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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Coyote's LiveJournal:

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    Sunday, July 6th, 2008
    3:43 pm
    riding in the rain
    Oh, did we get rained on when we went biking on the Fourth. The clouds were lowering across the sky as my apartment mate and I met up with Greg; the water was a gunmetal gray. As we rode up past the Intrepid's berth, around 43rd St., it began to sprinkle; we decided to keep going, and for most of the way up the west side, the showers were erratic, and relatively light. Once we got up around the Inwood area, though, where the bike path is literally a footpath-sized trail, the skies opened up. Cars would drive by, and the roadwash would feel as though someone was throwing buckets of water on me. It reminded me of the old AIDS ride days, when we'd keep going, no matter the weather (although Boston/NY 2 did stop for the hurricane, so I hear)- I remember wearing impromptu trash bag ponchos on the third day of Boston/NY; after biking through torrential rain all morning, its topped the second I rode into New York State.

    On this ride, we pressed on back down East 135th St., when Greg (by far the fastest rider of the three of us), decided, quite understandably, to sprint back to his apartment. At that point, Randy wanted to take a subway home; as I was freezing at that point (we'd been under the shelter of an awning for the last fifteen minutes, and my body heat had dissipated), I was hard pressed to disagree. Still, not a bad ride; I had fun, and it was good to know I still had a bit of the old fortitude for riding in the rain (even if I did take a long nap once I got home). Greg and I were shooting each other amused looks all evening at the Duplex; I contemplated requesting "Bicycle Race," but decided to forbear. (And now, I finally have bookshelves; I still feel a bit rundown, so I suspect that shelving books will be a nicely low-key way of ending my Fourth of July weekend. How was yours?)
    Friday, July 4th, 2008
    8:22 pm
    random
    I'm sure that I'll finally forbear, but just at the moment, I have a powerful urge to write Ianto Jones: Curse of the Were-Herculoid.
    1:41 pm
    It always makes me smile to think that the Clash played their first gig on this date, in 1976- the Black Swan in Sheffield, if memory serves. OK; off to call my brother-in-law, and wish him a happy birthday, then go bike riding with Greg.
    Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
    7:51 pm
    First off, I want to say how cool it is that when I post about a restoration of an 80-year-old silent movie that's already had at least as many reworkings as Blade Runner, people still *get it*, and know why it matters. Not all of my flist are movie fans, and that's more that fine: I know people with a huge diversity of interests and skills through LJ, and you all enlighten my life, in various ways, with posting, comments, and nifty links. Still- it's nice to talk the moviegeek talk once in a while.

    Also, I biked up the west side of Manhattan Island today, up to roughly 125th St. There were boats with witty names bobbing in the water (Tenacious C was a favorite); people who smiled as me as a rode by; up around 90th street, there was even a parrot. It was bright green, with a yellow head. I smiled at it, as it stood on a railing; its owner called out its name- Toby- to be, and I repeated "Hey, Toby- hey" for a bit. It never repeated that, but it muttered a few random comments in English, and sidled closer to me on the railing, and bobbed its head up and down repeatedly, until I finally got back on my bike. Whenever I see a parrot, I always look at their eyes, and wonder if a dinosaur's were like this. Fairly close, I'd think.

    Anyway- happy Fourth of July, everyone. Have a great one :)
    12:10 am
    missing Metropolis footage found
    The Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducros Hicken in Buenos Aires found the 16 mm negatives (of scenes from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, totaling roughly a quarter of the film, that had been missing since 1927), which include the character of Georgy in his "reduced" state, a character named Slim and his transformation into an apocalypse-preaching monk, and a car journey through the city of Metropolis.
    Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
    9:16 pm
    8:30 pm
    Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
    9:20 pm
    The Wiz
    I saw part of The Wiz this afternoon, with my apartment mate. Sidney Lumet was an interesting choice for directing a musical; the musical numbers (all twenty-five of them) tend to drag, but Lumet does a good job blending the urban and the fantastical, aided by a witty design job by Tony Walton. As Dorothy, Diana Ross seems to veer between being boring and noncommittal, and intense almost to the point of neurosis (as well as simply being too old for the role), but the supporting cast do well enough; Michael Jackson's Scarecrow is touchingly well done, and I like the bluster of Ted Ross's Cowardly Lion. However, by far my strongest memory of the movie from when I was a kid involves these things, which scared the willies out of me when I was younger. (I'd love to have Harry & the gang run into them.)
    5:38 pm
    Many thanks to everyone for their messages of condolence last night (the baby bobcat adopted by the housecat? Adorable.) They helped, they definitely did. Dad is doing well; Boogie's a little upset, but dealing. Also, I went to see WALL*E, which is- well, if you have any affection at all for the sort of movies Pixar makes, you really should see this. WALL*E himself is a delightfully Chaplinesque figure; the budding romance is deliniated with humor and attention to nuance; the social satire is witty and pointed; the last few minutes actually made me wibble. Suffice to say, it was the sort of movie that takes one's mind off of bad news; I'll definitely be seeing it again. It's the best movie I've seen in a theater in the last year.

    (Also, I'm rather curious as to how David Fincher earned a "special thanks" credit here.)
    Monday, June 30th, 2008
    8:50 pm
    goodbyes
    I just said goodbye to the last of the three cats who lived in the apartment when I moved in. (Tommi doesn’t count; she had a rough time with the other cats, and still considers a trip into the apartment proper to be dangerous business. First, there was Midnight, the alpha cat; he and I were never close, but I respected him. Then, he died- in exactly the same unusual way in which Chester, my favorite cat of all time, did: blood clot paralyzing the hind legs, so that he was dragging himself across the floor, and I was near hysterics.

    Then, Priscilla, one of the most human cats I’ve ever known; Boogie (her owner) spoke many times of how Priscilla knew just when to come over and comfort her. Priscilla took over Midnight’s place as apartment ruler, and had a fast right paw, for when Inky (my favorite) would get out of line. Cancer, vicious and sudden; Boogie tried injecting some sort of herbal mixture down her throat as a treatment, but it did nothing; I came home from a weekend away to find Boogie sobbing. Priscilla’s ashes lie in a jar on Boogie’s dresser now.

    Now, Inky, by far my favorite of the three. We were never really close until after Priscilla died, and Tommi began to risk the journey to the kitchen again; Tommi was my favorite, and I’d always resented her banishment somewhat. Inky, however, had no interest in being exclusionary; although Tommi would hiss at him whenever he had the temerity to come near, he’d just give her a bemused glance, and continue on his way. He was a fat, lazy beast, although if you picked him up, he’d delight in clambering up your shoulder, putting his paws around your neck in what can only be described as a hug, rumbling purr buzzing against your face for as long as you cared to hold him. His sole form of exercise was to wait patiently by the front door in the middle of the night; when you'd open it, he'd dash outside, and Boogie and I would joke about how he was expecting to wind up in Narnia. Tommi; the occasional excursions of the upstairs cat; the kittens Boogie would adopt, and their incursions upon the dignity of his tail; nothing phased him. Recently, Boogie found a lump. Now, he’s with her in Belgium; it’s anyone’s guess how long he has; Boogie wants to leave him there, with her parents, so she doesn’t have to watch another friend die. I held him one last time this afternoon, and whispered private words in his ear, and hoped that he understood.

    Now, I’ve opened an email from my father, and found out that his Labrador, Misha, has passed away. Cancer, again. I didn’t know her well, but she was a sweet and loving dog; she’d get unaccountably anxious if he tried to take her for a ride in the cars (something all of our family’s other dogs have loved), but happy and enthusiastic otherwise. When I was home for my high school reunion last year, Dad and I played a game where we would sit on opposite sides of the room, and bounce a ball back and forth, trying to get it past her. Misha wasn’t especially good at this game- Ambie, another bygone dog of Dad’s, was a natural- but she tried gamely, and it was nice to enjoy this childhood pastime one last time. I used to look at her when I’d visit, and be glad that Dad had at least that companionship, and wonder what would happen if she passed away. (Dad, who lives alone, has said that he didn’t want to get another dog if something happened to Misha; he couldn’t bear the thought of a pet outliving him, and being left alone.)

    I really want to not be at work right now.
    12:31 pm
    [info]yendi, you have just confirmed my worst fears. From his review of the trailer for The Spirit (Directed by Frank Miller; the link includes a video for same, if you're feeling masochistic):

    'It's like watching The Tick, but without a sense of irony. You could almost imagine the Spirit here saying, "The City. My The City."'

    (More happily, Kevin Smith discusses his memories of George Carlin here, and Andrew Stanton discusses directing the absolutely wonderful WALL*E here.)
    Sunday, June 29th, 2008
    1:43 pm
    Pride
    I remember Pride from when I first moved to New York, back in the early 90s; Keith and Michael getting ready s-l-o-w-l-y; Lynn getting mistaken for Melissa Etheridge every twenty blocks or so; marching past the main branch of the library at 42nd St., and wondering what Patience and Fortitude thought of all this. Bumping into Urvashi Vaid yet again1. The unending admiration I'd feel for the drag queens, leathermen, ponies, and others who would wear their clothing symbols, head to toe, even in the blistering, muggy heat of late June. The thousand, thousand people I'd bump into along the way every time. The whole city would feel like that XKCD cartoon ("There must be Taft slash fiction!"), with everyone laughing, and smiling, and hugging each other.

    Now, I'm looking at a dayful of fact checking, on a Sunday; of walking down Hudson Street past police barricades, and people already laughing and celebrating. I'm looking around, and smiling, thinking of the version of the Doors's arrangement of the Brecht/Weill "Alabama Song" ("Oh show me the way to the next little girl...") I did at karaoke for a friend's birthday last night, and of getting through "Walking in Memphis" earlier in the week. All right; to work, now; I've had the chance to enjoy Pride before, and will again. In the end, the core of Pride is in the heart.




    1For a couple of years in the mid-90s, we were randomly bumping into each other every six months or so. Strangely enough, although she grew up in the same small town in rural northern New York as I did, and lived between my house and the library, I never ran into her in Potsdam, not once.

    Current Mood: Happy b-day, Ray Harryhausen!
    Current Music: Boom de Yada, Boom de Yada
    Thursday, June 26th, 2008
    3:07 pm
    NYC locals
    Anyone want to meet up for Pride, or directly thereafter?
    12:50 am
    Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
    12:35 pm
    aha!
    Back when I worked at the LGBT Center, in the mid-90s, I had someone knock urgently at the front door one night, as I was locking up. Not so unusual, although his story was: he said that he worked for RSA/USA (Ridley Scott's production company for commercials); he'd locked himself out of his apartment, and he urgently needed to get uptown with several large garment bags; was there any way I could lend him money for a taxi? He'd give me the RSA number so that we could arrange for him to pay me back... I agreed, and later found myself calling a disconnected number; the next day, I found myself talking to an apologetic receptionist at RSA who said that yes, this guy had been running this scam on several other people. I hung up angry; I rarely give money to individuals on the street anymore (as opposed to organizations such as United Homeless), and that's one of the reasons why.

    Last night, I'm walking home from work, and a guy comes up to me on the street, sounding apologetic and desperate; he also sounds somehow familiar. Naah- couldn't be. Suddenly, he was telling me how he'd locked himself out of his apartment, and he needed to get uptown with-

    I couldn't resist. "With garment bags? Four of them?"

    Him: (uncertainly) "Yeah..."

    Me: (pleasantly) "This is a pretty clever story, but you've been using it for about thirteen years now. Why don't you give it a rest?"

    Him: *mutters something about it having been a long time, as he backs away*

    The look in his eyes wasn't quite as satisfactory as getting my twenty bucks back would have been- but it'll do.
    Monday, June 23rd, 2008
    9:01 pm
    cool toys and a bad idea
    Big Lebowski action figures.

    Also, LEGO Death Star.

    Also also- Edible LEGO- because teaching kids to eat these things is a good idea.
    2:24 pm
    Live Long and Marry
    [info]lady_ganesh and [info]rachelmanija have created Live Long and Marry, a fandom auction to benefit marriage equality. The auction will raise money to counter the planned California initiative that would annul existing same-sex marriages, and ban any further ones. (Details behind the link; bidding begins on July 1, 2008, and closes on July 15, 2008.)
    2:32 am
    George Carlin, rest in peace.
    Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
    1:54 pm
    Get Smart; The Incredible Hulk; The Love Guru
    Get Smart is a marvelously well-cast, largely pitch-perfect1 affectionate remake of the TV show; I rarely laugh out loud at movies, but this one got me several times. Well worth it.

    Also, I liked the new Hulk movie much better than the Ang Lee one: the Lee film had excellent acting, but the pacing was off, and that whole split-screen-to-replicate-comic-book-panels shtick grated on my nerves. Ed Norton does a good job as Bruce Banner; the movie as a whole has a much better sense of narrative momentum than the Lee film; there are several affectionate nods to the TV show, as well (I was happy to hear murmurs of recognition at Lou Ferrigno's cameo).


    (Meanwhile, can OH MIKE MEYERS NO count as a pre-emptive review, particularly as I have no interest in actually seeing it?)





    1 There are one or two moments, such as Max's illness in the jet fighter, that I could have done without; these moments aren't lingered over, however.
    Friday, June 20th, 2008
    8:25 pm
    Recently, [info]chris_walsh mentioned an attempt to name songs whose titles mention plant life. He limited it to five, but I'm throwing it open: how many song titles involving our chlorophyllic brethren can you think of?
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