Scooter Chronicles

We had a very good time yesterday, though it was a long and tiring day, and most of it spent standing in line (or sitting on the concrete).

We got there early to be near the front of the line, making sure we at least got in, and not being sure how they do the seating. But we got there so early, no one was there. We ended up grabbing lunch at a pub-like place a few blocks north of the studio, then went for a long walk to Times Square.

When we got back to the studio, a couple was waiting in line, and so the “fun” began. They don’t have issues with you stepping out of line to get foor or find a restroom, so long as someone in your party stays in line, so Marcia and I both took turns stepping out. But eventually...

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Marcia and I will be in New York most of the day. We will be attending the “Colbert Report” tonight. We need to get there early as tickets are free, and though we are on the list for the show, it’s still no guarantee. We also hope to spend a little time walking around and will be grabbing a late lunch / early dinner before taking our place in line.

“And the band Rush is here. Either that, or a drum factory exploded in my studio.”

In a couple of weeks, Marcia and I will be going to New York to be a part of the live studio audience for the Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Tickets are free (and though we are on the list, they are not guaranteed). We both like the show, Marcia more then myself. And he has had some great guests. But on Wednesday night, one of the ultimate guests for me made an appearance. The band Rush.

...

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This past weekend, Marcia and I watched “Vantage Point” starring Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Eduardo Noriega, Ayelet Zurer, and Sigourney Weaver.

The following is the description found at Amazon.Com, though obviously written by the studio itself:

During an historic counter-terrorism summit in Spain the President of the United States is struck down by an assassin’s bullet. Eight strangers have a perfect view of the kill but what did they really see? As the minutes leading up to the fatal shot are...

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On Friday, Marcia and I finished watching “Grace is Gone” starring John Cusak, Gracie Bednarczyk, and Shélan O’Keefe.

Here is Amazon.Com’s description:

Unlike previous Iraq War films, the poignant directorial debut from writer James C. Strouse (Lonesome Jim) uses the conflict as starting point rather than subject. Early in the proceedings, Stanley (John Cusack) finds out his wife has been killed in the line of duty. The bespectacled disciplinarian decides not to tell his daughters right away. In his younger days, Stanley tried to serve his country, but poor...

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Marcia and I watched “Raging Bull” this past weekend, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Cathy Moriarty.

The movie is a bio-pic of the self-destructive former Middleweight Champion Jake LaMotta. Pesci plays his brother Joey and Moriarty plays his wife Vicki.

We wanted to see this for a few reasons. Lately we have been trying to watch a lot of Pacino’s and De Niro’s movies. And most recently, “Raging Bull” was listed on AFI’s site as the third greatest movie of all time. The problem for us was the second of the two reasons kept sticking in our heads. And hype can...

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On Sunday afternoon, thanks to my Mother-In-Law babysitting Nigel, Marcia and I snuck out to see the movie version of “Get Smart” starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Dwayne (”The Rock”) Johnson, and Terence Stamp.

The plot is pretty basic. Control is trying to stop KAOS from, well, creating chaos. This time it’s nuclear bombs distributed to different countries by Siegfried (Stamp). Maxwell Smart (Carell) is Control’s top analyst, and though he has recently passed the test to become an agent, doesn’t get the promotion because the Chief (Arkin) doesn’t want to...

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On Saturday Marcia and I watched “Scarecrow” starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. (Yes, our “Pacino-Fest” is nearing it’s end … still need to watch “Serpico”.)

The movie was done in 1973, between Pacino’s appearances in the first two part of “The Godfather”. It follows Max (Hackman) and Frances, aka Lion (Pacino) as two drifters thumbing their way from the western US to Pittsburgh and Detroit. Max has money in Pittsburgh to start a car wash after serving six years in jail, and Lion is heading to Detroit to see the child he has never met after spending...

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The only reason this has really caught my attention is because we have been watching a lot of episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine narrated by him the past couple of weeks. (He is better then Ringo Starr or Alec Baldwin … though Baldwin isn’t really bad, just not as good.) Marcia got a couple of collection for Nigel this weekend and made a point of getting at least one that was done by Carlin. Strange how things like that happen.

Over a month ago we had been watching another train video with Nigel and there was a folk song at the end of one of them that had been growing on me. I looked the song up only to find out that the songwriter had died the week before.

I can’t say I was a huge fan of Carlin, but always...

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On Father’s Day Marcia and I watched “Dark City” starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Keifer Sutherland, William Hurt, and Richard O’Brien.

Thanks to Chris Makrozahopoulos and IMDB for the plot description:

John’s life has become a nightmare. He (Sewell) is hunted by the police (Hurt) for a series of murders he knows nothing about, a woman (Connelly) who claims to be his wife is after him, and so is a mysterious “doctor” (Sutherland). But his worst trouble is the Strangers, a series of vastly powerful beings who seem to manipulate just about everything in the...

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