The Pageantry Of Me

I'm back

2006-08-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken so long to post again. I have been back to work for the past month and things have been hectic to say the least. Summer quartere at the UW ends a week from Friday and I am in charge of the Annual Chemistry Department Picnic, a taco bar for 400+ hungry students, faculty, and staff. I am also in charge of the mailroom, which means come September I need to relabel 300 mailboxes for incoming Grad Students and Post Docs.

For those that care, Doyle is on a Taco Safari in Los Angeles this week and I will post pictures of his trip when he gets back. I'll also post pictures of his recent trip to NYC with Ethan and Maria.

Success

2006-06-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I just wanted to write you all to let you know that my kidney transplant seems to be a success. I got out of the hospital four days ago after just six days in the hospital. Except for doctor’s appointments every other day for the next three weeks, I’ll pretty much be staying home and off public transportation. I should be back to work on July 5th and after a few months. After awhile I will begin taking less medication than the 15 different drugs I’m taking now (which is good because they cost me $450 a month). Every indication is that life will be back to normal before the end of the year (though I also found out that I need glasses).

I will be checking email everyday and also I still have my phone if you want to call (206) 390-3972.

I am hoping to be able to travel before this time next year.

Peace,
Larry

TRANSPLANT

2006-05-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

I am on my way to the hospital for a probable kidney transplant. I should be out of the hospital in a couple weeks. I'll check in when I can hook up the computer.

Fun with Photoshop

2006-05-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching myself Photoshop and had a little fun at work today. Here is the original cover.

Eye Candy 2

2006-04-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

I came across these sites dedicated to the book covers of Jack Kerouac's On the Road and the books of William S. Burroughs. The cover above is from the 2004 German paperback of On the Road. The 2000 Chinese copy looks like it's the story of a 1990's boy band.

More sites:

Official Jack Kerouac website
William S. Burroughs website
Pulp Fiction Postcards
Tawdry town: Vintage Paperback covers
Datajunkie great blog of Sci-Fi paperback covers

Today in history...

2006-04-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Red Baron was shot down and killed in 1918 (I still don't get why he became a belated shill for frozen pizza). In 1947 Iggy Pop (not his real name) and 12 years later (1959) Robert Smith of the Cure was born. And in 1962 the Seattle World's Fair began.

More links
Seattle World's Fair postcards
Seattle World's Fair facts
Unofficial Iggy Pop website and another and

Happy Holidays

2006-04-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

My great friend Stefanie reminds me that it's April 20th (that's not her above by the way) maning it is National Marijuana Appreciation Day or Cannabis Day. While looking up a suitable picture I came acrossed a bare-assed Jennifer Aniston. Being a true fan of the TV show Friends I clicked the link and discovered the Famous Friends of Cannabis website. It's been a long while since I've shook hands with Mr. Weed (a couple months at least) but smoke it if you got it!

This just makes me laugh

2006-04-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

I can't remeber where I found this picture, but it reminds me to, when I'm in a bad mood, turn on Animal Planet and watch The Planet's Funniest Animals (with the volume off!).

Alright, alright, alright.

2006-04-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

On June 13 The Criterion Collection is going to release a belated anniversary edition of the second greatest movie of all time, Dazed & Confused. The bowlful of extras include a feature length audio commentary by director Richard Linklater, a 50-minute documentary on the making of the film, footage from the tenth anniversary party, on set interviews and behind the scenes footage, deleted scenes, and auditions. I guess it’s too much to hope for the fabled four-hour first cut, but being a two disc set I would hope there will be a lot of deleted scenes. I also hope the auditions will include well known faces that didn't get cast (Matt Damon) or were cut out of the movie (Renee Zellweger, who can be briefly seen in the back of a pick up truck at the keg party). Dazed & Confused shares a lot in common with American Graffiti (the greatest movie of all time), in that it has little in the way of plot, rather it follows a group of friends over the course of a day just being themselves. Also, like Graffiti, when viewed years later, it is amazing to see how many of the actors went on to be big stars, most noticeably Ben Affleck, who is almost unrecognizable playing the asshole we all hated in high school. Other famous faces include Matthew McConaughey (Sahara), Jason London (Out Cold), Wiley Wiggins (Waking Life), Adam Goldberg (The Hebrew Hammer), Anthony Rapp (A Beautiful Mind), Nicky Katt (Sin City), Rorey Cochran (CSI), Parker Posey (Party Girl), Joey Lauren Adams (Chasing Amy), Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element), Michelle Burke (Coneheads), and Cole Hauser (ER) and , Marissa Ribisi, (sister of Giovanni Ribisi and wife to Beck Hansen). Trivia: Goldberg, Katt, and the Ribisis (and Steve Zahn who starred with Giovani in Richard Linklater's other great film, SubUrbia) all appeared on the TV show Friends.

Finally, here is a link to Wiley Wiggins' very own blog.

The JLA vs. Solomon Grundy

2006-04-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Larson, took from me the above issue of Justice League of America because I was reading it during a spelling test (I had already finished). She told me she would give it back to me at the end of the school year, but come June she could not recall the incident and it wasn't in the box full of confiscated yo-yo's, squirt guns, and wrist rockets. I was really bummed because I never found out if Solomon Grundy was indeed mightier than Superman. Thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database you can see thousand upon thousands of comic book covers with hundreds being added every day.

Junior's Farm

2006-04-17T12:39:00.001-07:00

Let me briefly plug one of the hottest sites on the net, YouTube. I have spent hours and hours on this depository of everything from movie trailers, home movies, and most of all, rock videos. There are literally thousands of cool videos and live performances on YouTube, of varying sound and picture quality, going back for as long as there has been sound with pictures, and it was near impossible to pick just one, but I found a live perfomance by Paul McCartney & Wings "Junior's Farm" live in 1974. Junior's Farm has replaced Brandy (by Looking Glass) as my favorite karaoke song.

Eye Candy

2006-04-14T14:49:00.001-07:00

There are lots of "Eye Candy" sites on the web and I will share some of my favorites. I pretty much dig anything cool looking or what might make a good desktop background or MixDisc cover. The picture above is just one of the many groovy pictures from the The Bruce Timm Gallery.

There are many pages dedicated to the art of Bruce Timm (here's another one). Bruce got his start in animation since the early 1980's, but his career really took off when he joined Warner Brothers in 1989, begining with Tiny Toon Adventures, then graduating to the animated Batman, Superman, and Justice League cartoons featured on the Cartoon Network and WB Kidz. His creation of Harley Quinn (with writer Paul Dini) and reimagining of the classic villianess Poison Ivy for the Batman: The Animated Series have become icons of the current generation as much as my generation felt about Betty and Veronica.

About the title

2006-04-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

A title like "Pageantry of Me" conjurs up images of someone completely in love with themselves, someone who can't get enough of their innervoice telling them how great they are and how they are always right. Far from it. I am a fuck up. Always have been, always will be. Time after time I spend more money than I make, hurt myself in unbelievable ways, and find myself on my back (figuratively and literally) looking up at a friend who's shaking his or her head in disbelief. This is when I get up, brush myself off and shrug "It's just the pageantry of me."