Reading: Insurrection by David Weber
Music: Great Big Sea
TV/Movie: Stop Making Sense
Link o' the Day: Fran's Hobo Page

We just got back from the wake of the old family friend who passed away last weekend. It was a strange experience in some respects. Even though I saw him only a few months ago, he was hard to recognize. I'm sure the funeral home did the best job they could, and maybe because he is going to be cremated, there were some things they couldn't do. I dunno. I've seen a lot of open caskets, and his was the most unrealistic presentation I've yet seen. Almost a mannequin.

Still, seeing him brought some closure. And talking with some of his friends, and with his wife was a good experience. Due to various family issues, Pretty Maggie and I were the only ones from the Teehan clan who were in a position to attend, but I'm very glad we did.

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As for the rest of the weekend, it's been restful in some respects. Gearing up and prepping for the coming week of work which looks like it shouldn't be as bad as last week. I've not gotten much work done--on purpose. I needed a break, although I might do a little later tonight--mostly prep for the work coming this week. I received a few rejection slips, so I need to turn those around to new markets. I still have a cover design to finish. I have a new medical journal to put out, and I have to prep the Nebula issue of the SFWA Bulletin. It'll be a busy week, but not as busy as other weeks have been, and I'm hoping to get some solid writing in this week as well.

I picked up a bunch of movies to check out this week, too. Thank You For Smoking (which is kind of a gear-up for my own quitting smoking targeted sometime next month), Howl's Moving Castle which I should have seen by now. Same with Chinatown, and for just some popcorn fun, I picked up the remake of War of the Worlds. I've seen that once before and was impressed. It wasn't nearly as awful as I was afraid it would be. Despite some of Tom Cruise's nutty behavior, I forget that he has become a very talented actor.

Friday I surprised Pretty Maggie with a copy of the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. In all honesty, I enjoyed it as well. I didn't expect to. I'm not a huge fan of Hollywood mining my childhood for subpar movie releases, but they did a very good job with the Alvin movie--even if it did echo the 80s cartoons more than the 60s ones. And I'm always glad to see Jason Lee on the screen.

As a Special Treat for myself, I found and purchased a copy of the now-classic Talking Heads concert video Stop Making Sense. Who knew back then that Jonathan Demme would go on to direct such movies as Silence of the Lambs or Philadelphia? After watching this great concert movie again after not seeing it since its original theatrical release in 1984, I'm please to announce that it holds up well both musically and performance-wise. The DVD has some additional songs, plus commentary from the band members.

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Reading-wise, I'm still slogging through David Eggers book. Actually, "slogging" is an unfair word to use as it is a very good book. But I needed a change of pace and picked up an old paperback--an early David Weber novelentitled Insurrection. It's good space opera, but I sometimes get frustrated with Weber's use of the word "Liberal." It's obvious to me in having read many of his books that we do not agree very much politically. I can't deny, however, that he writes very good science fiction novels.

I also picked up yet another book on screenwriting, and the latest issue of Creative Screenwriting.

So I spent money, goofed off, saw dead people, did chores, and now I'm off to make some dinner (tonight's menu: bayback ribs, biscuits, & beans)

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I'm a fan of hobo culture. A good site for exploring modern hobo culture can be found here, at Fran's Hobo Page. You can find hobo art, news, links, information on gatherings, and a little bit of lore.

Cheers!

--John