The Muppet Show

Today is an amazing day as all five seasons of The Muppet Show (1977 - 1981) are available on Disney+ for the first time! Seasons 1, 2, & 3 were released on home video but seasons 4 & 5 have not been, although a few episodes of those seasons were released via the Time Life Home Video series.  I never bought the individual seasons as I was as I was waiting for the complete series to come out.  

From the original opening sequence

I have never seen every episode of the Muppet Show before, I can't say for sure how many I have seen, but I am going to watch them in order.   I loved this show as a kid watching it on Saturday and Sunday mornings in reruns and syndication.  I've been a Muppet fan my whole life.  When I was 12 I went to Disney World and attended the Muppet Show Muppet Vision 3D, it was amazing!

Currently I'm watching the first episode with my youngest and Wesley LOVES it!  I mean the kid clearly has good taste.  

The first guest Rita Moreno

A few things about the first episode that stood out to me, the opening theme sequence was different, it wasn't the established one that I grew up on.  A random Muppet that was dancing with Animal in a ballroom skit had the voice that would eventually be synonymous with Miss Piggy.  Miss Piggy looks different and had a different voice at the beginning of the episode in two skits but had her normal voice by the end, she's not a star but a supporting character.  Janice's voice is also different.  Skooter wasn't in the episode either, he appears in episode 2.  

Until Next Time! 

My Left Leg

Yesterday, February 10, I had surgery on my left leg to remove multiple varicose veins from my left leg.  The same procedure I had in January on my right leg.  The good part is that I know what to expect this time for any complications.  What's odd to me is how different the process went this time than last time.

The check in process was the same, and the prep in my room was also the same.  When speaking to the anesthesiologist I told him about my vomiting when I woke up on the way to and in recovery.  He gave me Dramamine before and changed up my drug cocktail.  I was very pleased with that as when I woke up I had no nausea and recovered quickly from it leaving two hours earlier than last time.

When the brought me into the operating room last time I transferred over to the table they began to strap me down and then I was out and the next thing I knew I was throwing up into the hands of some poor nurse.  This time I got brought in, transferred, strapped down, then they put a circulation book on my right leg and started shaving my left.  Nothing was negative it was just longer before I was put under.  

Finally the way my left leg was wrapped and bandaged was completely different than my right.  I'm not complaining about anything just musing at the differences to essentially the same procedure.  In recovery I was looking at my toes and with out my glasses asked why was all over them, the nurse said blood and noted something about blood going everywhere.  Not sure if she was joking or I was still in a misunderstanding haze.

On the plus side, as this leg heals I'll be better prepared on how to handle it.  

January Movies

My January movie watching was a decent mix of old and new with some great classics in there.   

Midnight Cowboy - I've heard a lot about this movie over the years and it's on many lists for being a fantastic film.  Not to mention it won and Oscar back in the day, the only Rated X movie to win one.  The rating was later changed to R.  

Honest Thief - Liam Neeson being Liam Neeson in a very simply, formulaic story.  I enjoyed it, but nothing special

The Beast - Italian flick that is a poor rip off of Taken.  

The Bourne Identity - I love these flicks and it was not my intention to watch all of them, but I did.  I've watched all of the Jason Bourne movies multiple times.   

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Legacy - This is only the second time I've watched this movie but it's really good!

Jason Bourne

Spree - I watched this flick on Hulu, it was a lot different than I thought it would be.  I did enjoy it thoroughly though.  

The Dead Don't Die - This movie stars Bill Murray, Adam Driver, & Cloe Sevigny and for all purposes it should be fantastic.  It wasn't.  There are some good parts but over all it's just not good at all.

Outside the Wire - A netflix original starring Anthony Mackie about a machine that turns against it's creators.  Again some great moments but not a great movie. 

Death of Me - I watched this on Netflix because it was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who has directed a lot of movies that I am a fan of.  Saw II, III, & IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Mother's Day, The Dark Carnival, The Barrens, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Spiral.  They can't all be winners.

Scanners - A David Cronenberg "classic" about telepathic and telekinetic people.  This movie is often talked about for the special effects especially the scene where the guys head explodes, and it is great, and the storyline is very good, the acting is terrible.  

The Empty Man - The first hour of this movie was amazing.  I really enjoyed it and really got into it.  It had a similar theme to Candyman or Bloody Mary where you do something that summons a supernatural being, but then it got convoluted and really started going downhill.  It was like a whole new crew took over and filmed the second half without seeing the first half.  

The Little Things - New flick on HBOMax with Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto.  It was a good flick and it's worth a watch but it's a one time watch for me. 

North by Northwest - 1959 Alfred Hitchcock classic that the wife and I enjoyed together.  We really like it! 

An American Werewolf in London - This was my first time watching this flick and I could have gone without watching it.  It's a John Landis flick and I love him, just not this movie.  What you hear about is the amazing transformation scene, and it really is fantastic, but that's the highlight.  I wasn't expecting the comedic elements and I think it took away from what could have been a great movie.

Until Next Time!

X-Files Season 10 Episode 3

I first posted this on my old blog, I've decided to post it here today because this episode first air five years ago on February 1, 2016

WARNING, HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!

X-Files Season 10 Episode 3 "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster"

I loved this Episode!  It ranks as one of my all time favorites for various reasons.  At the beginning of the episode Mulder reveals how everything he worked so hard to prove in the past can be so easily debunked with little to no effort leaving him jaded that he wasted his life on a fruitless pursuit, and by the end of the episode he finally sees a real honest to goodness, albeit friendly, monster.  This rejuvenates Mulder into seeking the truth.

Mulder meets the horned lizard humanoid Guy Mann

Yes this episode is more on the comedy side of things, but that is the tradition of such episodes as "Humbug" and "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".  Incidentally both of these episodes as well as this episode were all written by Darin Morgan.


There are several great moments in this episode, the two stoners at the beginning are played by Tyler Labine and Nicole Parker-Smith who played the same characters in two other episodes in the early seasons of the X-files.

Tyler Labine now and then

The Were-Monster in his human form wears an outfit playing homage to Darren McGavin's Carl Kolchak from the series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".  Incidentally this was the series that was Chris Carter's inspiration for the X-Files.

Left: Guy Mann with Mulder - Right: Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak

In the cemetery there are two headstones that are prominently displayed with the names Kim Manners and Jack Hardy.  Both of these men worked on the original run of the series with Manners directing 52 episodes and Hardy the Assistant Director on "X-Files: I Want to Believe."

The story is a crazed animal control officer that bites his victims throats killing them.  He bites our monster, Guy Mann, in his throat and it turns him from his normal form, a humanoid version of a horned lizard, into a man.  To go along with becoming a human he is also overcome with thoughts and emotions making him human question our futile lives.


Sincerely this is simply a fantastic episode from beginning to end.  I absolutely love it and would really like to see Guy Mann comeback somehow.


Until Next Time!

Cabin Fever

I'm getting the cabin fever real hard the last couple weeks.  I love Maine, just not in the winter because I'm not a winter sports guy.  I love looking at the snow, but I don't ski, snowshoe, or snowmobile, as a kid I played pond hockey and went ice fishing.  Maybe as an adult I need to get back into ice fishing.

I'm very much looking forward to when we can be back outside, playing basketball, sitting in the sun, having a fire, going on hikes, swimming, fishing!  I'm very motivated to get outside this year to go on some fun hikes for both exercise and adventure.  

I think my restlessness the last couple weeks is because my leg has had to be elevated with a compression wrap so that really limits what I can do.  Add that with the pandemic and Covid making it so there are no movies, concerts, or wrestling to go to it really makes for a long winter.  Sure I can sit on my couch and watch hours and hours of content, but I'm getting tired of doing that.   I know several people that will be shocked to read that. 

Honestly it's even sucking my motivation away from doing things that I am typically quite passionate about.  I'd say I need a mental break, but I don't even know if that will fix me!  I've had this wonderful opportunity presented to me and I am jumping all over it, but even that feels overwhelming and if going to distract me from other projects I'm working on, that I'm lacking motivation over.

This post has gotten rambling and lacking structure.  I should wrap it up.

Until next time! 

More on my Leg

I ended up going to see the Doctor on Thursday because my leg seemed to be getting worse and it was painful and after my infection after my vasectomy I don't take chances.  Turns out I have Superficial Thrombophlebitis in my right leg as a result of the vein removal.  What's that you ask, great question! 

Healthline says: 

"Superficial thrombophlebitis is an inflammatory condition of the veins due to a blood clot just below the surface of the skin. It usually occurs in the legs, but it can occasionally occur in the arms and neck. Anyone can develop superficial thrombophlebitis, but females are affected more than males."

You can read their whole entry at this link: What Is Superficial Thrombophelbitis

I don't have this in my whole leg but my upper leg where the vein was the largest and most rope like taking up a lot of space.  I can't take an over the counter non-steroid based anti-inflammatory because of my gastric sleeve surgery I had in February 2020.  I called my bariatric surgeon's office on Thursday and left a message with the nurse but they didn't call me back.  Otherwise I'm going to wear a compression wrap while I'm awake and apply heat backs.  The swelling has lessened and it's not as painful as it was.  

I have a follow up on February 1st and then hopefully we'll schedule the vein removal on my left leg right after that.

Until Next Time!

Right Leg Surgery

On Thursday January 7th I had surgery on my right leg to remove varicose veins that I have had for years.  My doctor, and the vascular surgeon, agreed that my varicose veins were caused by my weight and now that I've lost close to 100 pounds it's time to do something about them.  

I had my initial appointment back at the beginning of December where the vascular surgeon was impressed with how good the varicose veins in both my legs were.  As he stated, good as in bad, they were real bad.  The right leg was worse that my left, however, they both caused me pain and discomfort and they itch.  Also on my right leg it goes right over my right knee making it very difficult for me to kneel down on my right knee.

On Christmas Eve I had an ultrasound on both of my legs and the ultrasound tech was also very impressed with just how bad my veins were.  Apparently people come in with varicose veins that are just cosmetic in nature and they feel it's a waste of resources for people that actual have an issue.

I got to the hospital just after 6 am and was by home by 1 pm.  The doctor made on large incision at the top of my leg to tie off the vein and then made 15 smaller incisions down my leg to remove the offending veins.  The smaller incisions are larger than I thought they would be and I'll be interested in what scarring I have.   I came home with a compression wrap from my foot to my upper thigh, I was able to remove it after 24 hours and even with the swelling and bruising my leg looks much better. 

I'm be going  back to work tomorrow, Monday, and it's going to be a long but doable day.  I probably could have work from home part of the day Friday but decided to just elevate my leg and relax.  I'll have surgery on my left leg probably early February.

The only downside is I can't work out for a week or so after surgery until my leg is healed and I was in such a pattern of working out that I don't want to fall off that wagon.

Until Next Time!