Paul Howley and his wife Mal went to the local cinema today to see the new Disney-Pixar 3D movie “UP.”
Normally, the local theater charges only $6 for a movie before 6pm. The teen-aged clerk says: $18.
Me: Why is it $18 and not $12?
Clerk: We have to charge more because this movie is in 3D.
Me: Are you kidding?
Clerk: No…we HAVE to charge more.
Me: Does it cost the theater more for this movie?
Clerk: I don’t think so.
Me: So why are you charging more?
Clerk: It’s an enhanced movie experience.
Me: It better be.
Anyway, the movie was AMAZING! The kids will enjoy it but the adults will REALLY love it. It’s a story about living life now…not putting stuff off for some potentially non-existing future time. It’s a beautifully rendered film with incredible 3D effects. Paul gives this 5 stars! I can’t tell you much about this because I don’t want to ruin any of the surprises for you! Go see this!
Here in Massachusetts, gay marriage is such a non-issue. The schizophrenic ruling by the California Supreme Court is bizarre. Just give gay people the right to marry and be done with it.
This very funny comedy sketch, with Dean Martin looking surprisingly Abe Lincoln-ish, has Petula Clark counseling an unintentionally married pair. Pet always seemed to loosen up when she was with Deano, and her appearances on his show are a lot of fun to watch. From the apparent ages of the stars, the racy dialog, and a fairly obvious reference to John Dean’s Watergate testimony, I’d say this is from 1973, and not 1965, as claimed.
I’ve said before that I like Turner Classic Movies. Tonight when I noticed that “Stand and Deliver” is on TCM I whipped out the Acer netbook and checked Netflix Watch Instantly and found the movie there. In seconds it was playing on the Roku, and I caught up to the scene on TCM. Cable TV and DVD seem so antiquated.
A few weeks ago, Mark Evanier said, “There is forged original artwork out there. Fake. Bogus. Fraud. Not actually by the person they say it’s by.” Amen. I now direct your attention to a press release for a charity auction at this link.
Autograph Store is proud to have provided these celebrity signed memorabilia items for the Make a Wish Foundation fundraisers:
1. Bruce Springsteen autographed guitar
2. Eric Clapton autographed guitar
3. Rolling Stones autographed record album
4. U2 autographed record album
5. Miley Cyrus autographed 16×20 photo
6. Jack Nicholson autographed 16X20 photo
7. Joe Torre & Rudy Giuliani autographed 16×20 photo
8. Julia Roberts & Richard Gere autographed 16X20 photo
9. Harry Potter Cast autographed 11X14 photo
10. The Jonas Brothers autographed 11X14 photo
11. Lance Armstrong autographed 11X14 photo
12. Charles Schulz Lucy sketch
13. Sylvester Stallone Boxing Glove
14. Muhammad Ali LeRoy Neiman Print
15. Barack Obama & Joe Biden autographed 8X10 photo
One of the items is a sketch of Lucy Van Pelt, supposedly drawn and signed by Charles M. Schulz. There are other Peanuts sketches available for charities to select for auction. Let’s take a look…
Charles Schulz – Snoopy – Signed & Framed Original Sketch
Charles Schulz – Snoopy as the “Red Baron” – Signed & Framed Original Sketch
Charles Schulz – Lucy – Signed & Framed Original Sketch
I don’t doubt these sketches are framed, but were any of then actually drawn by Charles M. Schulz? I doubt it. I can’t tell you if a Rembrandt preliminary drawing is authentic, but a brief glance is all I need to assume these weren’t done by Sparky Schulz. They’re most likely tracings. The flatness of the line, with its lack of variation in width, is one indication.
A week ago I featured Jean Vander Pyl, the woman who gave voice to Wilma Flintstone, so I’ll toss in this auction sketch, allegedly signed by Bill Hanna. It appears to me to have been drawn by the same hand that produced the Peanuts sketches.
Bill Hanna – Wilma Flintstone – Signed & Framed Original Sketch
I’m willing to give the sellers of items such as these the benefit of the doubt, that they procured them in good faith believing them to be genuine. They should, however, not be so quick to label sketches as genuine when it’s a relatively easy matter to check their authenticity.
Only five months ago I replaced the bulbs in the microwave oven that light the stovetop. And now one of them has already burned out again. Rather than wait for the other one to go out I replaced them both.
Yesterday we were about to leave to go out to dinner, when an intense hail storm hit. They were the size and shape of Mentos candy. In this video you can hear them hitting the skylights on the porch which, fortunately, weren’t damaged.
Later, at Legal Seafood in Framingham, MA, Eric’s salad was delivered with hair in it. That’s a first for us at any Legal Seafood restaurant, and it took way too long for a replacement salad to be delivered. It should have been complimentary, but it wasn’t. Boo, Legal Seafood!
Eric and his cousin Kate are somewhere here in the Hynes Convention Center, where we’re attending Anime Boston. The Hynes has a very good free WiFi network, as I just found out.
Unlike last year’s Anime Boston, I have only good things to say about the registration process, because it was 3 hours and 59 minutes shorter! Yesterday, as pre-registered attendees, it took all of one minute for us to get our badges. Dealer space has been doubled, making navigation much easier, and there are lots of well-trained volunteers. Bravo, Anime Boston organizers! Thank you.
I’ve been hanging out in the video rooms, partly to check out the various projectors. One of the Animes being featured is Kino’s Journey, which Eric had us watching a couple of years ago. Here’s a shot of the room taken with the Acer netbook’s webcam.
