Dunkr, I hate you

Mark Steele, my pal Dunkr, decided to make my life miserable with the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon by giving me the name Max Schreck. BUT, I am truly great, so smart guy, here's your answers:
1- if you meant the character Max Schreck played by Christopher Walken in "Batman Returns", well, Christopher also appeared in "Joe Dirt" with Rance Howard, who just happened to appear in "Frost/Nixon" with Kevin. SEPARATION- 2.5 (.5 for being the Character)
2-if you meant the character of Max Schreck played by Willem Dafoe in "Shadow of the Vampire", well, Willem was in "Body of Evidence" with Frank Langella, who was of course Nixon himself in "Frost/Nixon", which Kevin was in. SEPARATION-still 2.5



BUT



3-IF you meant the great German Actor of the early 1900's (dying in 1936) Max Schreck, well, how can I connect a Kevin to a guy who never worked in the U.S. and who died 22 years before he was born?!?!




UNLESS



you count the fact that Max was in "Wolga Wolga" with Feodor Chaliapin Jr., who was in "La Maschera" with Helena Bonham Carter, who of course was in "Novacaine" with Kevin. SEPARATION-3 :P

Oh, and for Wendy, who was also trying to be difficult- Bob Eubanks was in "Greatest Game Show Moments" with Fred Ward, who was in "Tremors" with Kevin; and he was also in "Johnny Dangerously" with Mike Bacarella, who was in "Stir of Echoes" with Kevin, so Bob is a double 2.

I'm fine, so NCIS trivia!

trivia about my favorite show, NCIS- Michael Weatherly, who plays Anthony DiNozzo, remarks during one episode that "I have a better chance of getting a date with jessica Alba than these gusy do of getting into SeaLift". Quite a funny line, because A) the bad guys had gotten into SeaLift, and B) Michael used to be on the series "Dark Angel", and was in fact engaged to it's star, Jessica Alba.
One of the "character background" lines for DiNozzo is that his very wealthy family disowned him when he became a cop. In fact, Weatherly's family disowned him when he became an actor (no word on whether they've pulled their heads out yet.)
Speaking of which- one of the victims that they are checking on is supposedly the filthy rich grandson of the man that was the original importer of real Victorinox Swiss Army knives to the U.S. In fact, that importer is Michael Weatherly's real-life father, yes the same putz that disowned him for doing something he's very good at.

And you thought YOUR parents were impossible to live with!

Great dream, bad results

I had the most fantastic dream last night! I was fighting florentine (SCA Armored Combat) in a melee, and killing people left and right. I got Cormac with a combo shot: I threw a flat-snap to his belly as I moved to his left ducking his head shot, and at the same time I brought my right hand up and over for a face-thrust. He blocked the body shot, but the thrust nailed him! There were several other fights, and I was twisting and turning and lunging and running, all the things you HAVE to do when fighting florentine (two swords) in a melee.

Unfortunately, my body takes my dreams WAY too seriously, which is why I'm barely awake at noon, after waking up at 6 with spasms all through my back, legs, and arms, hobbling into the kitchen, and taking a fistful of pills. I'm awake now because I'm still having the spasms, they woke me up again, so more pills, yeah.

Okay, all of this "it sucks to be me" posting can't really be all that interesting, so time to try something new: TV and movie trivia!
For example- on "NCIS", Forensics Specialist Abby Sciutto is played by Pauley Perrette, who in fact has a REAL degree in Forensics! Zach Braff, the star of the comedy "Scrubs", makes extra money by being the voice of the puppy in the Cottonelle toilet paper commercials!

Ever play "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon"? I am a pro, so give me a name (post it in the comments), and I'll give you the degrees! PLEASE, no one give me Kyra Sedgewick, make me at least work a little!

So come on, send me some names, ask me for trivia about almost any TV show, help me post something other than "I hurt".

Intentional Scizophrenia

So, in my never ending quest to Make Enough To Live On, I found a site that pays me to blog. Not very much, and it depends entirely on impressions, but it's a start. To keep things interesting (hopefully, anyway) for you, I will be posting my personal stuff here, and my take on daily news stories over there. "Over there" being http://bigbadwolf.today.com/ , which will be added as a link on the sidebar as soon as I figure out how.
Feel free to post your comments, forward the link to friends, family, enemies, people you don't know, send the link to your Congressmen as an example of why the internet should be censored, anywhere and everywhere, the more it gets read, the more it helps my quest.

Regarding the Bail Out of Chrysler

The Treasury Department announced today that they had reached an agreement with four of Chrysler's main creditors to keep the automaker from filing bankruptcy, in yet another example of The Great Bail Out, and in my opinion a HUGE mistake. Yes, it was necessary to bail-out AIG and several of the big banks, to keep the entire banking and insurance industry from collapsing, although one company being THAT important to one industry, let alone two, is the reason for our anti-trust/anti-monoply laws, but we'll ignore that for now. Had AIG failed, as noted, the entire banking industry would have failed. BUT, if Chrysler fails, the auto industry will be just fine, and in reality the other automakers would probably be thrilled. The simple fact is that Chrysler failed for two reasons- bad management, and being out-sold. True, Ford and GMC are not far behind Chrysler, while Hyundai, Toyota, and Honda are doing just fine, but that just proves my point- in our economic system, a business must adapt to changes, or die, evolve or face extinction. the "Big Three" automakers never felt the need to adapt to the way the import companies do business, even when the "imports" are being made in the U.S., because they've been bailed out by Congress before, and they new they would again. We need to prove them wrong. Let Chrysler fail, maybe then Ford and GMC will cut some executive salaries, make it clear to the UAW that they will either take less or be unemployed entirely, and cut frivolous expenditures in the name of "advertising", like giving a mustang to the American Idol finalists.
Chrysler failed not because of the recent economic crash, Chrysler failed because they're following an outdated business model, and they refuse to learn from the people that are pushing them out. Evolution or Extinction, Chrysler picked the wrong one, let them deal with the consequences.

talk about a bad dream!

Okay, it's no secret I'm a geek. I read comic books when I was a kid, still do (except I can't afford them anymore). I mention this because I had a comic book dream last night/early this morning. I don't remember most of the details, except the important one- I was a hero who had been given a new weapon. Unfortunately, every time the weapon fired, I gagged, the full-body kind. And of course, the weapon was on automatic, so it kept firing over and over again. As I slowly wake up, I realize that I really am gagging, although it's not so much a "gag" as it is a "struggling to breathe". Seems my apnea got the better of me last night. Of course, the full body spasms induced by the fight for air caused my back, hips, and legs to go into full muscle spasm, so at 5 am I hobbled into the kitchen on both canes and took a full dose of pills with chocolate milk. I went back to bed, careful to turn my head so I could breathe easier, and just woke up a little bit ago.

Let the Debate Begin!

Since I'm up, I decided to read my pal Glen's blog, http://glensgob.blogspot.com/2009/04/liberals-dont-understand-tea-parties.html

and this gem caught my eye. A couple of things you (oh random reader) need to know- Glen is in fact my best friend in the whole world. I love his kids like my own, his wife like a sister, and him like what I'm told brotherly love should be (I have very little experience in that area). BUT, I generally HATE his politics! Which is okay, he (mistakenly) doesn't like mine either, and we are mature enough to discuss and debate our differing views without it turning into hatred. the lesson here kiddies- politics is a small part of who a person is, get to know the whole person before you decide they are evil.
So, to my point- the conservative right-wing, while admitting that increased spending is necessary to get out of the mess that "dubya" left us, is attacking Obama's "legacy social program" spending, as Glen puts it-
"Yes, but the President is certainly taking advantage of this situation to push a HUGE social agenda. I actually agree that temporarily that the government is going to have spend tax dollars in order to keep our economy from falling apart, but what he is doing is instituting HUGE legacy social programs that will continue to exist long after this crisis is over. Most fiscal conservatives are against this."
And just WHAT would fiscal conservatives prefer those tax dollars be spent on? More military? More support for Iraq? What, exactly, is it that you fiscal conservatives find SO distasteful about spending money to take care of our own people? Part of this funding is supposed to help reduce the Social Security backlog, currently standing at EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND filings, with nearly TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND CASES OVER 900 DAYS OLD, not counting those who've had to re-file and start over again at day one after a couple of years of appeals. What's wrong with the government helping to fix a healthcare system that has been overrun by the medical insurance inquisition, oops I mean "industry", and corporations who think hospitals should be profit-generating business in all areas, rather than facilities dedicated to the Hippocratic Oath and to serving those in need. At what point did we, as a nation, decide it was okay for ANYONE to make profits off of a medical emergency, no matter what it is?
If anything, Fiscal Conservatives should be *applauding* the legacy social spending that Obama is setting up, as it will, in the long run, give more of the average person's income BACK to that person, to be spent as they see fit, encouraging economic growth.
Being at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, and being one of those most directly affected by President Obama's social spending, I say thank you very much, and carry on sir!

Other things that don't get mentioned much

I post quite a bit about my back and legs, since those are my primary problems these days, but one that lingers in the background comes up occasionally, in more ways than one. I also have what docotrs always refer to as GERD (gastro-esophagial reflux disease), what everyone else calls Acid Reflux. Yes, I do take meds for it, but even so, every once in awhile, in the middle of the night, a small quantity of stomach acid comes up from my stomach into my esophagus and even my mouth, burning my throat. Yes, I know, that sounds exactly like vomiting, and basically it is, just one small amount, no heaves, no repeat. Still, a very unpleasant way to wake up, and even after drugs (which contribute to the problem, by the way) it leaves me WIDE awake, at least for awhile. I've found that, at that point, the best thing I can do is play on the internet or read a book while I eat a 1/2 sleeve or so of plain saltines, with a glass of water (drunk sparingly, just enough to wash them down).

I so wish they could do brain transplants, I'd love to have a new, healthy body, wouldn't even need to be younger!