Lounge Lizards. You never knew what was next. I readily admit, some choices led me to change the station because I’m only human. John also had interviews. The only one I recalled at length was with Lisa Loeb in the Aughts, it led to me liking her work more.
Overall, he wasn’t my cup of tea as I’m not a fan when DJs blather pointlessly or want to bore me with their annual trip to France. While I’m writing this, I can’t think of a DJ in decades I miss hearing anyway. The ones I did love or admire did funny things during breaks and didn’t need to call unnecessary attention to it a la The Morning Zoo! Still, John was an Austin institution, a constant for many decades and I respected him and his longevity. He will be missed enormously as “New Austin” crowds out what made my adopted home a desirable place to reside.
The reason why my Nichelle Nichols obit precedes this is that I scheduled it via WordPress and our recent adventure was realized this morning. I decided to drive Jennifer to work because she injured her foot yesterday (a nasty cut, it’s under control) and while we walked to the driveway…only Harley (my Prius) was present. Based upon her immediate reaction and my memory of her Nissan Rogue being there last night, we could only conclude the car was stolen. Why? My immediate guess would be parts but used cars are going for much more than they’re really worth thanks to Amerika’s incompetent handling of the pandemic, which isn’t completely over.
After I dropped her off from work, Jennifer started the process of a police report and the insurance. I have little confidence in either. Amerikan cops on average aren’t very bright and not very inspired to help with such a matter; I’m sure they’ll blame it on a non-White or some reason due to her being a woman. Insurance will drag their ass at every opportunity despite years of collecting premiums. In defense of the latter, I would say GEICO bucks the trend. When I totaled my car, they were a breeze and pleasure to work with and got me into my current car quickly. Her company will remain nameless yet they advertise too much as they all do. Imagine how much we’d all save if they reduced their marketing budgets by 15 percent? I will be impressed if they cover a rental.
What’s next? I’m guessing car shopping which I suck at. Wish us luck. Personally, I would prefer the vehicle’s return and in a usable state.
Farewell to an awesome and incredible person! I had the great honor to meet her about seven years ago at Dragon’s Lair. Mrs. Nichols was very generous to make a quick stop in Austin on her way to a bigger convention in San Antonio. It was before her stroke so she was very lively, hilarious and just a pleasure. You can read all about it here since I don’t want to repeat myself, especially her funny response to me thanking her for kissing William Shatner on TV.
What made Mrs. Nichols great was how she inspired millions of women and millions of non-Whites to pursue careers at NASA, Space X, etc. She also inspired others into acting as one of the first Prime Time TV Black cast members who wasn’t comic relief or a servant. Lt. Uhura was a bridge officer on the Enterprise and part of the command structure should Kirk, Spock and Sulu were incapacitated. I know her uniform is red which traditionally means Operations but in her first appearance, she wore gold which is Command. The costumers, directors or somebody decided Mrs. Nichols looked better in red; another reason why the uniforms were changed in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Outside Star Trek, she appeared in movies, my favorite was her running a back alley craps game for a James Garner flick; TV and voice work. Loved to hear her on Futurama be it with the old crew or Al Gore’s Time Rangers! She was even a villain in a Blaxpoitation movie with Isaac Hayes, I think it was Truck Turner.
I’m glad she lived long enough to see her character’s cadet incarnation on Star Trek: Strange New Voyages. This interpretation of Uhura rocks. She’s a whiz with linguistics, very curious about where the Enterprise is going and I love how the actress captures a sense of wonder. I would’ve been the same in my youth. Today, I would be a terrified enlisted person!
Thank you for everything Nichelle! Warp Speed to your place in History and Fame! I will do all I can to make sure your hard work and sacrifices continue to push America and the world forward. Forward toward that future we all dream of in Star Trek.
A job well done for the month of July! Closed all three rings 31 days in a row. I wish I could say I succeeded in them being achieved by cycling 17 miles every time. Today was the exception because just as I was starting to pedal and learning that the bike’s log set the next milestone to 7500 miles (yes!)…I received a call from Jennifer. She accidentally cut her foot on some broken glass and needed me to come home to help with the injury. Fear not, I think I did a solid job cleaning the wound and bandaging it up.
Back to the little virtual badge! I did it and I hope to keep the quest to tie or beat 73 going which means I should have another next month representing August. Wish me luck.
Success! I now have 5000 miles logged on this particular type/brand of exercise bike which is what I’ve done about two thirds of my worldwide journey on. I didn’t stick around to see which number/target followed. I had plans, namely seeing a certain Star Trek movie. How I hope it’s 7500 and not 10,000 or something ridiculous like 25,000 miles. Given how many hours remain to hit 500, I’m confident the Calories and Miles will be posted again.
I know my birthday is a time for joy but I wanted to bring up the 90th anniversary of this horrendous event which demonstrates how little the American government, especially the Republicans, cares about its war vets. So whenever you here one of these assholes shout “Support our troops!” at you, remind them what shitbirds Herbert Hoover and wannabe dictator Douglas MacArthur were when it comes to the suffering of former soldiers.
It began oddly in 1924, not in 1918 or 1919. Congress passed the World War Adjusted Compensation Act for all American participants in WWI. Instead of a cash bonus or in past wars like the American Revolution, land. The legislation was the handiwork of the American Legion, formed in 1919 because all the WWI vets received when they mustered out was a mere $60 (under $1100 today). Hardly worth risking one’s life to make “the world safe for democracy.” The Compensation Act was originally a better plan. Every recipient was awarded a certificate they could cash out in 1945. The amount granted was a dollar per day they served in the Armed Forces during WWI (~$18 now) with a quarter extra if any days were spent overseas ($22.50 now). Since the US entered the war late and it ended within a year, there was a cap of 500 days. Throw in two decades of compound interest, the certificate was pretty enticing…if you lived long enough given that fewer people in the Roaring Twenties made it to 65 than today. By today’s calculations, someone who fought in the American Expeditionary Force under General Pershing at the Battle of the Somme would have about $11K in 2022 money (plus interest) waiting for them in 1945. It seems crappy but before St. Reagan’s miracle economy, people spent a lower percentage of their income on rent, transportation, medical care, etc. than today. Only food was proportionally higher.
Republican POTUS Calvin Coolidge vetoed the Compensation Act immediately claiming, “patriotism…bought and paid for is not patriotism.” Being a “small government” asshole, I’m confident he was more upset at the price tag, a staggering $3.64 billion. Today it would be $58 billion. We’ve pissed away more just to help Ukraine lose its war with Russia while millions of Americans are homeless. Congress uncharacteristically overrode the crap POTUS days later and set up a trust fund to guarantee the certificates’ solvency when they matured. Plus, if the vet fell on hard times, they could borrow up to 22.5% of their certificate’s face value.
Then came what always happens whenever the Republicans are in charge of the US Government, an economic downturn! This one was the worst ever yet and earned its name of The Great Depression. Congress finally did something in 1931 by raising the amount the vets could borrow from 22.5 to 50%. However, it wasn’t really enough nor what the unemployed vets, numbering in the thousands, needed. Many wanted to cash out early since they had starving families to support. Ergo, 17,000 vets with their families in tow and allied organizations (making 43,000 people) camped out in DC around early 1932 to make this cash-out demand by heard.
By now, Hoover was prez and his actions, arrogance, indifference and bullshit claims of Communist involvement would result in what occurred on this day. His equally awful Attorney General couldn’t get the mini city cleared and to make matters worse, the cops killed two vets. Other factors were working agains the Hoover administration: DC’s police superintendent Glassford had a good relationship with the vets (despite those deaths), the House voted to move up the date on paying out the cash and probably public opinion (read on). The Senate sided with Hoover 62-18, showing how we’ve never needed the upper chamber if we want to go forward.
It was too late, rioting began shortly after the two vets were murdered and Hoover ordered then Army Chief of Staff MacArthur to “disperse” the Bonus Army. Amongst his forces were future WWII “heroes” Majors Patton and Eisenhower. Patton commanded the six tanks used to plow through the makeshift buildings. Eisenhower was MacArthur’s aide, aka gopher and explains why he was butt hurt when Prez Truman fired his old boss for insubordination during the Korean War. All three of these “heroes” proved they were truly loyal to power and not the country or people and sadly, they were never punished, especially MacArthur who ignored Hoover’s orders on where or when to stop.
The aftermath of this event did contribute to Hoover rightfully losing re-election to FDR by a huge margin. The do-nothing prez would continue to repeat his unfounded claims of Commnunist agitators until he died yet he also tried to have it both ways by saying the majority of the vets were upstanding Americans. Sound familiar?
You’d think FDR felt the opposite. Sadly, he opposed the pay out while on the campaign trail. He was more cagey when he got into office as a new “army” marched on DC in 1933. To keep matters from going badly like Hoover did, FDR had the vets housed, fed and entertained at Fort Hunt in nearby Virginia. While trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution, his wife Eleanor visited the camp to run a charm offensive or interference. In her defense, she let the public know the protestors/vets were nothing like the alarmists’ claims of thugs and Commies. Eventually, FDR used an executive order to get a good chunk positions into the Civilian Conservation Corps by ending the entry requirements. This worked out pretty well in the short run.
In 1936, a Democratic-controlled Congress decided to pay out the $2 Billion owed. FDR’s obstinance remained but he was powerless, both chambers overrode his veto with comfortable margins and the matter was resolved for good.
Again, the Bonus Army’s saga proves how full of shit both political parties are when it’s time for them pony up what our veterans are owed. The Republicans continue to this day to be the bigger assholes and their recent rejection to pass a bill to help those suffering from the side effects of burn pits…well, it shows you shouldn’t be surprised by a party of chicken hawks and selfish pricks. The Democrats aren’t off the hook neither. They’ve been complicit in letting Amerika get into numerous, senseless conflicts, failing to provide aid for suffering vets and pissing away billions for the Pentagon’s worthless toys. They too wear those sickening American flag lapels to show their “patriotism” when they’re equally spineless, greedy and cruel.
Hard to believe I’ve made it this far! Over 40 years ago, many in Generation X figured the world would be destroyed in a nuclear holocaust as per many Sci-Fi chronologies, even the optimistic Star Trek predicted one by the 21st Century. It was plausible because we had a crazy B-movie actor agitating a paranoid Soviet Union and he was an enabler of the sick KKKristians who thought there was an afterlife/The Rapture. They’re still around sadly, now it’s the Boomer versions trying to kill us all as they get ready for their Xer stooges (Cruz, Barrett, Kavanaugh, Paul, etc.) to move us toward a Mad Max future.
The last year has been pretty cool though. The house is very different and more will happen. Work has changed and it’s anybody’s guess if it will ever return to what it used to be like: all campus, no campus or in-between?
Jennifer continues to be a huge part of my life and she makes me very happy. There are ups and downs like when she returned from San Diego yet relationships needs crises to make them stronger…or to let you know, you need to end this before you end up broke and broken again!
What’s the plan? Well, for the immediate future. Seeing a 40th anniversary screening of Star Trek II at Alamo Drafthouse as they’re cramming a Best of 1982 into the month of August. Glad I succeeded in enjoying the 30th anniversary fun at Ritz a decade ago. I miss that big-ass theater. Other activities? Obviously eating, preferably pizza and pasta. Originally we were going to check out Kalahari, this bitchin’ indoor waterpark complex near Jennifer’s old apartment. All damage from the Spring tornado has been repaired. It fell through a couple weeks ago thanks to her scheduling. We’ll try again soon. The gym of course, I want to keep my streak going as today will be 42 days or six straight weeks.
In the longer run? I really want to get my D&D game happening on a regular basis. Get my Italian on track too. With Carlo from the cafeteria being frequently seen, he helps with my pronunciation and taught me che figo! It means “cool!” Pay off my car. Who doesn’t need another $400/month to pay other bills? Finally get to Europe! Let’s see how it goes and thank you all in advance for the nice wishes.
Tony had a pretty good run/life and managed to avoid the post-child-actor tragedy we all hear about. Sure he was often remembered as Wally, the older brother from Leave it to Beaver, a SitCom I never hated yet I could never really get into it. When SCTV did a parody of it with a very cruel story involving a grown-up Beaver shooting Eddie Haskell for pissing him off, I laughed pretty hard given how idyllic and cheesy the show was. He made forays into the more “modern” world with a cameo in the R-rated skit film Kentucky Fried Movie and I completely forgot his guest spot on Square Pegs, the SitCom Anne Beatts beat out John Hughes into doing by two years.
I knew Tony more for being a TV director of episodic shows, namely Babylon 5 alongside with Adam Nimoy (Leonard Nimoy’s son). The experience got him to chip in on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine too. What I learned through my cursory research was he got to be a special effects supervisor on B5 which is super impressive given how the show was the pioneer in using computer graphics instead of traditional, practical models.
Being born and raised in Hollywood did lead him to doing other jobs when acting or directing wasn’t happening. Tony was a sculptor and involved in construction. The latter was probably pretty lucrative when Los Angeles wasn’t a crowded as today.
Thanks for everything Tony. For years, you were America’s older brother and it’s not such a bad thing to be in public. I’m glad you continued to follow your passions, flex other creative muscles and contribute to vast collection of American Popular Culture.
It wouldn’t be the first time George Lucas used the plot of a Kurosawa movie to tell his own “original” story!
What the Bith musician Figrin Da’n (I know, after 45 years, every character ever shown in the movies have names) witnessed is rather amusing given how we the movie viewers know as nearly omnipotent viewers.
It would’ve been funny if Figrin brought up how it was weird to see all that blood on the floor when Obi-Wan’s lightsaber would automatically cauterize the injury.
As you can see from the virtual little prize above, I have closed all three of my rings 26 times in a row but the Challenge was to just pull it off within 31 days so I guess you’d get five days to be too lazy to stand up 12 times/day. Trust me, that tappity tapping on my left wrist is hard to ignore.
The other big deal is achieving over 2000 miles for 2022 via the indoor bike today! This puts me closer to 7500 miles for the lifetime tracking; yeah, I only began in 2017 when the doctor said I was too fat for running if I want to keep my original knees.
Lately, I’ve been pouring it on thanks to my favorite gym being open on weekends again. Can’t wait to cancel Planet Fatness since their head manager is a douche and some people don’t understand locker-room courtesy. I can handle the borderline homeless using the showers, I just had a run-in with a guy who must’ve thought he was the creature from The Shape of Water. Anyway, I’m past the half-way point in trying to either tie or beat my record of making it in and getting a workout done 73 days in a row. Today would make this Day 39, not bad. Only 34 to go.
Next stop? A perfect July, closed rings for all 31 days and then arriving in the Central African Republic city of Bangui at 7599 miles.
Another great actor who played villains and not just gangsters as per Goodfellas; he was Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, head of the Capulet family in the horrible 1996 take on Romeo & Juliet, The Stuff and The Rocketeer. He even did cartoon voice work via Duckman and Hey Arnold! What I had to look up because I figured he had been in something with Star Trek and I was partially right, he was Worf’s adopted human brother! Dr. Nikolai Rozhenko, playing a futuristic Russia instead of an Italian!
Back to Goodfellas which was what probably really accelerated his career. When I went to a special screening at Alamo, the host said Paul originally turned down the role of real-life mob captain Paul Cicero. He told Scorsese he just couldn’t get into the head of this guy to play him well. Scorsese told him to take a bit more time and report back. Then Paul found the key to Cicero was through a quiet, calm, pent-up rage as you see on the screen, especially when he has tell Henry Hill (the late Ray Liotta) to not be dealing drugs in their operation. He did a good job. The real Cicerco was even more despicable. One thing they left out of the movie…Cicero had a sexual relationship with Hill’s wife while Hill was in the penitentiary.
Jennifer introduced me to the movie The Cooler a couple years ago and it had Paul appear in a minor role as a lounge singer who just wasn’t bringing in the crowds Alec Baldwin wanted for the casino. I had no idea he could sing! Sadly, this is not a spoiler since the movie is over 19 years old, he meets a bad end because he is replaced by a younger guy played by a former member of NSYNC.
Thanks for everything Paul. I even forgive you for marrying that awful rightwing blowhard Dee Dee Benkie.
