Gentlemen!
I was a fairly huge fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the early days of the Adult Swim network, but for the past three or four years I haven’t really had the same level of enthusiasm for the Adult Swim products. When Sealab and ATHF started descending into nothing but violence-as-comedy (in other words “we’re out of ideas, so lets just have stuff hitting/shooting each other”) in their third and fourth seasons, pushing to further extremes of nonsensicality I started to lose interest in the line. Their uniformity of the sub-network waned, as lesser shows like Squidbillies, Morel Orel and Assy McGee didn’t inspire me much to maintain my “rah rah everything Adult Swim” fandom. There are still some awesome shows - Frisky Dingo; Metalocalypse; Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job; Robot Chicken; and The Venture Brothers - which are worth getting fanatical over, and Adult Swim provides a tremendous amount of entertainment on their website (free music, video games) on their site, but it took a scant few years before the luster of their golden touch wore off.
Aqua Teen season 1 is still enjoyable, although I’ve seen each episode in this season dozens of times, so it’s entertainment value has worn a little thin. Yet there’s still quips and events in each episode that surprise me and make me laugh (something later episodes would fail to do). The Mooninites and Plutonians, even more that Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad (but not Carl), are classic television characters, just brilliant creations (though I imagine later seasons start wearing the characters thin).
My Season 2 collection was loaned out and I’ve never had the opportunity to reclaim it, so it’s lost to the ether. I wish I still had it, but I’m not likely going to replace it.
I still haven’t seen Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.
I don’t cry very often… an incident when I was in grade 6 where I was mocked incessantly by my (then-new) classmates for having a stomach ache that brought me to tears solidified it. These days, I let movies and TV shows get me misty (WALL-E’s become a particular ol’ softy favourite) but it’s silly and I acknowledge its silliness. Like my Dad I try and stay stoic and solid, but every so often things get so messed up, and you feel so helpless that sometimes all you can do is just let go.
I had to do that this morning.
When you’re a kid, crying is a natural way of expressing yourself. Today JJ learned that Mats Sundin was no longer playing for the Maple Leafs, and he started to get upset… “I’m going to go into my room and cry” (his room in this case was a “fort” he made under the blanket that was covering my legs). I thought he was joking at first, making sobbing noises from beneath me. I pulled the blanket up and said “Are you really crying or are you just goofing around?”
“No, I’m upset.”
“Why are you upset? You don’t even watch hockey.”
“But when I do I want Mats Sundin to be a Leaf, he’s my favourite player.”
I said “It’s not like your Mega Rigs decided to play with the kids next door.”
He didn’t really understand the analogy.
He started to get a little hysterical for a time and after the tears stopped he was incredibly grumpy. When his Uncle popped in to see why he was so upset it started all over again.
Unfortunately all we could really do was laugh. His Uncle said he should pick a new favourite player, but he said he doesn’t know any other players.
Eventually he got distracted and seems okay now.
I on the other hand am trying to pull my heart back up from out my stomach.
I needed to see when the flights from Toronto to Thunder Bay were leaving over the next few days and it turns out all seats on all flights from both WestJet and Air Canada were booked on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday, the only seats available were from AC and were Business Class seats ($1099 one-way… who on earth is paying over a grand to fly to Thunder Bay? Maybe the Staal brothers?), and the first available and affordable seats for the plebs from either company were on Wednesday. Good to know if there’s an emergency on the weekend it’s quicker to drive up. Jeez.
The name of the restaurant doesn’t exactly scream “Asian cuisine”, but the Westwood Grill isn’t a restaurant that dabbles but is pretty much all about Chinese (and a little Thai) and is miles above the “cheap Chinese” (what Aden and I call the Can-Asian food centered around chicken balls) home delivery of the North York establishments.
We tried to order sweet and sour chicken balls (for JJ..yeah) and they told us that they no longer make them, which to tell you the truth was disappointing but probably for the best.
We ordered the fried grouper, sweet and sour chicken soo guy, chicken fried rice, spring rolls and beef chow mein in black bean sauce. Sure it’s all rather pedestrian for chinese food, but the surprising thing was JJ ate a little of everything, and quickly… cleaning his plate off even.
The fried rice was awesome, the soo guy all right, the grouper good if over-battered and the beef chow mein was terrific. There were a great number of dishes I want to try out so future orders will wander around the menu from the traditional white folk orders, more in line with what we get down in Chinatown.
My sister loaned me her copy of The Claim, oh, around 3 years ago. It was one of those movies that I thought was one thing but turns out it was another. I thought it could have been the Bill Paxton film Frailty, or the Sam Raimi film The Gift (all appearing around the same time), but turns out it’s a Michael Winterbottom film starring Sarah Polley. To be frank, it’s not an exciting film, a movie that goes nowhere fast, to the point where, after 45 minutes, we gave up on it.
The Claim follows the story of a prospector who, 20 years ago, traded his wife and newborn daughter for a gold mine. Now the city he controls is being appraised for a potential railroad station meaning definite prosperity for the town, at the same time his estranged wife and daughter come back into his life. There’s potential for some meaty drama in there, but little of it occurs in the first half, and the cold, moody, desolate atmosphere of the film doesn’t make for great escapist fare as the mercury drops outside.
One day I may finish watching it, but I’m not particularly inspired to.