Cold Crisp Morning

I stepped outside to take trash out and start my van before work, it was just after 6am and it was a crisp 10 degrees.  It's the coldest morning we've had since last winter and I loved it.  There is just something about those cold crisp mornings, where there is no wind and the air just feels so clean.

There is nothing like take few deeps breaths on morning like these.  I'm sure it's all in my head, but it just feels like it cleans out the lungs and it's refreshing.  

The moon looked awesome with a double ring around it, my picture doesn't capture it like I would like it too.  

It was a very serene few minutes before heading to work.  

Until Next Time!

It's snowing

It's snowing outside, we aren't supposed to get much and it's going to be in the 50's and rain this weekend, but it still does put me in that Christmas spirit!

I love Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol' it's such a great story and I have watched many different versions of it over the years.  As a child Mickey's Christmas Carol was my favorite, the 1938 version starring Reginald Owens is a masterpiece!  The Muppets had a bad ass version, and the Bill Murray take on the story in Scrooged is wonderful. 

There have been so many different takes on the story, but the most recent 2019 BBC Version starring Guy Pearce is terrific.  I've watched it the last two years and had the itch to start it last night.  It's broken down to three episodes on FX with a commercial free runtime of 173 minutes.  It has it faults but I like this take on the story.   

I think tonight is good night to break out the Christmas specials we have on DVD & Blu Ray and fire them up!  Until 8pm when AEW Dynamite comes on. 

Until Next Time!

8-Bit Christmas

I watched the HBO Max flick 8-Bit Christmas this past weekend.  Based on the trailer it looked like an updated version of A Christmas Story and after watched that I do get the inspirational vibes that it got from the timeless classic.

In A Christmas Story Ralphie pines for a Red Ryder 200 shot range model air field with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells times.  In 8-Bit Christmas Jake pines for a Nintendo.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie and I could, at times, relate to how desperately Jake wanted a Nintendo.  I would give this recommend and say it's worth your time for a watch, but I'm not ready to say it's a new timeless classic like A Christmas Story became.  I could see myself buying it when it comes out on home video because it has just the right amount of nostalgia for me to want to look back at it. 

In Christmas 1988, when this movie takes place, I was 9 1/2 years old and my brother and desperately wanted this home entertainment system.  Our parents agreed to pay half, but we had to work and earn the money for it.  So we worked under the table for a farmer at his enormous chicken barn picking eggs. 

This barn has rows and rows of chickens in cages, stacked on top of each other, looking back it's not that sanitary.  I would push my cart down the row and collect the eggs in flats of 36, I believe we got 18 cents a flat.  The downside was that some chickens would peck your hands as your took the eggs, and that hurt like crazy. 

When we would get paid our mother made us put have of it in the back, then half of what was left, a quarter, we go towards the Nintendo and the remainder we got as spending money.  It felt like it took years, in reality it was months, to save up the money for the Nintendo but we did.

Today I'm not a huge at home gamer.  I love old arcade games and I'm a pinball fanatic, but at home my favorite games to play are the classic Nintendo and Super Nintendo games.

I just found out that this movie is based on a book that came out in 2013, I think I'll have to read that.

Until Next Time!

It's the Christmas Season

I love me some Christmas, always have, it was my favorite holiday.  I just love the time of the year, the family get togethers, the food, the holiday spirit.  A then along the way someone made it very hard for me to enjoy Christmas, it just became more frustrating than fun.

My wife's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, as she says the only expectation is a good meal and she's got that down.  My wife has really made Thanksgiving so appealing and exciting, and she really is a marvelous cook. 

Last year on Black Friday, Wesley asked if we could go and get a Christmas tree, the look on his faceand the excitement in his eyes reminded me of how great Christmas was for me.  So we headed to the tree lot and picked out a nice one.  Christmas 2020 was one of the best that I have had in years.  Christmas 2021 feels like it's going to top last year easily.  

Before Thanksgiving Wesley asked if we were going to get the tree the day after again, and I said that we would.  Even my wife said that Wesley's excitement was rubbing off on her.  I mean who doesn't find a 6 years old innocent wonder and excitement contagious.  

The weather Black Friday forecasted rain with a mix of snow all day and I didn't want to bring a wet tree in the house, as the lot was open on Thanksgiving day I decided to get it that morning.  So at 8am when it opened Wesley and I were there to fetch the tree.  We had to be back by 9am to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, he was very excited to watch that.

We got the tree in the stand but didn't decorate it until Friday.  I worked in the morning, then when I got home Addison and I made the popcorn strands, Kate had already put the lights on it.  Wesley and Addison then decorated it.  I must say it looks fantastic!

We watched Christmas Chronicles 2 on Netflix while we trimmed the tree, so I guess it can be said that we are definitely full ahead Christmas!

Until Next Time!

This and That

I'm enjoying my life right now, I'm just not finding the time to do some of the things that I used to have more time to do.  Since July I have just been so swamped with work, not at work and while at home.  I've managed to do plenty with my family, going to wrestling and what not.  However, for work I am behind a computer all day long and the last thing I want to do with my free time at home is sit behind a computer even more.  

Maybe if I had a comfortable set up to sit on my couch and use my laptop, I don't know.  My buddy has a new webpage and message board, Middle Aged Fat Kids that is well worth your time.  It's a fun mix of 90's based pop culture.  The Forum is cool as well because I used to use these all the time and now I just don't.  

I get it, reddit is all the rage, but I don't like sorting through it.  I like a good old fashioned forum, but that's me!  I mean when I want to play video games at home I just want to play Nintendo or the SNES Classic Edition Mario Kart.  

Until Next Time!

Monster Trucks

 I loved Monster Trucks as a kid and watched them every week, with USA-1 being my favorite truck.  I own a die cast of the truck today.  Later I became a big fan of Gravedigger watching the USHRA.  Even though Bigfoot was the first and one of the most popular Monster Trucks I was never a huge fan, probably because it was not a part of the USHRA so I didn't see the truck on a weekly basis.  

I went to my first Monster Truck show in 2000 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.  Back then when USHRA ran small indoor arenas like this they called it the Thunder Nationals tour.   The floor is basically the size of a Hockey rink so what they can do is limited, but it's still impressive.  I don't have pictures from the show that I can find and the only trucks I can remember on the show was Sting and Blue Thunder.

After that was a couple times at Wiscasset Speedway a few trucks did some stuff on the infield between races.  Then I went to a few USHRA outside at Speedway 95 in Hampden and these were the best shows that I went to.  

On the Bigfoot side of things I did see it displayed a couple times once in Florida in 2002 at the then Race Rock Cafe.  This truck featured 10 foot tires.  I saw a standard Bigfoot truck on display in 2004 at New England Battery & Tire in Vassalboro, Maine.  My last show was in April 2016 at the Colisee in Lewiston and I got to see Bigfoot in action that night. 

It's hard for me to believe that 15 years have passed since the last time I went to a rally.  It's not because I didn't want to, but life and things like work and other plans seemed to constantly interfere.  I really want to go to one of those huge out door USHRA Monster Jam shows with all the big names drivers like at Gillette Stadium.  

Trucks I've seen live not a complete list:

Sting

Blue Thunder

Gravedigger

Little Tiger

Firemouth

Adrenaline Rush

Wolverine

Bigfoot  - three different trucks

American Guardian

Adrenaline Rush

Trasher

Backdraft

Wildfire

Stone Cold Austin 3:16

Hulkster

The Rock

Raminator

Eradicator

Sudden Impact

Black Stallion

Warrior

American Outlaw

Bounty Hunter

I'm going to post more about my former monster truck adventures in the future.  Honestly though I have wrestler Perry Von Vicious to thank, his love of the sport has rekindled my fire!  

Until Next Time!  

Free Write

I have not been maintaining this blog, and that's okay.  I have been so very busy ever since I got the promotion to the Operations Managers position.  I'm busy all day at work, I'm working late a lot, then when I get home I just don't have time or the energy to sit down and type.  I know that sounds absurd, but it's the truth.  

Even now I decided to finally write something and I'm a paragraph in and I've already lost interest.  

August Movies

 

Blood Red Sky - interesting take on a vampire story

Mystic Pizza - Classic flick that launched Julia Roberts, not as good as I recall

The Suicide Squad - I enjoyed the HELL out of this!

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter - The movie where Jason dies

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives - My favorite of the franchise, the one where he is resurrected for the first time.

Beckett - Solid Netflix original with John David Washington

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken - Disney movie from the 1991 that my wife loved and we finally found on DVD. I enjoyed it, true story of a lady that dove horses off a high dive into a pool

Hamburger Hill - Gritty and dark Vietnam war flick based on actual events

Mallrats - Kevin Smith classic, his second flick

Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Greed, & Betrayal - excellent documentary!!

July Movies

Fear Street: 1994 - Part 1 of an R rated adaption of RL Stein young adult novels with all three movies airing on successive Fridays.  I friggin loved this flick!  From the story, the gore, the soundtrack!  I just loved everything about it! Go out of your way to watch this bad ass flick!

No Sudden Move - The HBOMax Steven Soderberg flick with Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro.  It's a crime thriller set in the 1950's.  I really enjoyed it, it's worth your time. 

Black Widow - I was going to take the kids to the movies, but it was cheaper to buy it on Disney Premier.  It was a decent flick but nothing spectacular.  It mostly established her sister as a character going forward.

The Tomorrow War - The Amazon Prime original with Chris Pratt traveling to the future to fight a war.  Cool concept but it became a very predictable story.

Sword Of Trust - Comedy with Marc Maron, a pawn shop owner where someone brings in a sword and documentation that allegedly prove that the South won the Civil War.

Fear Street: 1994 - Kick ass trilogy of movies inspired by the RL Stein Fear Street book series, except these are Rated R.  I really enjoyed all three movies they were so well done and if released I will definitely buy.

Fear Street: 1978 - My favorite of the three films. Set at a summer camp, great throw back to 1980's slasher flicks 

Fear Street: 1666 - A great conclusion, I hope we get more movies about the other killers we saw but didn't get all their backstories. 

Gunpowder Milkshake - Cool John Wick style action flick about a hit woman, her mom, some librarians, and the little girl they want to protect.  It's on Netflix and it's well worth your time. 

June Movies

Very short movie month for me.  I had a lot of stuff going on.

Flipped - neat love story set in the 1950's between two middle schoolers where story is told from the vantage point of both characters.  Directed by Rob Reiner

Cruella - We saw this at Pride's Corner Drive In, it was fantastic!  I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed the film.  Kate wanted to go and see it, Addison loved it!  

In The Heights - Even though this is on HBOMax Kate wanted to see this on the big screen.  I get it, there are movies that I want to see on the big screen.  We went to Regal, we both really enjoyed it.  

Voyagers - Terrible, terrible, terrible, movie.  It's Lord of the Flies in space.

Wrath of Man - Guy Ritchie action, thriller, mystery flick with Jason Statham in the title role.  He kills a lot of people, it's pretty great!  

Until Next Time!

End of June

Yo!

I really can't believe the last day of June is tomorrow.  The first half of 2021 has just rocketed right by, whereas it seems 2020 dragged endlessly.  We are still feeling the effects of the pandemic, in different ways now.  Maine will end it's State of Emergency tomorrow, June 30th, the US/Canada Border is still closed to non essential travel, and my AEW Dynamite show has been pushed back fourth time to October 27, 2021 more than 18 months after it was originally supposed to happen!

I had a busy week last week, they've all been busy with my new position at work.  I'm not complaining, mind you, because this is what I wanted I'm just still adjusting to everything.  I went to two live wrestling shows last week, Friday & Saturday and they were both excellent.  Friday was the Limitless Dojo Student Showcase and Saturday was the return of a full Limitless show.  I shed tears twice Saturday night because of the rasslins.

My buddy Brandon started a new short from podcast Break Time With Brandon which you can find on Spotify and soon other platforms.  The episodes are short, about 10 minutes each, and it's him reflecting on his thoughts.  A recent episode he talks about the time he was driving over the mountains through the night and lost cell reception so his stream stopped.  He turn on the radio and discovered Coast to Coast, and not to my surprise, he loved it.  

It got me thinking back to my early days of dispatching at the city of Augusta in 2001 - 2003.  At that time we didn't have cell phones, tablets, or any electronic devices, hell we didn't have a TV or even internet on the computers in the center, it wasn't secure.  I was assigned to the midnight shift and from midnight to 630am I was all alone in the center.  All I had was a radio and used to listen to Coast to Coast every night.

I first discovered Coast to Coast in 1996 when I was in high school and worked the overnight at the gas station in the travel plaza on the Maine Turnpike.  I listened to it occasionally over the years after that but it was while working those early dispatch years that I became a regular.

For those that don't know, Coast to Coast is a late night talk show style format with guests and listeners calling in, but the topics are paranormal and conspiracy based.  Another cool aspect about the show that I dug for another reason was the opening theme was the song "The Chase" from the soundtrack to the movie Midnight Express, which also was the theme song used by one of the greatest wrestling tag teams of all time, The Midnight Express.

I have listened to Coast to Coast occasionally since then, they have a podcast version of the show, but it's not complete episodes unless you want to pay a monthly subscription fee.  

Until Next Time!

I've Been Busy

 Holy cow what a busy month it has been for me.  I've had so much going on at work with busy days, working overtime on the floor, driving 200 miles one way to conduct interviews for an operations manager at the Houlton center.  Driving back the next day after interviews, getting home late, and then driving back up to Medway, about an hour south of Houlton, for a weekend of camping.

We had an awesome weekend with our friends The Brown's, and their daughter who is 5 months younger than Wesley.  We went to Pine Grove Campground and each rented a cottage.  We had some great pizza, lots of camp fires, and lots of relaxation.  The weather was perfect!!

I haven't had much time to watch TV, but then again there is really nothing on that I want to watch.  I was really enjoying Jupiter's Legacy, but then it was cancelled.  I know they are doing another Millarworld show on Netflix, Supervillians, it annoys me that they cancelled this especially as they had a dick move cliffhanger ending. Other than the new Loki show I'm not enjoying a whole lot right now.

Next month I'm taking my son to  New Hampshire for the Cup race, he's all about NASCAR right now and this will be his first big race.  I've gone to about a half dozen in the past myself.   My dad is going as well, so it'll be a fun day at the racetrack. 

I bought my wife and I front row center tickets to "Friends: The Musical Parody" for this November at the State Theatre in Portland.  Should be a fun time, my wife loves her some Friends. I need to find something to do with my daughter this summer. 

I've got two concerts in August and AEW in Boston in September from last year that were rescheduled for this year.  Guns n' Roses at Fenway and Kiss in Bangor!

Well I'm tired, so I'm going to go to bed, later.

Until Next Time!

May Movies

It wasn't a great month for movies for me.  Not only didn't I only watch a few, but what I did watch, for the most part, wasn't that great. 

Possessor - Brandon Cronenberg flick that is just as odd and peculiar as his fathers movies can be.  I really can't recommend this movie. 

Afflicted - Found footage style flick from 2014 that I can give a strong recommend for.  Don't read the spoilers or the Wikipedia, just go watch the flick. 

Greyhound - This is an Apple plus original film. I've wanted to watch since I heard about it but we didn't have the service, however my wife recently bought a new Macbook and got a free year of Apple plus.  Fantastic flick that is legit nonstop from beginning to end.

Tom Clancy Without Remorse - Amazon original starring Michael B. Jordan as John Clark.  It was a solid movie but nothing spectacular.  A sequel "Rainbow Six" was announced at the same time as this film. 

Desperado - Robert Rodriguez flick that I loved in my younger years, but doesn't hold up for me. 

The Marksmen - Liam Neeson flick that isn't very good.  

The Goonies - Family movie night, always solid, always awesome!!

Those Who Wish Me Dead - HBOMax release starring Angelina Jolie, I'm not much of a fan of hers, but I really liked this movie even though I wasn't expecting too. 

Rambo: Last Blood uncut - Watched this on Prime, I've seen it before, heck I own, it.  It wasn't really a Rambo movie to me as he's in Arizona and Mexico, not the Jungles we are used to seeing Rambo in.  Part 4 was better. 

Spiral - The latest movie in the Saw franchise.  I saw this in the theater, my first movie in a theater since February 2020.  Chris Rock is a comedic actor, his voice is made for it, not a serious role.  I didn't hate the movie, but I didn't love it.  

Army of the Dead - Long ass Zack Snyder Netflix original.  I actually really enjoyed it, but it's not one I care to watch again. 

Until Next Time!

Friday Night Paralysis

Another Friday night and another bout of paralysis of choice.  It's getting really old, the day goes well and then when the evening rolls around I just can't decide what I want to watch.  Tonight I was going to throw on the new Army of The Dead flick and then go to bed, but it's 2.5 hours long!  I was thinking maybe 90 minutes, but I just can't do longer than that. 

This has been happening more and more lately and I just can't seem to overcome it no matter what I try to do to prevent it from happening.

I put on the first episode of Solos, the Amazon Original series when I started this post and it's actually quite interesting.  It's also only 30 minutes long, which is a nice digestible size.  I would give this first episode a hard sell to watch. 

It was good week, I love being the Operations Manager at the dispatch center.  It's really providing me was some amazing opportunities and I excited for what the future brings.  So my mornings start at 5 am when I get up and head into work, and my day ends between 3 & 4, and most nights I have things to do.  Monday, podcast, Wednesday AEW, Thursday Baseball practice.  So Friday I look forward to staying up later and watching a movie, then paralysis of choice kicks in. 

One some nights when this happened I would turn on the WWE Network and search for one of my favorite wrestlers and watch selected matches.  Well now I can't do that because the Peacock version of the WWE Network sucks so friggin bad!  It's just terrible.

I might go to the movie theater for the first time in over a year because I want to see Spiral and none of the drive ins are showing it.  I've seen every Saw franchise movie in the theaters and I really want to see this one. 

I guess I should head off to bed for the night. 

Until Next Time!

Mid May

It's a 11pm on Saturday night and I'm watching that new flick Those Who Wish Me Dead On HBO Max and it's really good.  I'm actually very surprised because I'm not a big Angelina Jolie fan and she is the lead actress in the film.

It's been an interesting first half of a May, I officially announced my book Limitless Wrestling: The First Five Years available on Amazon and at one point it was ranked number 3 in Wrestling books and was listed as an Amazon best seller.  As of right now it ranks 261, but it was a good couple of days.  I never in my life thought I'd have a book that accomplished this.   

We have managed to go on a couple nice walks the last couple of weekends, including taking the family to New Hampshire on Mother's Day to get my wife La Festa Pizza.  

Work has been going exceptionally well.  I've learned a lot about my new job, and I've had to deal with a lot of stressful things, but it's going well.

Wesley had his first baseball game of the season today, we have only had two practices to date.  It's rookie ball so it's a step above t-ball, but it's mostly just the kids going through the motions of playing until they get to the minors when they play an actual game with outs and runs.  

I've been enjoying season 1 of Grimm in Amazon Prime.  I really liked the seasons 1 - 3, I wasn't a big fan of 4 & 5, but they finished strong with season 6.  

Until Next Time!

It's Just A Haircut But It's Not

For the last 19 years I have gotten my haircut by Julie at Dom's Barber Shop in Hallowell, Maine.  My oldest son Canaan, 15, and youngest son Wesley, 6, have only had their haircut there by Julie.  She has changed her working hours to Monday - Friday 830 am - 3 pm and my work hours being the same days and 7 am to 3 or 4 pm I simply can't go.  Not to mention the boys get out of school at 2 and 3 pm.

When I was a kid my Dad always took me to the same place for years and then as I got older I went to a few different places until I found Julie at Dom's.  She does an awesome job, she has always been great to me and the boys and I hate the fact that I have to find someone new.

So I did a google search for barber shops in the area and there are several but not many reviews or websites with information on them.  Penny's Barber Shop in Augusta with specializes in men's haircuts touts themselves as an old school Barber shop.  They have four barbers and take appointments only, I'm not sure if that's because of covid or their normal routine.

I made an appointment for today, May 4th, and it was with Penny.  The place was very nice, very clean and everyone was very friendly.  I told her what I normally get and she said no problem and got to cutting.  I think it looks real nice, my wife does as well.  After she was done she used hot lather on my neck, above my ears, in my hard part and near my hairline and cleaned everything up with a straight razor.  After she took a hot towel to my head with a quick scalp massage with the towel, I liked this because it helped clean up a lot of the little hairs that would otherwise be all over your head. 

Dom's has never done the hot lather on me, but I remember it seeing it when my Dad was getting his haircut when I was a kid.   

It cost $18 for a haircut, other services were extra, like a beard trim was $6 I believe.  They also do shaves, a beard trim with shave and more.  

I'm definitely not crossing Penney's off the list but in a few weeks I'll get my haircut at another place and keep going until I find who I'm looking for.

Until Next Time!  

April Movies

April Movies

Godzilla vs. Kong - An HBOMax and theater same day release.  I thought it was a decent flick, they definitely painted Kong as the babyface and Godzilla as the heel.  It seems like this is going to be the last of the Monsterverse flicks. 

Unhinged - I saw this movie in the Redbox for the last couple months and was tempted several times to rent it, even though I had never seen the trailer.  My buddy Brandon watched this and loved it, then it became available as part of Amazon Prime.  I watched it and holy cow what an amazing and intense film! 

Death Wish (1974) - The original Fatherly revenge flick starring Charles Bronson.  I'd never seen this before, I have no interest in watching it or any of it's sequels. 

The Orange Years - Documentary on Hulu about the rise of Nickelodeon.  Full post about it here.

Nobody - Paul and I got this on VUDU home theater release.  Really fun, really violent comedy about a guy trying to live a normal life but his past sneaks up on him to, again violent and hilarious consequences.

Downtown - Released in 1990 my brother and I taped this off of HBO and watched it numerous times. I haven't seen it in well over 20 years and got the urge recently to watch it.  I was surprised to find that although it was released on DVD in the early 2000's it was short run and copies are going for over $40.  So I bought it on VHS for $2 and really enjoyed the hell out of the movie!

The Raid: Redemption - Iko Uwais vehicle written & directed by Gareth Evans, in Indonesian it is a spectacular Martial Arts flick that is quite violent and I love it!

The Raid 2 - Also written and directed by Evans and starring Uwais, I know I've watched this when it came out but I had almost no memory of it. This is an amazing Martial Arts film, perhaps even the one of the best all time.  After watching the kitchen fight scene near the end, there is no way I watched this movie before.  I don't know why I thought I had.     

Captain America: Winter Soldier - my daughter wanted to watch this, so we did, it's still an amazing movie, one of the best in the MCU

Mortal Kombat - didn't live up to the hype to me.  Yes there are some gory kills and catch phrases from the movie.  But the story was basic and the action scenes were just okay.  

Until Next Time! 

The Orange Years and Nick at Nite

I recently stumbled across a documentary on HULU called The Orange Years about the rise and early years of Nickelodeon.  The documentary starts at the beginning with QUBE which was an early type of cable television that originated in 1977 in Columbus, Ohio.  One of QUBE's shows was Pinwheel which was hugely popular.  In 1979 Nickelodeon was launched and the first show that aired was Pinwheel.  What I didn't know what that until 1984 the network aired commercial free.

The documentary introduces us to Geraldine Laybourne, who became the program manager of Nickelodeon in 1980 and over the next 15 years she and her team built the channel to what it would become.  

I first saw Nickelodeon as a kid at my step-grandmothers house as she had satellite dish.  I fondly remember the old silver ball and multicolored logo.

I loved learning about my favorite shows and the interviews with some of the cast members seeing what they look like today.  My first favorite show on Nick was You Can't Do That On Television.  I loved the skits, Opposites, Firing Squad, the Locker bits, of course watching people getting slimed.  Watching this documentary made me want to dig into more about this show and I discovered a documentary came out in 2004 called You Can't Do That On Film, I'll be looking for that.

Other shows they talked about that I remember fondly include, Hey Dude, Double Dare, Nick Arcade, Salute Your Shorts, Legends of the Hidden Temple and more.  It was really fascinating learning about the back stories of the creations of these shows.

They also talked about Nick Toons with Doug, Ren & Stimpy, and Rugrats.  Then about SNICK: Saturday Night Nickelodeon, which launch in 1992 when I was 13 and that first line up of Clarissa Explains It All, Roundhouse, and Are You Afraid of the Dark? really his home with me at that time.  I also loved the additions of The Adventures of Pete & Pete and All That. 

After that, though, I was getting too old for Nickelodeon and this is when parts of the documentary, although interesting, didn't give me the same feeling the early parts of it did. 

There was a couple shows that they didn't mention at all that really surprised me.  The first being Wild and Crazy Kids.  It was on from 1990 - 1992 with 75 episodes and I loved this show.  They aired reruns of it all the time during this initial run and after.  Kids divided in teams playing stunt games against each other.  It was great!

Fifteen was a teen drama that came out in 1991 and ran for four seasons totaling 65 episodes.  I remember watching and thinking it was a more serious take on Saved By The Bell.  I wasn't aware of Degrassi until much later in life.

Another was What Would You Do? hosted by Marc Summers it was an audience participation show getting them to do various stunts or competitions with each other.  They also threw a lot of pies in people's faces and had contraptions Pie Pod, Pie Slide, Pie Roulette, and more to assist in guests getting pied.

They didn't touch on Nick at Nite at all.  When Nick launched in 1979 it was not a 24 hour network for kids.  As a matter of fact it had programming on from 8am to 11pm on Weekdays and 8am to midnight on weekends. The other hours on the day featured from Star Channel which later became The Movie Channel.

In 1981 it changed to 13 hours of daily kids programming from 8am to 9pm seven days a week with the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS) airing programming on the other 11 hours.  ARTS later merged with The Entertainment Channel becoming what we now know today as A&E.  In January 1985 A&E ended it's partnership with Nick and launched it's own 24 hour cable channel. 

From January until July 1, 1985 Nick aired text commercials advertising their daytime line up.  I really can't believe this valuable airtime essentially went unused for six months.  Some cable markets did fill this block of time with channels that they didn't space on their system to have a full channel of.

Nickelodeon turned to Laybourne to help make Nick it's own 24 hour channel and with the help of others they launched Nick at Nite on July 1, 1985 which aired from 8pm to 6am.  The original line up featured Dennis The Menace, The Donna Reed Show, Lassie, National Geographic Explorer, My Three Sons, Route 66, Turkey Television,  and the Nick At Nite Movie airing at 9pm nightly.

Some of my favorite shows that I remember watching on Nick At Nite include, Adventures of Superman, Patty Duke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Adventures of Dobie Gillis, and Mr. Ed.

What's hilarious to me is that Nickelodeon has been on for so long that some of their own original programming in recent years have aired on the Nick at Nite rotation like Are You Afraid of the Dark?.

I haven't had cable since 20102 and I haven't watched Nickelodeon or Nick at Nite with any regularity since then.  However this documentary and writing about Nick at Nite really makes me want to go back and watch some of this programming.

Until Next Time!

EVIL DEAD: The Most Terrifying Film You Will Ever Experience

I originally posted this on another blog and I am re-posting it here on this day as this movie was first released on April 5, 2013

I ended up going to the movies today to see the new Evil Dead remake.  It's a movie I've been wanting to see since I heard about the remake and saw the first trailer.  That's right, for those of you that know me I actually watched the entire trailer.  

There have been a lot of horror remakes in the last few years, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm St, Friday the 13th, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just to name a few.  The common theme in all of these remakes is that the characters stay the same.  People judge them harshly because they don't want them messing with their favorite killer, like Rob Zombie did with his version of Halloween 2...really Zombie!! 

When I first heard of the remake of Evil Dead I felt the same, they better not mess up my beloved Ash.  Even with Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, & Bruce Campbell on board as producers I was hesitant.  Then I read that Ashley J. Williams would not be in the movie, in fact none of the original characters would be.  

 

This excited me because even if the movie was terrible, Ash would not be tarnished.  I'm not going to give anything away, I hate spoilers myself.  To clarify I don't usually watch trailers of movies that I know I want to see because I will remember something in trailer we haven't seen in the flick and it ruins it for me.  If I'm watching a trailer and I decide that I want to see the flick, then I shut the trailer off. 

This movie was anything but terrible!!  It was downright awesome!  Most likely I'm going to go and see it again!  There are a few elements from the original Evil Dead & Evil Dead 2 that are in this,  as you can see from the photo of Jane Levy below.  The biggest common factor being their are 2 males and 3 females for the cast, but that's all I'm going to say. 

Go watch the movie!  Seriously you will not regret it!  It's scary, it's vile, it's awesome!  Make sure you stay for the end of the credits, do not make that mistake and leave before, you will regret it when you hear about it later!

Evil Dead is top notch and the word of a sequel is already being rumored and I look forward to it.  Unless it goes the way of Zombie's Halloween 2...seriously what the hell were you thinking!

Trailers are linked below!

Later

Mike

 Above is the new, below are the trailers for the Original and Evil Dead 2 & Army of Darkness

March Movies

 

Magnum Force - The sequel to Dirty Harry and second film in the five film Dirty Harry series

Coming 2 America - Amazon Prime original.  I loved the 1988 original Coming To America and watched it many many times.  This film was both awesome and terrible at the same time.  One viewing was enough for me. 

UP - The Disney Pixar flick that has the saddest opening of any animated movie I've ever seen.  Wesley wanted a family movie night and my wife had never seen this before.  It's such a good movie. 

48 HRS. - I've been wanting to watch both of these movies for quite a while as it's been a long time since I've seen them.  I remember the gist but not everything.  They haven't been available on any streaming service that I subscribe too, however, after watching Coming 2 America the other day it was on Amazon Prime.  It's not as funny as I recall, it's more serious and action orientated, but I enjoyed it!

Another 48 HRS. - This movie was the one that I remember the most from the series and had all the humor.  

The Muppet Movie - Wesley asked if we could watch a movie and this was his choice.  He chose quite well. 

Dirty O'Neil - This is a flick from the 1974 about a local police officer, Jimmy O'Neil, in a small California towns that is low on crime but apparently high on sex, that is all the girls in town want to have sex Jimmy.

Moxie - Netflix Original Movie about a High School Junior who is tired of the the girls in her school are treated and starts a feminist group and secret zine.  I watched this movie with my almost 12 year old daughter and spent a lot of the time telling her that what the boys are doing is unacceptable and that if anything like that happens to her or someone she knows to tell someone at the school, and if they don't take her seriously, tell me. 

The Block Island Sound - I watched this on Netflix, it's a dark flick with supernatural elements.  It's worth a watch. 

Yes Day - Netflix movie about parents who say agree to say Yes to everything their kids want to do for 24 hours.

Game of Death - The last Bruce Lee flick, I had watched his others last month.  This wasn't streaming on any of my services for free, but my cousin Paul had the Bruce Lee Criterion Collection so I borrowed it from him.  

Iron Fists & Kung Fu Flips - Documentary on Netflix about the evolution of Kung Fu movies featuring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jim Kelly, and Others.  Really really good

The Last Blockbuster - An awesome documentary about the Last Blockbuster video store in Bend, Oregon. Growing up we didn't have a Blockbuster in my area, we have Home Vision Video and Sounds Easy Video Store, both which became Movie Gallery, a Hollywood Video and independent stores.  I even worked at a Movie Gallery and got a lot of nostalgic memories watching this film.  

Justice League  - from 2017 a solid flick

Justice League: The Snyder Cut - the Four hour version from original director Zack Snyder.  I wrote a whole blog about it so check it out here.

Promising Young Woman - A vigilante flick about a woman that goes out to bars to find men that take advantage of drunk woman and teach them a lesson.  It doesn't not end in a way that I would have ever predicted.

News of the World - Solid western flick with Tom Hanks in 1870's Texas where he gets tasked with bringing a young girl home to her family after she had been kidnapped and lived with a Native American tribe for several years.

Until Next Time!

Justice League Snyder Cut

I'd like to start off by saying that this is chockablock full if SPOILERS if you haven't seen the four hour Snyder Cut of Justice Legue.

On March 18, 2021 the long awaited Snyder Cut of Justice League was released on HBO Max and I sat down and watched all four hours of it.  The back ground of this is that in 2017 Zack Snyder was directing Justice League and in March of that year during post production his daughter's suicide caused him to withdraw from the film and Warner Bros hired Joss Whedon to complete the movie.  

Whedon went on the film additional scenes and although the general story stayed the same he did eliminated some characters and backstory releasing the flick.  You can go to the internet and read all about the fan outcry that they wanted Snyder's version of the film.  I absolutely hated Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice.  I liked some moments in it, I like the actors and the characters they play, except Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.  I hate the execution of the story and many elements of the film.

I went to the theaters in 2017, twice, to see Justice League because I really enjoyed it that much.  Because of how terrible, in my opinion, Batman vs. Superman is I had no interest in watching anything that Zack Snyder had to do with changing this movie.  At the same time, though, I felt I had to watch it because I couldn't judge it if I hadn't watched it. 

Thursday after my family went to bed, I popped a bowl of corn and sat down for what I thought was going to be a terrible movie night.  I was wrong.  I really enjoyed the film.  There were parts of the movie that I thought were really pretentious and dumb, there were parts of the movie that I thought dragged unnecessarily long.  The whole post apocalyptic epilogue dream segment seemed really out of place.  I later read that Snyder filmed that scene in October 2020 because he knew that his DC Universe was basically dead and not moving forward and he really wanted a scene where Affleck's Batman and Leto's Joker interact.

When talking to my friends vaguely about it Friday morning my statement was that I like both versions of the film, I thought they both had their faults but I didn't like one more than the other.  Then on Friday I watched the 2017 Justice League and changed my mind.  I like the Snyder Cut better, fucking hurts a little to say that.  

I'm not going to break down all the differences, there are plenty of websites all over the internet that are going to do that, what I am going to tell you is what made me change my mind.  Snyder does a deep dive into the backgrounds and mythos of the characters and the introduction of them.  When watching the 2017 with some of these scenes it made them seem like the were cut too short.  For instance the scene when Wonder Woman stops the domestic terrorist at the bank in the 2017 version it's 3 minutes long, in the Snyder Cut it's nearly seven and a half minutes.  After watching the Snyder version the 2017 scene just feels like it's extremely chopped up and incomplete.  This is the pattern several times through out the movie.

The main villain in both films is Steppenwolf, however he looks completely different in both movies, and in 2017 he's the big bad guy while in the 2021 flick he's doing to dirty work for his master Darkseid.  The scenes where he acquired the motherboxes is more impressive and the protectors put up a bigger fight in the Snyder Cut.

Superman is a bad ass in both plain and simple, as he should be. 

The argument could be made that if Whedon made a 4 hour cut of the film instead of two hours, that he would have dove deeper into the backstories and the mythos like Snyder did.  Also we have no way of knowing if had Snyder finished the film in 2017 if he would have made a this version of the film.  He had the hindsight to see what the critics and fans liked and disliked about the movie.  

When it comes to which film is the official cannon of the DC Cinematic Universe James Wan (director of Aquaman) and Patty Jenkins (director of Wonder Woman) say that it's Snyder's Version as they directed their films based on his planned cut of the film.    

However, from what I have read the Snyder's direction with Batman, Superman, and Justice League is over.  

Until Next Time!

Some Random Thoughts

It's been quite a week this week, it went by fast and slow at the same time.  I worked from home on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday.  I was in the office Wednesday and worked evening shift in dispatch.

Friday morning I had an ultrasound on my live, my latest lab worked showed an elevated bilirubin level and my bariatric surgeon wanted me to have the procedure.  I'm hoping for a call this week to tell me what, if anything, they discovered and see what the next step is.

My buddy Brandon recently wrote on his blog about how he likes the new Popeye's Chicken sandwich and how it compares to other fast food chicken sandwiches.  Well after hearing the hype for 18 months I finally was able to have a Popeye's Chicken sandwich and I have to say I thought it was just meh.  In fact there was such a hype to it, that it was straight up disappointing.

I got a lot of work done this week on my Limitless Wrestling book, and I have 9 episodes recorded of my new segment, Maine's Wrestling History, which airs on the Limitless Wrestling IWTV show The Road Season 3.  The response to the segments have been amazing, people seem to be really enjoying it and I'm very flattered.  

The wife's Bakery she started up last week is also booming with her selling out her weekly orders.  We are taking it slow and steady to not get ahead of ourselves and so she doesn't get overwhelmed.  So far it's very exciting and I'm curious where it's going to go.

On Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite on TNT I got to see one of my all time favorites Tully Blanchard step back in the ring in a six man tag with FTR against Jurassic Express.  It was so frigging good!  The match was great, Tully looked awesome, it was such an awesome dedication to him and all he has done for wrestling.  I can't imagine he'll ever wrestle again and honestly I don't think he should.  This was the way to go out.

I finished watching Lovecraft County on HBOMax and I loved the series so much I bought the book.  I plan on reading it sooner than later, but I have so many other side projects that I want / need to finish first that I probably won't crack it open until next month.  I have so much reading I want to catch up on after I finish this Limitless book.

Until Next Time!

February Movies

 

Wheel of Fortune - comedy about a mechanic who must win a bunch of races according to his birth fathers complex will

Below Zero - Spanish revenge flick I watched on Netflix about about a man going after a prisoner on a transport truck, I enjoyed the movie, it has a good story. 

The Sitter - Jonah Hill flick about his adventures in babysitting some kids for the night when his "girlfriend' calls asking him to bring her drugs.

Twister - The 1996 Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton storm chasers flick.  The wife and I watched this in the hotel room on our getaway night.  

The Hard Way - Michael J. Fox and James Woods flick from 1991 about a tough New York City cop (woods) being shadowed by a big Hollywood actor (Fox) for an upcoming role.

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song - from 1971 the Melvin Van Peebles flick that is credited with launching the Blaxploitation genre.  

New Jack City - A 1991 flick directed by Mario Van Peebles about the crack cocaine epidemic in New York City in the late 1980's. I remember watching this on HBO all the time when it first came out and I haven't watched it in at least 25 years but I recalled so many parts from it as I watched it. 

All My Friends Are Dead - Netflix original that is a Polish movie that reminds me of an american style raunchy teen dark comedy.  I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun!

Malcolm & Marie - Watched on Netflix - Written and Directed by Sam Levinson it was filmed in black and white starring Zendaya and John David Washington, I thought it was a great movie but it is EXTREMELY heavy on dialogue as these are the only two characters in the film.  I really like Washington's voice and listening to him talk. 

Don't Let Go - On HBO max its very cool supernatural murder mystery thriller.  Almost a modern day version of Frequency.

Enter The Dragon - Arguably Bruce Lee's biggest movie and the last movie he completed before he died.

Way of The Dragon - Return of the Dragon - US Title, written, directed, and starring Bruce Lee who fights Chuck Norris in the big finale fight of this film.  Visiting his family in Rome he must stopped evil gangsters that are harassing them.

The Big Boss - Fists of Fury - US Title Bruce Lee's first big starring role in Hong Kong, visiting his family in Thailand he works with them at an ice house which is a front for a drug running business.

Fist of Fury - The Chinese Connection - US Title Classic story of a student getting revenge for the death of his master.  The title song lyrics are amazing! 

Below The Belt - Filmed in 1974 and released in 1980 it is about a young women attempting to break into the world of women's wrestling.

Judas and The Black Messiah - Biopic of Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and the FBI informant that lead to his death.  This was an HBOMax in theater and at home same day release.

 Malcolm X - Spike Lee's epic biopic

The Last Dragon - The 1985 cult classic about martial arts master "Bruce" Leroy Green and his battles with the Shogun of Harlem Sho Nuff.  

Baadasss - Mario Van Peebles biopic about the making of his fathers flick Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song.  This film really makes me appreciate Sweet Sweetback and what the flick meant at the time it came out.

In Search of Darkness II - the follow up documentary about 80's horror movies.  It's 4.5 hours long, and even though it's not as good as the first one, it's still an outstanding production. 

Sonic The Hedgehog - great flick!

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino flick that I haven't seen since watching it in the theaters.  I really enjoyed it. 

Freaky - Great flick, a spin on the Freaky Friday story where a serial killer swaps bodies with a teenage high school girl.  

Tom & Jerry - Part live action part classic animation this was a Warner Brothers released in Theaters and on HBOMax same day flick.  My younger kids loved it, I don't ever need to watch it again. 

Until Next Time!

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!

December Movies

 Like October I'm going to include all Holiday specials watched in this list as well.

You should read the Wikipedia page on A Christmas Carol so you can read how the original story went compared to the various adaptations of the film. 

A Christmas Carol (2019) - runtime 168 mins A co-production of the BBC and FX and starring Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge this is a much darker and expanded version of the story.  In this version Ebenezer is depicted as having OCD counting everything.  With the ghost of Christmas Past we get more backstory of Scrooge being molested as a child, more into the history of Scrooge and Marley and their early business.  He also shows Scrooge what his life could have been with Elizabeth, children he could have had.  The Cratchits only have two children Belinda and Tiny Tim of course.  The Ghost of Christmas present is his sister who died, she takes him to the Cratchit house she also takes him to a church service for the families of those lost in a mine that collapsed that Scrooge & Marley owned.  The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come take Scrooge to that year the day after Christmas with the accidental death of Tiny Tim, he also show Scrooge his own death.  Scrooge gets his Christmas day redemption.  

I've watched this version last year and this year and I felt now as I felt then that it is top heavy with a great deal of story told in the beginning and the ending rushed.  I would have liked to see the end of this story expanded as well.  

All The Creatures Were Stirring - Shudder Exclusive anthology horror flick.  I really enjoyed it! 

Better Watch Out - Shudder Exclusive, starts out your typical babysitter movie where someone is harassing her but takes a VERY unexpected twist!

Ernest Saves Christmas - I saw this in the theaters back in the day, you know what I mean?

The Grinch - I enjoy this animated feature, it was much, much better than the Jim Carrey flick. 

Rocky II, III, V & VI - It was a great Saturday!  I had watched Rocky last weekend with Kate and wanted to watch more of the series.  I decided to skip part IV because it's the one I've seen and remember the best.  

Ava

Run

Happiest Seasons

The Holiday

Four Christmases

Office Christmas Party

I'm Your Woman

The Thing (2011)

White Christmas

Scrooged

Birds of Prey

Jujitsu  - So terrible, so very very terrible

Home Alone 2

Midnight Sky

A Christmas Story

It's A Wonderful Life

Miracle on 34th St

Soul

Wonder Woman 1984

You Cannot Kill David Arquette

The Wrestler: QT Marshall Story

Ospreay

Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro

Christmas Specials Watched

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman
Minions Holiday Special
Prep & Landing
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas
Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas
Charlie Brown's Christmas
Garfield's Christmas Special
Lego Star Wars Holiday Special
Portland Ballet Victorian Nutcracker
Jack Frost
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Mickey's Christmas Carol

Until Next Time!