Huey Lewis And The News Share The Power Of Love At Club Nokia. Photo by JB Brookman © HW Design Inc.

If you closed your eyes, it could have been 1985…

After 30 million albums sold worldwide, 19 Top Ten Billboard singles and a legacy of  entertaining music videos that helped establish MTV in the 80’s, Huey Lewis And The News  can still bring it.  Lewis and his long-standing band took an adoring crowd at Club Nokia on a  nostalgic trip through the 80’s, sharing the power of love and their music.

There is just something about Huey Lewis that makes you joyful.  It’s his voice, his smile, his  classic harmonica sound and just the unbridled fun that he brings to a live show.  There is a  comraderie between his band members that is contageous.  The songs…  well, it is difficult to  quantify the power of a song that can take you back to that certain memory from your youth.   The memory of love, won or lost, or that certain someone.  Songs like, “Heart and Soul,” and  “If This Is It,” took Lewis’ fans to that place on Thursday night.  You could see couples  laughing, flirting and gazing into each other’s eyes as the music swept them away.
 
Highlights of the concert were the opening, “The Heart of Rock & Roll” and two songs from  1985’s Back To The Future, “The Power of Love,” and “Back in Time.” The excited crowd  ranged in age from 20’s to their 60’s and were looking around for Marty McFly or Doc.   Something that this band does at every show and definitely showed their vocal mastery was a  two song acapella section of the night.  Included was a stripped down do-wop version of “It’s  Allright.”

“I Want a New Drug” is one of the great catchy hits of our generation and always makes you sing the words to the controversial Ghostbuster’s single- “Who you gonna’ call, Ghostbusters!”. An extended version of  “Workin’ for a Livin’” closed the set.  It was part of a 3-song encore that the fans demanded as they wouldn’t let Lewis leave.  Ah, yes, the heart of Huey Lewis And The News is still beating.

If you are looking for a great place to catch a show in Los Angeles, and want great music at an  amazing venue, it has to be Club Nokia.  The state of the art sound and atmosphere definitely  adds to the experience.  The size of the venue is ideal as you get the intimacy of a club mixed  with a good sized venue, complete with VIP services.  Even Lewis commented on the  difference between the band’s early days in Los Angeles, playing the Sunset Strip and the  Whiskey A Go-Go and LA Live’s new venue.  LA nightlife definitely has a new scene at LA  Live, including Katsuya, Flemings and the ESPN Zone.
 
Huey Lewis And The News will be appearing tonight (Friday November 13th) on The Jimmy  Kimmel Live Show on ABC.  There will also be an outdoor mini concert following the taping.
 
They will appear on The Bonnie Hunt show on Thursday, November 19.

CAPLETON FEAT. METHOD MAN – WINGS OF THE MORNING (DZ REMIX) (zShare)

Imagine you’re Marty McFly and it’s 1955 out and you’re trying to make your dork pops do it with your hot mom so your hands will stop disappearing and you can live and shit. You’re dodging Biff at every turn and in general shit’s just poppin off. Your dad has no clue how to score chicks and refuses to face his ‘density’. So you rummage through the trunk of your Delorean in a desperate attempt to find anything that will facilitate the task at hand….hmmm…..a radiation suit, he’s never seen one of those….hmmm….my Walkman (or iPod since this is a modernization of this myth) he’s never seen one of those before.  So without having a custom Van Halen ultra-riff to blast his ears to oblivion with, the next runner up would have to be this song. This song is the ‘09 equivalent. This is ‘09 future music. The typa music to scare your old-timey dad into bangin’ your old-timey mom so you can be whole again. At least wait’ll we’re done. HYIIIIOOOOO!!!

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THIS!!!!

NEXT SATURDAY DAGGERIN’!!!!

BE THERE!!!

AMAZING MUSIC!!!

GIRLS!!!

WALMER!!!

F.A. Hayek, along with other thinkers and building on the works of other philosophers, put forth the idea of spontaneous order.

Spontaneous order, in a short description: order coming out of seeming chaos that is the result of action and not planning. One example I was once told of is that of a campus. Whereas the location of the buildings and pathways is the result of human planning, those pseudo-paths that form on the grass from people individually walking the path of least distance is the result of human action. Another example is language. Spanglish never had a chance because, as much as a bunch of people wanted to design a language, language is the spontaneous generation of people acting over time. A more familiar, closer example is that of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand.

An example of a path spawned from human action and not human design.

Spontaneous order is used by some to argue that freer markets are a better way of allocating resources than any central planner could ever dream of. When governments try to disrupt the spontaneous order of society, they risk making things worse. Pouring salt on the wounds, governments try meticulously to solve the problems of disrupting spontaneous order by, you guessed it, disrupting the spontaneous order even more.

I came across a great example the other day of an entity trying to realign spontaneous order after disrupting it. It was in the movie Back to the Future. In it, Marty McFly goes back in time and accidentally makes his mother fall in love with him. This screws up the properties of time and Marty slowly becomes “unborn”. He needs to undo this and get his parents back together. Think of the “Butterfly Effect” here.

Like governments, Marty got in the way of how things were “supposed to happen”. Although most people don’t agree with how things are “supposed” to happen, Hayek would say that the best spontaneous order is the one that happens based on voluntary exchange of individuals in a system with legal equality. Unlike governments, Marty was able to correct the spontaneous order (only to be followed by a myriad of challenges, laughs, and excellent actions scenes in the second and third parts of the trilogy).

Governments, it seems, tend to do the opposite. Austrian economists would argue that all of the world’s ills (ok, maybe not all of them) come from the government disrupting spontaneous order through manipulation of the money supply. But I’ll give a more relevant example: minimum wage. Assume, for just a second, that my thoughts on minimum wage are correct: it creates a surplus of workers instead of its intended consequence of just raising the wage of workers. To combat this unemployment, the government raises welfare benefits which, as any cross-country comparison shows, creates a higher level of the natural rate of unemployment.

Maybe there were too many assumptions necessary for that example to be convincing. But I think you can probably think of an instance where government’s “cure” is worse than the disease – the disease it happened to have created. Plus, I figured it was about time for a more lighthearted post.

Today is not just Constitution Day in Azerbaijan.  It will not merely be remembered as the day that Voyager I flew by Saturn.  Hopefully it will not only be remembered as the day Charles Manson was born!  It’s a monumental day for so many reasons.  Follow me down this brief November 12th timeline:

0607: Boniface III ends his reign as Catholic Pope (Thank God!)

1859: Jules Leotard performs 1st Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris) He also designed garment that bears his name

1897: Karl Marx was born

1927: Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

1936: Oakland Bay Bridge opens

1954: Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892

1955: Date Martin Seamus McFly returned to in “Back to the Future” and “Back to the Future II”

1983: A beautiful, wide-eyed baby boy (destined for greatness) was born to Tina L. Gonzales and Kyle B. Owens

1997: Ramzi Yousef was found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

2004: Resignation of Colin Powell as Secretary of State

2006: Gerald R. Ford surpassed Ronald Reagan as the longest-lived U.S. president at 93 years and 121 days (And then promptly died the following month.)

2008: Same-sex marriages began in Connecticut, a month after the state Supreme Court ruled that gays had the right to wed.

Happy Birthday: Maximilian von Weichs (1881), Karl Marx (1897), Charles Manson (1934), Al Michaels (1944), Sammy Sosa (1968), Tonya Harding (1970), Anne Hathaway (1982), Omarion (1984)

Hoje tenho que falar sobre os filmes mais nostálgicos e que me marcaram. Tenho, porque estava vendo um site muito interessante do pintor drew struzan e o cara é genial. Pintou posteres como os de Os aventureiros do bairro proibido e De volta para o futuro(dois dos meus preferidos/nostálgicos). Mas o cara pinta tudo o que me faz ficar com saudades dos meus tempos de sessão da tarde e não dava pra não comentar sobre isso hoje.

Posso dizer que prefiro assistir à qualquer um dos filmes da sessão da tarde de minha época do que qualquer obra-prima como Godfather que só vi mais crescido. Mas isso deve ser quase unânime, todas as pessoas devem amar mais ver filmes que marcaram sua infância/adolescência do que filmes sério e que por melhor que sejam não despertem nenhum sentimento emocional forte em quem vê.

Daí o primeiro filme que vem a minha cabeça é um meio peculiar e desconexo e que por mais estranho que pareça eu amo de mais vê-lo. Esqueceram de mim provavelmente é o filme mais nostálgico que existe pra mim. Não sei porque, mas quando falam dele e as imagens começa a se formar em minha cabeça bate uma coisa inexplicável que me faz pensar, relembrar momentos incríveis da época em que eu o assistia, e por mais bizarro que pareça, me dá vontade de chorar. Sim, provavelmente por ser uma época tão boa aquela onde eu apenas via filmes na sessão da tarde e tava me fudendo em ver defeitos ou coisas que não fazem sentido. Talvez por ser a real época onde eu realmente fazia o que o cinema sempre propôs desde o inicio: me divertia. Sem reclamar de nada, apenas assistia ao filme e me divertia.

O pior de tudo é nunca saber qual que prefiro, se é o primeiro ou o segundo. Os dois são lindos, realmente, mas cada um tem suas qualidades. Tudo isso que sinto é culpa de Chris Columbus, sim esse safado só faz filmes que me fazem ir ao mundo da nostalgia e saudade. Só de ter feito esqueceram de mim ele não precisava de colocar mais nostalgia em minha vida, mas não, ele vai lá e me dirige o primeiro Harry Potter. Essa é uma parte mais bizarra de minha vida, onde nenhum amigo procura entender o porquê que eu sempre afirmo que o primeiro filme do bruxo é meu preferido dentre os feitos até hoje. Antes não era, até porque o que eu mais tinha assistido era O prisioneiro de Azkaban, mas após uns anos, fui rever A pedra filosofal e não deu outra: O clima nostálgico (pelo menos um pouquinho) de Esqueceram de mim voltou e me fez sentir coisas diferentes com o filme e que me fizeram perceber que era o que mais unia elementos inocentes e despretensiosos da série, formando assim um “filme lembrança” pra mim.

Daí, Chris Columbus seria meu “diretor Nostálgico” favorito não fosse Tim Burton. Tá certo que Chris tem filmes de mais nesse quesito(mais até que Burton) mas a potência nostálgica de Columbus fecha apenas em Esqueceram de mim e Harry Potter, pra mim. Tá certo que ele tem no curriculo umas coisas que as outras pessoas preferem taxar de nostálgicas do que os dois filme que eu citei ai. Ele por exemplo escreve o roteiro d’Os Goonies, que fez bem mais fãs nostalgicos do que Harry Potter e Esqueceram de mim juntos(pelo menso eu acho), mas o filme em si, não despertou nada em mim.

Falando agora de Tim Burton, só preciso citar seus filmes ne? Acho que explicar o porque ou o nível de nostalgia é perda de tempo. Pra começar, o filme que mais vi na sessão da tarde em toda minha vida foi Edward Mãos de tesoura. E junto com o filme de Columbos é o que mais me desperta o sentimento discutido. Depois ele me vem com Sleepy Hollow e chuta tudo no meu mundo infatil com um filme (que na época) me amedrontou e nunca me fez ter pesadelos. É estranho, pois eu não consegui dormir uma vez por ver um filme tosco ai que tem “casa” e “assombrada” no título, nem me lembro mais, e com o filme do cavaleiro sem cabeça de Burton eu consegui dormir, e o melhor: intrigado como que vi. Nunca saiu da minha memória a primeira vez que vi o filme, além de estar a noite, vi com meu pai e meu irmão (duas pessoas que nunca foram de evr filmes, mesmo nessa época). Talvez o que mais tenha marcado tenha sido o momento unido com as cenas fantásticas e únicas que Burton criou transformando o filme em um terror que pode ate ser chamado de infantil pelo simples fato de não fazer crianças (pelo menos eu) chorarem com suas cenas, e sim ficarem impressionadas com o que vêem. Burton também fez um dos poucos filmes que considero nostálgicos dessa nova época “não-sessão da tarde”. Peixe Grande é o filme que mais me faz chorar e talvez o que tenha o final mais lindo dos que já vi. E tudo isso é dirigido de uma forma tão foda por Burton que continua om seus climões nostálgicos que havia em Edawrd e Sleepý Hollow. Tem também Vincent, que foi o último filme dele que vi e também um dos melhores. Tem é claro a nostalgia caracteristica do cara. Talvez seja meu diretor nostálgico preferido.

Seguindo a lógica do nível nostálgico de cada diretor, acho que o meu outro favorito que entra junto com esses dois ai, é sem dúvidas, Robert Zemeckis. E nem é pelas suas qualidades de diretor ou pela maioria de seus filmes, mas apenas por três filmes: a trilogia De volta para o futuro
é a série de filmes mais nostálgica do mundo, a meu ver. Cada filme da série me faz ir a um mundo único e nostálgico. O primeiro poderia ser o mais foda, não fosse o segundo embalado pelo terceiro. Quer saber, não prefiro nenhum e sim todos! Não consigo explicar ao certo o que eles contêm, mas sei que quando passava na sessão da tarde eu marcava a hora e não perdia nem os comerciais enjoados da globo. Marty McFly, além de ser ícone de uma nação inteira de jovens (inclusive a nossa) nunca para de ganhar mais fãs. Nosso eterno Doc é outro, imortalizados nesse filme, o nível de nostalgia desse é quase superior aos citados antes, mas cada um tem suas qualidades, e as desses são magistrais.

O mais engraçado, é que os meus filmes mais nostálgicos são também os que mais vi na sessão da tarde. Que odeio até a ultima gota atualmente. Tem um curioso, que só de ouvir o nome meu coração aperta. Abracadabra é interessante pelo fato de eu não conseguir nem saber o nome do diretor. Mas como estamos na internet meu amigo, sei que Kenny Ortega fez um filme que se pode chamar realmente de mágico, é até irônico. Talvez o que desperta a nostalgia em mim nem sejam as bruxas , mas sim aquele lindo( e até meio bobo) final, onde o gato preto consegue se libertar e seguir adiante com sua irmã em uma cena que me aperta o coração como eu já disse. É tosquera, eu sei, mas não dá, nostálgico mesmo. As bruxas ajudam eternas em minha mente com seus feitos que só saem errados e proporcionam diversão livre e sem compromisso só fazem deste um dos meus mais vistos na sessão da tarde e também, dos que mais tenho carinho.

Vou ter que falar de dois filmes do safadenho do Spilberg. Tubarão e Jurassic Park eram os filmes que mais me entretiam quando eu enchia o saco da minha mãe. Se estivesse passando eles na telinha era só eu passar em frente há um TV que esquecia minha mãe,e tudo de errado que eu tava fazendo. Ambos conseguem me prender da primeira cena até o fim, mesmo hoje em dia. Toda vez que passa na TV Jurassic Park, que é o melhor do Spilberg pra mim, eu sento e assisto pelo menos uma cena. Já sei todas de cor, mas não consigo deixar de ver. Tubarão tem o mesmo efeito, mas sumiu, passava tantas e tantas vezes na sessão da tarde e hoje foi-se com todos os citados até agora. O importante é que ouvir a trilha tema de Jurassic Parke me dá sim um aperto estranho e meio triste com alegre e sempre me faz ficar animado por ter visto o filme. Há é, não posso deixar de citar que a cena final de Tubarão mais as cenas dos Raptors e do T-Rex em Jurassic Park formam as cenas mais nostálgicas da carreira de Spilba e as minhas preferidas.

Existem muitos filmes em questão, temos Curtindo a Vida Adoidado, Os aventureiros do Bairro proibido,Gremlins,alguns dos Muppets, e por ai vai. Sempre que passavam na TV, eu via, e via, e não cansava, não enjoava, não reclamava, não procurava defeitos, me divertia, sorria, ficava alegre, preocupado com os personagens, triste pelas tragédias, e por ai vai.

E a nostalgia do cinema é isso, é agente resgatar tudo o que mais importa na sétima arte e esquecer o que nos torna chatos hoje. O nostálgico em questão, é perceber que quando vemos esses filmes nós voltamos há um tempo onde o que importava era a diversão e não a critica obsessiva. O que importava eram os personagens mais carismáticos e os vilões mais caricatos e exagerados. O que importava eram os finais felizes. O que importava era a família do lado. O que importava era a salvação de quem estava em perigo. O que importava era a trama comum. O que importava eram as frases simples, porém engraçadas para todos entenderem. O que importava, era se divertir e curtir o filme, era simplesmente fazer o que o cinema sempre quis: Vê-lo!

…pero de hace 54 años el Doctor Emmett Lathrop Brown, mejor conocido como Doc, se golpeo la cabeza con el lavabo de su casa cuando trataba de colgar un reloj de pared en su baño. Después de regresar del estado de inconsciencia, la maravillosa idea surgió en su mente, el condensador de flujos.

El condensador de flujos es aquello que permite a la maquina del tiempo, un DeLorean DMC-12, desplazarse en el tiempo. Pero como se necesita una cantidad de 1.21 “gigowatts” de electricidad, el vehículo contiene un pequeño reactor nuclear, alimentado con barras de plutonio, el cual provee tal energia.

Aunque la posibilidad del viaje en el tiempo fue inventada hace 54 años, no fue hasta el 26 de octubre de 1985, que el primer viaje en el tiempo tuvo lugar. Desde la 1:21 A.M. a la 1:22 A.M. exactamente un minuto. Siendo el primer viajante Einstein, el perro del Dr. Emmett Brown. El segundo viaje se dio ese día hacia el 5 de noviembre de 1955. Esta vez Marty Mcfly gran amigo del Doctor Emmett Brown fue quien se desplazo en el tiempo.

El 9 de Mayo de 2014 eran ya las últimas semanas de trabajo en Querétaro, después del secuestro que había sufrido el presidente de la compañía mi situación era incierta.

El rumbo de la empresa estaba a cargo de su esposa quien no daba una con las negociaciones del gobierno del estado, así como los posibles inversionistas Pakistaníes que deseaban instalar la planta de automóviles en la ciudad de Silao, donde se encontraba la vieja planta abandonada de General Motors.

Había pasado ya casi dos semanas desde el último ataque del ERB (Ejercito Revolucionario del Bajío) al palacio de gobierno en la Plaza de los Perros. Después de comer en la fonda de Doña Rosita era mi costumbre bajar a las tienditas cercanas a comprar un dulce como postre o bien un cigarro suelto para degustar la comida.

Las vallas de seguridad habían sido quitadas y el paso libre de peatones estaba de nuevo, aunque el ejército mantenía las trincheras en puntos estratégicos del centro histórico.

Me encontraba revisando los encabezados de los diarios en el puesto de revista, mientras disfrutaba de un cigarro Raleigh, cuando sentí en mi hombro derecho que alguien se acercaba de más al grado de sentir la incomodidad de un roce en mi espalda.

Voltee y ¡No lo podía creer! era el Hermano Gaeta. Lo sorpresa de verlo se aunaba a que lo veía muy joven, extremadamente joven de cuando lo conocí en León veinte años atrás. Rápidamente realizaba mis cuentas mentales y si mis cálculos no fallan tendría que estar cercano a los 90 años, pero su aspecto era de alguien de 50 años.

Me tenia con la boca abierta, mientra el tenia una sonrisa de oreja a oreja; y para colmo me volvía a mirar con esa sonrisa de burla por la sorpresa y desconcierto que pasaba por mi cabeza.

Otra cosa de la cual no podía creerlo era que iba vestido con un traje de corte italiano, su figura delgada pero de músculos marcados hacia que el traje asentara bien en su físico, como dijera mi amiga Verónica: “Se ve de una sola pieza”.

Si mal no recuerdo, el hermano Gaeta siempre vestía pantalón de mezclilla, camisa de algodón y sandalias, pero en esta ocasión su vestimenta consistía de un traje Armani color gris rata a dos botones, camisa blanca a rayas, corbata azul marino con pequeñas figuras blancas y bostoniano FlorSheim; y lo que no olvido era su fragancia a 212 de Carolina Herrera un clásico ya.

Mientras me mantenía boquiabierto el me miro de abajo a arriba y me dijo, -no has cambiado mucho excepto por la barriga que te cargas y las marcas que quedaron en tu cara después de la protección de armadillo-.

Asentí con la cabeza y esbocé una sonrisa; no se si fuera por como se expreso de mi o por salir de mi pequeño shock de sorpresa.

Le pregunte: ¿Que hace aquí hermano? ¿Donde se había metido todos estos años? ¿Como es que ha rejuvenecido? ¿Como sabía que me encontraría aquí en Querétaro o fue mera coincidencia? y ¿Donde había comprado ese traje que le sentaba muy bien? (Lo último fue vanidad, ya que siempre ha sido mi ilusión vestir a diario como él).

-Calma, calma; tengo respuesta para eso y cosas nuevas que debes saber- dijo él. -Vamos a sentarnos en una de esas banquitas que deseo platicar contigo y avisarte que inicia la segunda etapa de tu entrenamiento-.

-¿Mi entrenamiento?- dije en voz baja, no sabía a que se refería con eso, ya que recuerdo que de chico nunca hablamos que estaba en entrenamiento, ni que fuera su Padwan o algo por el estilo.

No sentamos en una banca bajo un árbol, ya que eran casi las 3pm y el sol era fuerte, la primavera estaba en su clímax.

Comenzó diciendo: -Pues para comenzar, me da mucho gusto conocerte. No había tenido la oportunidad de conocerte en persona, aunque te conoceré en mi realidad dentro de 10 años en León Guanajuato-

- ¿Dentro de 10 años? ¿En León Guanajuato? – pregunte, – No tengo planes de regresar a León, ahora que toda mi familia se había ido a vivir a Mexicali, no hay razón para regresar allá-.

-Calla, guarda silencio. Escucha primero y comprenderás- Me reprimió al escuchar mi reacción y yo solo asentí con la cabeza y levanté los hombros.

- En este momento no estoy viviendo mi realidad, estoy soñando y entre a tu realidad - continuaba diciendo – La posibilidad que da el soñar y controlar los sueños, abre las puertas para entrar en la vida de otras personas y en diferentes etapas de su vida. Cuando te conozca dentro de 10 años de mi tiempo y en mi realidad, ya sabre que abre vivido este momento en algún sueño contigo, aquí en Querétaro en 2014.- Todo seguía confuso para mí y continuaba escuchando.

-  En mi realidad estoy viviendo y trabajando en Chihuahua en la Tarahumara. En unos años me enviarán a León y ahi te conoceré y al grupo del Santuario de Guadalupe-

- Ahora, en este mi sueño vengo a decirte que por mi conocimiento y madurez deseo trasmitirte este conocimiento o Don como lo quieras ver -

Yo me sentía afortunado y a la vez me mataba una incertidumbre de conocer cual sería ese DON que recibiría, me sentía como niño esperando recibir su regalo en el intercambio.

- Es importante saber que muchas cosas de tú vida tendrás que desapegarte de tus sentimientos, recuerdos, vivencias, éxitos, fracasos, logros y desde luego el amor y cariño que tuviste a personas importantes de tu vida. Es una decisión muy importante ya que recibirás el conocimiento del “Renacimiento” -.

No aguante las ganas de preguntar y solo dije -¿Renacimiento? ¿Que significa es? – El renacimiento en la primera etapa de tu entrenamiento antes de aprender a “soñar” e ir viajando en diferentes realidades. Probarás por mi gusto y en este momento un poco de ese conocimiento del soñar-

Comenzaron a escucharse el zumbido de muchos insectos y distrajeron por completo mi atención del hermano, voltee a ver los árboles y al cielo para saber de donde provenía ese zumbido y el cielo de torno con un tono rojizo gris; al bajar mi mirada me di cuenta que todo estaba en tono sepia.

El me dijo -en este momento estás soñando y estás en otra realidad, mira tus manos - Cuando quise ver las palmas de mis manos, no las encontraba. Las agitaba pero mis ojos no podían verla; no tenía control de mis sueños. Un simple clic en mis ojos y todo volvió a la normalidad.

- Lo que vengo a proponerte y que debes decidir en este momento es que regreses en el tiempo y renazca tu vida en un momento definido, donde tu interior lo decida. Tu cerebro no lo sabe, pero tu interior sabe perfectamente donde puede cambiar radicalmente tu vida. Pero no solo cambiará tu vida, sino la de la gente que está o estuvo cerca de ti en todos esos años y desde luego el entorno – Concluyo el hermano y esperaba una respuesta en el momento.

Mi cabeza trabajaba a 10 ghz por segundo, pasaban infinidad de cosas por mi mente. Lo principal era la gente que conocí, conozco y que tal vez conocería. Personas que amo y que fueron una parte importante de mi vida.

Pero estaba completamente decido en aceptar la propuesta, solo que hacia un recorrido de mi vida y resaltaba los momentos y personas importantes.

Mi vida en ese momento no iba como yo hubiese querido, aunque nunca me he arrepentido de lo que ha sido, no vendría mal volver a cambiar el rumbo. Lo veía como un “Back the future” y me sentía Marty McFly.

Mis hermanos estaban en investigación como miles de mexicanos después del levantamiento de armas en el 2012 después que el gobierno priista tomara el poder y el pueblo no estuviera de acuerdo. Como había comentado, mi familia se había mudado a Mexicali por la inestabilidad e inseguridad que vivía todo el Bajío: Cuna del Yunke y ultraderecha.

Y como en la película “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” borrar de mi vida el haber conocido a la Bonita, que después de casi 10 de haberla conocido no olvidaba. Seguía soltero y aunque habían pasado muchísimas relaciones de pareja no me convencía el sentar cabeza y compromiso.

Entonces se levantó de súbito el hermano Gaeta y me pregunto -¿Entonces la decisión está tomada?- Me levante titubeante y lo mire a los ojos -¡Va! Es mi decisión hacerlo. ¿Que sigue, que hay que hacer?-

Volvió a reír de oreja a oreja el hermano y me dijo: -No creo que después de todos estos años no hayas aprendido a liberar tus vicios, esto no es tu trabajo y asuntos informáticos-.  Me dio un golpe en el hombro, dio media vuelta y alcance a escuchar que me dijo a lo lejos mientras se retiraba -¡El traje es de sastre!- y se perdió entre la gente.

Regrese a mi trabajo y despues a la casa que rentaba al terminar mis labores. Al anochecer mientras trataba de dormir le daba vueltas y vueltas a la cama, pensando y analizando lo poco o mucho que había platicado con el Hermano Gaeta hasta quedarme dormido.

A la mañana siguiente escuche la voz de mi madre pidiendo que nos levantáramos, estaba todavía oscuro y la cama se me hizo pequeña. De pronto comencé a escuchar a Gutiérrez Vivo de radio monitor. Busque la lámpara en mi buró y no había nada. No encontraba el apagador de la luz, estaba desubicado completamente y a oscuras. Y de pronto se encendió una luz, era mi hermana saliendo de su habitación rumbo al baño.

¡Estaba en mi habitación de la casa de Gardenia en León Guanajuato! Baje las escaleras corriendo y encontré a mi madre preparando unas tortas y me preguntó  - ¿Porque no te has vestido? – Mire al calendario pegado al refrigerador y era el 7 de Septiembre de 1987; mi primer día de clases en la secundaria, tenia 12 años  y el conocimiento de una persona de 39 años.

¡Sorprendente!

Since last we spake of all things Smallville, the season premiere of Season 9 has come and gone: “Baby” Zod introduced, Tess the not-quite-hot Lex replacement reintroduced, Chloe weepy, Lois flummoxed, Green Oliver shirtless. And, of course, Kal-Neo with the black trenchcoat. To my surprise, early on in the plot there was a brief argument with Jor-El (The Useless) about flight, which the writers are setting up to be something of a reverse-impotence problem: whenever Clark thinks of Lois he can’t get it up, or rather, he’s never gotten it up. There’s even a throwaway scene where Clark leaps from the Statue of Liberty and plummets (the outcome is never shown so we can assume he went straight into the ground).

Most of the show was TIVO chow, that is, filler and needless exposition, but that’s true of most shows. The Kryptnonian Ninja-Girl who looked like a rip-off of a Mortal Kombat character made little sense. In the “sky train” she and Lois trade blows but later on KNG is seen using heat-vision. Well, does she have The Powers or not?

KNG introduces an extra minute or so of hot barn combat that comes free-of-charge with every Season Premiere. It was pleasing to see Clark FINALLY kicking some ass/holding his own after ninja-girl uses blue K to temporarily strip his powers. Before exiting stage left KNG warns Clark that he betrays everyone ‘one year from now’. Even Marty McFly had the good sense to write a goddamned letter explaining WTF is going on; just seems like common sense for any time traveler would be to have a ready explanation DVD or other media for when she meets herself, knowing she might be killed or knocked out on arrival.

Ah yes, I almost forgot, the most magical MacGuffin of all, the Power Ring which can alter entire plotlines in a single bound, and which in future eps will no doubt be used to bring Jimmy Olsen back and possibly even Lex.

The scenes with “Baby Zod” were all right, Callum is trying his best. The best thing about Zod and Friends are those Kryptonian army dog tags they wear, which I hope the WB has the good sense to make and sell to many nerds such as me.

“Special Guest” Brian Austin Green I’ve saved for last because his character runs right into the second episode, where he, as John Corbin, mysteriously becomes Metallo. It’s a mostly useless, predictable transformation, using the absurd and totally fake-looking CG hit-by-a-speeding bus effect. Corbin awakens not knowing how or who or why he suddenly has a kryptonite heart (in case he seems too sympathetic, writer laziness also has the kryptonite affecting his brain to make him ‘eviler’).

Actually, 9-0-2-1-Metall-0 makes a surprisingly strong case against Clark and his meddling. Turns out Clark saved a busload of prisoners from crashing…one escaped and raped and killing Corbin’s sister. To Corbin (and me) Clark is ultimately responsible for this negative outcome. It may not be right, it may not be fair, but godlike powers = godlike blame. Now we all know Superman doesn’t kill, but given the choice between saving a runaway bus loaded with rapists and killers blessedly heading for a tall rocky cliff of taxpayer savings or rescuing a kitten from a tree 100 miles away in the other direction…

Smallville Season 9 is off to a better-than-average start, but before anyone gets a big head over at the CW, let it be known when I mention the very name Smallville, almost universally the response is, “Wow, is that still on?“

The witty primer to this Season 9 ep review can be found here.

Man I wish I had time to update more!

I’m lucky if I pull off once a week. Vanguard 3 days a week, Apple 4.

I did squeeze in some time with the girlfriend to catch a double feature (it’s where you pay for one movie, see two. only way to go when you’re chocking up 10+ bucks for a single admission!) last night.

Saw Where The Wild Things Are and Couples Retreat.

I thought Wild Things was beautifully done. Definitely not child’s play. The animatronic and CG wild things (monsters?) looked great and were very entertaining to watch. Max was great. Cute kid. Reminds me of myself when I was little…playing for hours upon hours with legos and action figures and making forts. Don’t think I had a animal suit that cool though.

Everyone has been saying the same things — it’s too dark for kids. I’ll agree on that one…if I had a child who wanted to see the film though, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring them along…with the warning that there’s some scary scenes where they should shut their eyes or hold daddy’s (eh, maybe mommy’s) hand.

But what a true adaptation. I grew up on that book, and remember the bitter feelings of loneliness Max carries. Can’t blame a little boy for wanting attention. And while he’s a little troubled, I’m on his side. He’s just acting out because no one cares about what he does. Which is, of course, why he goes and finds himself a mystery island full of scary-friendly creatures who want him to be their king.

The tormented themes within the culture of the wild things is also very mature and all too real for plenty of adults. But other than a shred of fantasy violence and some scary moments with Max in danger, it’s a PG movie with a PG-13 feel at times.

And now to the BAD stuff. The really, really bad stuff.

Couples Retreat.

We’ve got Kristin Davis, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell on top. Jason Bateman, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, on top. Not to mention Faizon Love (the big black dude) and cameos by the funny gay guy and the hilarious little Asian man from Community, The Goods and The Hangover.

All in one movie! With a ripe premise, too. And they still couldn’t pull it of?!

I mean, I was disappointed by Extract too, Batemen (and Mike Judge). Batemen’s great, and I loved him in Arrested Development. But these projects need some better directors, writers, producers, something!

It’s almost comedic that Hollywood still makes shitty movies this bad. Couples Retreat could’ve been saved with better editing — it was 2 hours, a half hour too long. Plenty of unnecessary scenes like the gay sauna comments and Guitar Hero nonsense. And I could’ve gone with a little less of the sexy Fabio-like yoga instructor flaunting his bod…and his pod (package?).

It’s easy to see that a bunch of studio execs thought this would be a good idea:

Great star power (even though that matters less these days)

Funny concept

Bikini-clad island girls

Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau at the helm, writing and producing

…but what they didn’t tell us in the previews was how there was going to be a good 4-minute Guitar Hero advertisement right about two thirds into the movie. LITERALLY. A 30-second joke? I’ll get over it, full-well knowing it’s a paid joke, assuming the plot moves on.

Instead, it decides to dwell. For a really pointless, bland and unfunny scene where Vaughn has a Guitar Hero-off with the douchey resort dude. How original. Let South Park make fun of it, because they make it funny. You, Couples Retreat, despite the ridiculous nature of grown men using three-foot miniature, plastic guitars; utilize a cheesy, fluorescent split-screen, overlaid videogame graphics, and pointless, predictable banter.

Frankly I’m offended. I wish I could find out how many millions Activision spent for that blatant screen time.

Despite the usual abundance of product placement and script integration — we’ve got Applebee’s, Apple, Microsoft, GMC, Volkswagen, Starbucks and about 10-15 more I can’t remember (no joke, I nearly counted to 20). It’s a fun little game I play when I see movies: see how many times different products are shameless plugged. If you count up the amount of screen time and number of mentions you can easily tally up a good chunk of how that movie was probably paid for.

Now I’m just talking out of my mouth because I don’t feel like Googling a bunch of links right now, but this “subliminal” advertising has been growing and getting out of control. It’s been going on forever in Hollywood, and the secrets been out of the bag for a while — even Marty McFly in 1985’s “Back To The Future” (me, this Halloween) was sporting some classic Nikes as he filmed Doc send the dog back in time outside a JC Penny in Pomona, California.

[Yes, that's right, Pomona. I bought the DVD and watched Michael J. Fox talk about filming in a mall parking lot in Pomona late at night. Also, Current TV's Embedded featured some great shots of downtown Pomona and The Glasshouse in last week's episode on the Silversun Pickups.]

Lunch tends to not be very exciting. Normally it involves my BFF Jen and I walking to The Water Garden, standing in line at Subway for 20 minutes, getting jipped on pepperoncini, and then going back to the office to eat. Yesterday, we decided to be adventurous. We decided to really go ballz out with lunch. We crossed Colorado Ave. and went to the food court at the Yahoo Center! I know! How we thought of such a crazy and out there idea, you ask? Well, we have no idea. It just jumped out at us. We thought we’d just take a big risk and go a little nutty with lunch yesterday. After being those people who get in line, have no idea what they are going to order, and thus have to get out of line, we finally ordered some quite delicious food. New lunch place found! Only problem is we had to wait a little bit for it to be ready.

While we sat on the bench discuss our not so exciting Thursday night plans, I noticed the guy sitting next to Jen was wearing a Casio calculator watch. Normally, this really wouldn’t be a big deal. Sure, you don’t come across a lot of people that wear calculator watches these days, but it just so happens that I wear one too! As I freaked out to Jen over my new found calculator watch soulmate, his friend noticed my spaz ways and pointed it out to him. His response? “STFU!!!!!” Not only did this dude wear a calculator watch, but his first words to me were “STFU.” Calculator watch AND ridiculous acronym soulmate!

Marty McFly is my homeboy
(source)

While we continued to wait for our food, we discussed with Ben the amazingness that is a calculator watch. He had bought three off eBay in college and had a stockpile; I received mine as a wrap gift for one of the movies we recently made. He can do his taxes on his; I can spell HELLO on it if I turn it upside down. I like it cause it’s digital and I’m too lazy to take the extra 2.5 second to stare at the roman numerals on my Gucci watch. We also both agree that it is hands down the best watch ever, and everyone in the world should have one. Marty McFly did, why can’t you?

Once his food was ready, Ben, his calculator watch, and his friend peace’d out. Jen and I secretly hoped they’d ask us to eat lunch with them or at least ask for our number as they were probably the most hilariously random people we had ever met and every calculator watch needs a calculator watch friend for play dates. Sadly, they did not, though something tells me we’ll run into them again at some point. Now that we have discovered the promise land of more lunch options and infinitely cooler people, we’ll definitely be back again.

I love being able to quote Back to the Future, not only is it an awesome film but it is an awesome film to quote.

Anyway, the odd title is because today I have been musing on the far, far future of Dungeons & Dragons and how technology will later the way we play.

My good friend Oz (of Touch Sensitive) linked me to the following;

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Visual Story TAs on Vimeo.

I’m not too hot on following new technology, but from what I understand this is the new Microsoft Surface, their next step in touch-screen technology. It has a lot of nifty things like object recognition and so forth.

The video above shows some guys who have built a very cool, WIP, environment in which to play D&D with. Using the object recognition of the surface, as well as quite a basic idea of grid maps and animations to create interactive battle mats, this system provides a pretty new and rather involved way of playing D&D.

Watching the video, I love the idea of a “control” object that identifies itself for a specific character and then uses a cool radial menu for their abilities. I like seeing the cool magic effects taking place on the table map itself (although a suggestion would be to remove the grid lines for players and instead just have them snap-to it).

I do have to wonder what our friends at WoTC think. Would this take business away from them? Is the thought of digital minis and tilesets something that worries them? Or would they simply expand into this themselves? Producing digital copies of the Dungeon Tiles, D&D Minis and perhaps even add-ons for the Surface system itself. Perhaps the long awaited Digital Tabletop that WoTC hinted at with the release of D&D Insider would be well suited to this environment.

–

All of this got me thinking about the FAR future.

Technology is advancing at quite a rapid rate and Video Games are not shy about getting on board. Will traditional gaming follow suit?

One thing that really excites me is the possibility for Augmented Reality. This technology is already being produced and being used in various sectors and I don’t think it’s long before it hits the gaming industry. For those who don’t know the basic principal is around devices that “augment” the real world with digital improvements.

For example, you could be wearing a pair of special glasses that work as normal but when you look at somebody with a special identifier (say a badge or token) it instead displays them as a digital avatar. Of course, the technology isn’t quite there yet but it’s not that far off!

Image from www.nineteenfortyone.com

In relation to D&D and Fantasy gaming, I see it adding something to either the table (digital minis that actually fight/animate) or even to live action. Imagine a D&D system based around reality where you are actually throwing digital fireballs or wielding bows with your friends, fighting digital monsters. It’s kinda like taking everything back to where all this stuff came from; little kids playing pretend in the backyard/garden pretending that your parents precious Tree/Sculpture was actually a monster you had to fight to save the day.

If you wanna read more on Augmented Reality; you can do so… here!

But, maybe this is all taking the hobby in a direction too far away from it’s roots. Maybe with all the Dungeon Tiles, Minis and other accessories available we are losing a sense of the imagination that the game was born from. Maybe it really *is* becoming the “board game” of Tabletop Roleplaying…

What do you guys think?

Personally, I think stuff like Tiles and Minis will never take away from the core of the hobby and technology will just make it more and more accessible for people.

That’s all from me tonight I think.

As always guys, any feedback for the site or what you’d like to see me talk about let me know. Once I have got my house all sorted out I am going to be able to sit down and write some articles on writing Adventures, show off my minis and etc. Also, I am hoping to do a Podcast at some point, possibly taking you through my creation process for my games.

~M

Yes, I went out for Mexican food today at one of my favorite restaurants, Chapalas. Awesome cheese dip and salsa. Yummy!

I pulled around the building looking for a parking space and what appeared before my eyes? Doc. Brown’s time machine. Yup, it was there and just arrived back from 1985!

License plate = 88MPH

The kinda strange and ironic part about it is, that, I just bought the movie “Back to the Future” and watched it with my son Casey (this was BEFORE we went the the Renaissance festival!) this weekend. He’s 12 and it was his first time seeing it. I don’t know how I’ve managed to go 12 years without seeing the movie with him but now he’s hooked!! We will most certainly look on eBay for a used copy of the second and third versions soon. He loved it as I do.

My partner, Kyle, checking out the time machine.

I thought that the pics were worth a quick blog. Good luck Marty!

Ryan

Rush Limbaugh is so despised that even the St. Louis Rams, arguably the worst team in the NFL, rejected his bid to become part owner of the team.  Even a crappy football team doesn’t want to be associated with you Rush.  You know why?  Because you are a fucking crazy, right wing nutjob, piece of llama shit.  And of course Rush is now complaining that this “travesty” is due to the liberal left in this country, because Rush’s motto is, when in doubt, blame the left.  Jesus Christ, I wish you would shut your fat, donut chomping piehole or die of a massive coronary…or both.

I commend the rest of the group bidding for ownership of the Rams for giving Boss Limbaugh the boot.  Even though it only fuels his fire for more bullshit to bitch and moan about, it’s nice to see someone not wanting to be associated with the crazy ideals this looney tune preaches.

What we need to do is convince Rush to get back on the drugs, in the hope that he will be found dead of an overdose and in bed with a black, tranny hooker, complete with a box of Krispy Kreme donuts draped across his bulbous gut.  Unfortunately, this guy is like herpes, just when you think you are in the clear…this conservative fuckhole rears his ugly head to infect you with bigotry filled cold sores.

But one has to have dreams right?

Most costumes are cheap.

Michael J. Fox

Teen Wolf

That’s not a jean jacket he’s wearing, but a jean jacket will do.

Fur around the cuffs, maybe even feet.

False nails.

You can figure out the furry face.  Have fun!

Marty McFly: Here a good one!

Molly Ringwald

You choose!

We chose Claire from the ‘Breakfast Club’: Bomber jacket, gloves, knee high boots- Simple.  I already have these pieces.  A temp red hair die or wig and an “Omigoh!” Happy Halloween!

Eddie Murphy – Axel Foley

Beverly Hills Cop

A grey t-shirt and jeans will do.  You may want a banana your tailpipe.  Also, a dark hoodie and white sneaks, as seen on the video cover box and poster.

Dustin Hoffman- Dorothy

Tootsie

Kurt Russell- Jack Burton

Big Trouble In Little China

Tank Top w/ some picture (or draw on it with a Sharpie)

Jeans, boots and mullet hair. You should have actual muscles!

Weapon optional.

Tom Hanks -Big

Josh Baskin

White Sneakers, Jeans, retro button-down  and jacket.  Short curly wig and keep telling people you’re “Josh Baskin”.

Sigourney Weaver- Ripley

Aliens

Cargo Pants (grey), White high tops, dirty white t-shirt and suspenders.  Weapon, ammo and kid optional.

Same wig as Tom Hanks’ Big wig.

9 to 5

Great for any female friends in groups of three.

Ferris Bueller

With a swanky retro feel, any slick guy could pull off this look.  Don’t forget the comb-over.

Jennifer Beals- Alex

FlashDance

Tattered grey sweaty, leggings and red pumps.  Toss on some leg warmers for full 80s effect!

Curly hair pinned up on the sides.

Ladies & Gentleman:The Fabulous Stains

Corrine Burns

You might need the movies trailer to get the costume down!

Awesome movie, BTW!

The Legend of Billie Jean

Looks like shes wearing some cut off wet suit with high-waisted cargo pants and combat boots. Standard 80’s stuff.  Check out the clip for more details.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

Pee-Wee or anyone in the cast, practically!

Grey suit, white shirt, red tie and white (Ferris Beuller) shoes. Don’t forget the crew cut and a hint of red on the lips.

Xanadu

Olivia Newton-John- Kira

You’re gonna need knee-high roller skates… but you can fudge around that by using leg warmers.

See the clip below for more deatails.

Happy Halloween,

Seriously

BONUS: Couldn’t leave out Molly in 16 Candles.…

Samantha

Of all the looks Samantha had in this  movie, this is the prettiest.  Rock it!

Pink dress with tulle, hair twisted back and up.  She looks like a pixie princess.

And…Pretty in Pink…

Andie

I think doing the retro look with the hat in this movie is cool!  Unless you have time to make the prom dress at the end.

This is a Justice remix to Lenny Kravitz’s, “Let Love Rule”. The video has some clever special effects but nothing as dope what was in “Dance”. “Let Love Rule” remix is music to end an 80’s flick too. It’s a damn good remix and I like it. I can definitely see myself biking around town daydreaming to this.  My first impression, of the first 30 seconds of the video; an Indian Marty McFly saves the day. No, those people are actually white? WTF? Purple rabbits feet are very very very ugly. Royal blue would have been a much better choice.

The latest in a fairly lengthy succession of serial sci-fi dramas imported from the US, ‘FlashForward’ is making its terrestrial debut this Monday at 9pm on Five.  Not that you’d know it if you happen to miss their extensive ad campaign, including the other US import of promotional banners during their other shows.  The central hook involves a mysterious global event which causes everyone on earth to fall unconscious, at the same time, for 2 minutes and 17 seconds.  During this time, everybody experiences a ‘flash-forward’; experiencing a glimpse of their lives in roughly six months time.  The main character is Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), an FBI Agent and recovering alcoholic, who is summarily put in charge of an investigation into the phenomenon, to determine both its cause and the likelihood of a reprise.

Naturally, there will be comparisons to Lost, which are not at all unreasonable given the level of similarity.  The pilot even features an incongruous exotic animal, a large cast of characters and a similar sense of “I’m not going to have a clue until the final episode, am I?”.  The show is drowned in slick American melodrama, with ‘missing daughter’ subplots, over-earnest delivery and every emotional twist slammed home by flashback or exposition, as if aiming to prevent the audience from feeling anything approaching genuine sensation.  The fallout from the opening catastrophe, which reasonably would involve the death of millions, massive amounts of property damage, the collapse of major organisations and a profound impact on culture and the human psyche that would reverberate for generations, is more or less brushed to one side by the first commercial break.  Instead, we have Benford attempting to recreate his ‘flash-forward’, as it contains important clues to the investigation, while his wife angsts about the mysterious stranger in hers.

It remains to be seen how the series will ultimately approach the various concerns of time travel fiction, such as causality and predeterminism, but flaws are already becoming apparent.  Similar to Heroes and even the latest Star Trek movie, protagonists are motivated via revealed knowledge of the future.  Bedford discovers a clue by seeing the future where he has the clue, so where did the clue come from?  It’s a form of ontological paradox, not uncommon in time travel fiction (think Marty McFly inventing rock’n'roll) but unsatisfying when it forms the bedrock of a show.  It’s never that fun to have protagonists led by the nose or manifesting destiny.  There’s also no logical guarantee that all of these premonitions come true.  In fact, it’s more reasonable that they wouldn’t, as foreknowledge of an event will always affect the outcome, regardless of the fact that said foreknowledge is accounted for in the vision of the event that is being foreknowledged (ugh, why do I do this to myself?).  Couple that with the fact EVERYBODY has these same premonitions, chaos theory suggests that they’d be pretty unreliable, to say the least.  But hey, I have a tendency to over-think these things.

It’s a pity such theoretical masturbation isn’t backed up by engaging characters or social analysis.  The whole of humanity simultaneously switching off for two minutes would have compelling ramifications and knock-on effects that, even on their own, are worthy of dozens of stories.  The whole of humanity simultaneously receiving knowledge of the future would make popular culture do cartwheels.  ‘FlashForward’ is more interested in establishing its own labyrinthine mythology and stock characters than really exploring these themes.

click to enlarge (1280*1605) – photo: De Lupardis Special Services

Amanda Peet & De Lorean DMC12

(dopo la porcheria franco-tunisina di stamane, non potevo non concludere in bellezza la giornata!)

I somehow managed to get live SkySports on my mobile yesterday. The capacity to watch actual sport on your phone is the greatest technological advance since the videprinter. It’s a revelation.

The picture is obviously rubbish and the commentary feeds through about a second before the image – my physics teacher told me that light travelled quicker than sound but anyway – and after about 15 minutes the massive absurdity of it overwhelms the little handset and it gives up the ghost. But I as I whizzed down the M4 last evening I could still ascertain  that England were in the process of booting out the South Africans from their own tiny tournament. I hasten to add that I was in the passenger seat, there are rules about driving while watching ODI cricket.

It was all a bit much for me. I felt like Marty McFly in Back To The Future 2 and that bit when the giant holographic shark comes out from the cinema to chomp him. TV phones and a classy performance from an England one-day team. I just undid my seatbelt and rolled out onto the hard shoulder outside Reading Services.