May Newsletter

Greetings all,
     Welcome to May. Publishing the last one so late really threw off my clock so I hope you didn't think I forgot you. I've been putting in the hours at the grocery store. They say that a man who enjoys what he does never works a day. If that's true then I've been working a lot. I'm between movies so I tend to spend my down time at home. I've had a few ventures to the theater, it's always good to support the arts, it keeps my friends employed and off the streets. I saw Not With A Bang But A Whimper, it's an enjoyable dark comedy about the end of the world. There was also the staged reading of Weird Science. I only got to see the tail end of that because of work but it had the dream cast of Richard Burt, Evan Lovelace, Alice Pollack, Rebecca Ralstin and Curtis Smith. I'm sure I've forgotten a couple of people from the curtain calls but these were the folks I saw and wanted to see more of. I haven't seen Curtis on stage since March and Rebecca's appearance was the best kept secret since she moved out of town last month. Speaking of best kept secrets, I finally got to attend The Burlesque Festival on Friday. This was their seventh and every year past I've been busy, working or just broke. Puss N Boots (Kat Kimmitz) was there! She moved to New York by way of London a few years ago and I had given up hope of ever seeing her perform live again. She is amazing. She's the one who turned me on to the burlesque scene in KC. We met through work and she told me about a show that was going on. Thinking the burlesque scene died off years ago, I went out of morbid curiosity. I'd seen a few acts here and there over the years but nothing all that memorable. The other ladies in her troupe were good, there is a sense of professionalism about them, they're not just exhibitionists who were too overweight to cut it in a strip club. This had class and style. She came out and did a routine to Venus In Furs by Velvet Underground and I've been a fan ever since. She played Frank N. Furter in a Rocky Horror send up one year and stole the show.
     On the sports front, the home season came to a close for The Roller Warriors. Any guesses as to who took home The Cup? If you said The Black Eye Susans, then you would be correct. They played The Dreadnought Dorothys, who only lost one game all season, they just lost the wrong game. The Knock-Outs came in third, beating out last years champions, The Victory Vixens. It was cool to see them win, they've been the underdog all year since the train wreck that was last season. Xcelerator announced her retirement again, I think she means it this time. She's been with the league for 10 years. She was voted MVP back in '07 after they won The Championships. We had such a good team back then. This years team is almost as good, it's better than it's been in a while. We're currently undefeated, hopefully we can say the same thing after Besterns in June. Jess Decker announced her retirement as well. At least X is going to finish out the season with The All-Stars but Decker is done. Track Rat is another who is retiring. Some good-byes just hurt.
     Moving on to happier things, maybe you have some travel plans in the near future (I know I do) and you're looking for a good book to while away your time in a plane, train or automobile, I have a couple of reccomendations for you-
The Hard Way by Lee Child- Jack Reacher finds himself in New York, just enjoying a cup of coffee at a local cafe, when he is then recruited to put his skills as an investigator to work for the leader of a group of mercenaries whose wife has been kidnapped. If you're a fan of the series, you'll definitely enjoy this one.
My Lucky Life In And Out Of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke- This is a really interesting autobiography if you're a fan. He talks about the early days, the Air Force years, his t.v. years, what was going on behind the scenes, all the news that's fit to print. This is totally worth your time.
Keep Moving: And Other Tips And Truths About Aging by Dick Van Dyke- If ever there was a how-to book on making the most of your golden years, this is the one. He wrote this when he turned 90 and while he talks about some stories from the old days (some of which were in his first book), it's really just a collection of advice and outlooks from someone who's been there. It's a good read.
     I haven't seen as many movies as I'd like but, here's what I've seen lately, maybe something will strike your fancy-
4 Got 10- A man regains consciousness in the desert surrounded by dead bodies and vehicles. He's been shot but he can move. He has no memory of why he was there or what he was doing. One of the vehicles has a lot of cocaine, the other has a lot of money. He gets in the money van and finds a gps that he manages to follow backwards to the point of origin in hopes of finding some answers. Things don't always turn out as planned. The movie has an interesting premise but some of the character development falls a little flat and their story gets so overly complicated that they end up explaining everything to the audience in the last five minutes. It has Dolph Lundgren, Michael Pare and Danny Trejo but they've all been in better movies. Watch it if you're curious.
Colossal- I'm a fan of Ann Hathaway but when I saw the preview for this, I had some serious doubts. I had a chance to see it for free so, since there was nothing else out at the time, I decided to go see it. I'm glad I did. The premise sounds dumb but there is a story that turns out to be really good. I was impressed and definitely recommend it.
Eyewitness- I never saw this when it first came out because the critics killed it. Peter Yates was the director and it stars Sigourney Weaver as a reporter trying to get information out of William Hurt, who witnessed a murder, or did he just say that because he has a crush on her? I'm not going to say much outside of check it out, definitely worth a look.
Free Fire- I'll admit to going into this looking for a new guilty pleasure. Maybe if I had kept my expectations lower, I might have enjoyed it more. As it was, I thought it was just okay.
The Graduate- I've got one word for you, plastics. Cinemark played this for a couple of days to commemorate its anniversary. Any time you can see it on the big screen, do it. Hearing the soundtrack through a theater sound system is incredible.
How To Steal A Million- Audrey Hepburn stars as the daughter of an art counterfeiter who enlists cat burglar Peter O'Toole to steal a piece her father did from a local museum before it gets appraised by an insurance company. The cast is great and it's a fun heist movie so check it out.
Logan- Have you been burned by every other X-Men movie to the point where you just don't give a damn anymore? Me too. But, I still enjoyed this movie. They don't waste time talking about "the impending war between humans and mutants" and actually manage to tell a story that's not just a set up for the next movie. This movie is as good as everybody says it is.
Se7en- A local theater played this on the big screen so, of course, I had to go check it out. This is one of my favorites and it's the best movie David Fincher has directed. Go see it any chance you get.
     I recently got Netflix so I've been catching up on some t.v. shows.
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 3- If you've enjoyed the last two seasons then you'll like this one. S.H.I.E.L.D is rebuilding after the Hydra attack of last season. There is a big story arc with The Inhumans that makes you wonder why they don't just call in The Avengers and end this shit in 15 minutes, but over all it's enjoyable.
     Well, I guess this is the end because I'm running out of things to talk about. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next month.