June 2010
5 posts
1 tag
Iron Man Sequilitis
Don’t get me wrong, I have very little bad to say about Iron Man 2, the Rise of the War-machine or whatever title they’re giving it, but I’ve got to step back from it and call it as I see it. It’s a fine piece of film-making. As sequels go, it ain’t half bad let me say. It extends the aura of awesomeness that Robert Downey Jr. has surrounded himself in over the last...
2 tags
Dr. Who and Vincent Van Gogh
Have you ever thought that things were more than what they seemed, that a mere science fiction program had more to say to you than what you would have first thought, then listen to this.
The latest Dr. Who episode, Vincent and the Doctor, starring Matt Smith as the youngest Doctor ever in the long running BBC series, is probably one of the most wonderful episodes of true science fiction I have...
A Short Tale of Zombies
Infection peaking. Odd. No pain. Brains…..
Lost in Paradise
After six years and numerous deaths, births, writer’s strikes and untold suffering of this group of castaways lost on an island paradise with polar bears, smog monsters and frankly the detritus of over-stimulated creative types like you and I, I presume, the end has come, the answers have been revealed, and yet I’m still confused.
Well, confused isn’t the answer. I’m in my...
4 tags
When Jeffty was 5
Some things are better today. We don’t get childhood illnesses. Medical procedures are safer. Our lives are longer and, so they say, more productive. Our inventions bring distances closer. The wealth of human knowledge has been digitized, en-capsuled in a cloud of bits and bytes, waiting to be passed on, shared and commented on. I realize it was all available at a short walking distance to...
August 2009
8 posts
Dream a little dream
You know, sometimes I have no idea what my subconscious wants to tell me. I had this weird dream last night. It was eerie in a bright colored sixties Mad Men kind’ve way. The whole time I’m thinking about a woman I love. I’m going home to her. I haven’t seen her in a long time and I have finally admitted to her over the phone that I love her. I know she feels the same way...
2 tags
Ellen
She danced. She loved the Los Angeles Kings and Marcel Dionne. She loved music, and most of all she loved teaching. She was my third grade teacher. When I was goofing off in class, pretending to be Benny Hill, slapping another kid on the head, a smaller kid with short hair, that looked like the old guy on that show, slapslapslap, instead of getting angry with me, she said if I liked English humor...
1 tag
Idiocracy
I have a problem with my weight. I am over 300 pounds. My double chin has a double chin and the flap at the back of my head is pronounced. I have back fat. The folds underneath my stomach are restricting my movement. My thighs touch and I sweat profusely. I get skin-flaps from the irritation and weird pimples to boot. I can’t get into or out of my car without a struggle and my left knee...
2 tags
District 9
District 9 is a science fiction movie. It is an action movie and it is a thinly veiled allegory. Now I like allegory, but much of the time science fiction stories are dragged into unnecessarily because, well frankly like that embarrassing double-jointed aunt who comes over for Christmas and keeps showing off her ability to reach back and grab her ankles, well she’s good at it despite the...
3 tags
Rant of the Day
Most people as they get older, they get wiser, they have more to lose so they get more conservative. Me, I’m getting more and more liberal. You see, I used to be an idealist. I believed that the system allowed for a fair and balanced amount of discourse and that Americans could argue and discuss their problems in public, air their differences and commit to a fair compromise. I don’t...
What this is and what this is not
This isn’t a blog about me. It is not about a middle aged guy with everything right in the world. I have a job, a life, a family, a wonderful group of friends and an interesting hobby. I should be happy. I shouldn’t be this angry all the time. I shouldn’t subject the people I love and the people that love me to my adolescent mood-swings. But I do. Call it moral ambivalence. Call...
2 tags
One More Day
Look, let me get it right out and say that my favorite comic-book character is Spider-man. Always had been and always will be. He’s funny and loyal and human, with the pre-requisites of a real hero. Not the gun-toting Dirty Harry, of the ant-hero Wolverine variety, the one that chick’s dig and adolescent a-holes aspire to be, the real kind of hero, the sort that we all wind up being,...
1 tag
The Shadow of the Wind
I’m not a big fan of event books, the ones that you find amidst the best-sellers and the beach reading, the ones that are on everyone’s recommended reading list. They bore me. A plucky protagonist, in these days usually an anachronistic nod to modern tastes and sensibilities if its a period piece, a meandering plot with a load of self-referential psycho-babble, or more than likely just...
July 2009
2 posts
1 tag
Seven Samurai
Watch a movie once and most times it’ll lose its luster, the luster a movie fanatic like me feels every time he walks into a darkened movie theater, because more often than not the movie is flawed, a pale regurgitation of plot and character. It’s not that Hollywood has nothing new to say, and hasn’t for years now, but that the rest of the world is throwing up duds as well....
2 tags
Virtual Insanity
Typical of that certain percentage, the sort that straddle the orifices between isms, conservative or libertarian, neofascist or anarchist, they shadowbox, they jab and retreat, they travel in packs, and ultimately they can’t stand the light of true debate. Talking points, worse than either damn lies or statistics, not an original thought in mind or in action. Challenge them, they resort...
June 2009
1 post
4 tags
A hint of blue eyes
The turn of a phrase a sarcastic bit of wit told between two friends an image, a door, a drum. How she purses her lips before pausing, milking the drama from an anecdote a meter, a joke, a buzz, the way she swings her arms attacking the air, striding forth aware of it all, documenting a stanza, a paragraph, a fugue a murmur. The line of her shoulder the speckles, a gift from the sun unaware,...
May 2009
1 post
My little one
April 2009
2 posts
3 tags
My something or other
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, Fill this out and repost as, “My Autobiography”. Use your own answers, not anyone else’s. Where did you take your profile picture? Barcelona
What exactly are you wearing right now? too big jeans (losing weight) and a blue XL-Male shirt What is your current problem? I’m insensitive What makes you happy most?: Quiet times with the...
3 tags
50 Questions
50 Q’s Your ex is on the side of the road, on fire. What do you do? Which ex? Your best friend tells you she’s pregnant. What is your reaction?Corey I didn’t know When was the last time you wanted to punch someone in their face? Today Congratulations! You just had a son. What’s his name? Barney Congratulations! You just had a daughter. What’s her name? Wilma What are...
March 2009
4 posts
Song Titles are us
Pick an artist, and using ONLY SONG TITLES from only that artist, cleverly (preferably) answer these questions. This is harder than it seems! ADDITIONAL RULE: You cannot use the same artist I did, or duplicate song titles even if they were performed by another artist. AS ALWAYS, you may play along or ignore this as you wish. Pick a band/artist: Billy Bragg Are you male or female: Honey I’m a...
15 YEARS AGO (1994) I was...
15 YEARS AGO (1994) I was… How old were you? 27 Who were you dating? No, marriage keeps you from doing this like that Where did you work? Bayside Medical Group. I was an Xray Technician Where did you live? South Gate, CA Where did you hang out? Mom’s house, Long Beach Did you wear contacts and/or glasses? glasses Who was your best friend? Gus How many tattoos did you have? 0 How many...
Finish the sentence
My last kiss – was too short. I am listening to – my kids snoring, nothing nicer than hearing your kids snore I talk - in circles I love – to a fault My best friends - know that even when I take long walkabouts from them I always return. My first real kiss – was one of many mistakes. Love is – one of the great truths but not the only one Marriage is - not the impossibility I thought it once was...
Where were you...
Where were you when you first heard the news about the attacks on 9/11? At home, in bed with my ex-wife. The kids were asleep and I was snoozing (the radio was going off and on every 10 minutes and I heard half-asleep from the news that there had been an “accident” in New York with an airplane. The second plane hit while I was in the shower and I saw the towers fall live on television...
February 2009
10 posts
Four things
Four names that people called you: 1. Mando 2. Dad 3. Teacher 4. Sweetie Four jobs I have had: 1. Courier 2. X-Ray Technician 3. Teacher 4. Teacher’s Assistant Four movies I would watch more than once: 1. The Godfather 2. Animal House 3. My Neighbr Totoro 4. Le Femme Nikita Four places I have lived: 1. Havana, Cuba 2. Miami, Florida 3. South Gate, California 4. Downey, California Four places...
Wisdomology
MOUTHOLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice? Cuban sald dressing: olive oil and vinegar
What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Carl’s Jr.
What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Ajos y Cebollas in South Pasadena
What food could you eat every day and not get sick of it? bread and water
What are your pizza toppings of choice? sausage
What do you like to put on your...
Things I have done
(x) Gone on a blind date. eHarmony, ‘nuff said. (x) Donated Blood. Love the snack afterwards (x) Skipped school. Jumping over gates was never an issue. Squeezing through them is. (x) Watched someone die. I gave cpr to my grandmother unsuccessfully () Been to Canada. Scared of the place. (x) Been to Mexico. Visiting the ex-wife’s birthplace (x) Been to Florida. Florida, Cuba, my...
3 tags
Weekend Surprise
So this Saturday was a cool night, it was supposed to rain, but actually it was just a bit chilly in the air or at least chilly for Southern California. I was wearing some black slacks, a burgundy shirt and some shit-kicker Doc Martens that I bought last year. I picked up my girlfriend at this theatre in Fullerton where she works part time seasonally in their box office. Evita was at intermission...
Armando needs...
The idea is to Google your name followed by the word “needs” with the entire phrase in quotes - e.g. “Keith needs”. Post the first 10 you find. According to the Oracle at Google, here are the things that I need: Armando needs: to attend a few 12 step meetings learn the meaning of the word enabler. Armando needs: money for his own saloon, but unfortunately he is broke....
My Senior Moment
Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! IN YOUR SENIOR YEAR DID YOU… Did you date someone from your school? Nope, that came after I graduated. She was 18 so you can stop the comments already. Did you marry someone from your high school? No, but she might as well have been. Did you car pool to school? No, sometimes I picked up my friend Corey after I got my first car What kind...
One word is enough
USING ONLY ONE WORD! It’s not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It’s really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to tag the person you received it from! (To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your list, tag people (in the right hand corner of...
Scattergories
Rules: It’s harder than it looks! Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real … nothing made up! You cannot use any word twice and you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question. 1. What is your name? Armando 2. A four-letter word: Alps 3. A boy’s name: Adrian 4. A girl’s name: Alicia 5. An occupation:...
What's my name
YOUR REAL NAME Armando C. Garcia WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother and father’s middle names) Maggie Marquez (I guess I’ll be really undercover) NASCAR NAME (first name of you mother’s dad; father’s dad) Pancho Sebastian (First Cuban-American redneck, bow howdy, and if your name is Mike or John Gadd you both know it’s all true and the reason for that’s...
A Trip to the Store
I get a 15 minute break in the morning from work, and rather than take it amongst the comrades, I drove the 2 blocks to a corner establishment, a 24 hour convenience store, Quick-E Mart if you know what I mean, and I rushed out of my blue Saturn parked in an oil slick of grime and South Central L.A. sweat. I rushed inside to get my usual, diet blue Monster drink, a packet of expensive vitamins, a...
January 2009
1 post
A Few Random Thoughts
Notes: This is a response to a friend’s request, but I thought it was a good writing exercise, so be my guest if you’d like to chime in. 1. My grandmothers had an argument once before I was born. One wanted to name me Taidy and the other one wanted me to be named Cristobal. Neither won, my Mom liked the name Armando. It means soldier. In English I’d be Herman. In French...
August 2008
1 post
1 tag
My New Best Friend
I have a new best friend. It’s small and bright and fast. It does things that many much larger cousins can’t or won’t. I can do everything I’m used to doing with it, I’m on it right now in fact, and it weighs about 2 pounds. It’s my new netbook, a small laptop built by ASUS, the EEEPC 900, and it can surf the net wirelessly or write a report but more importantly...
July 2008
2 posts
Perceptual Anesthesia
Their hands always locked, feet struggling to find a mutual pace. A warm caress, a sideways glance or two, an oddly timed grin, mouthed words meant only for each other; all symptoms of a rare disease, that affliction that dulls otherwise bright minds; a perceptual anesthesia as Mencken wrote. How fortunate we think we are to have either neglected that part of ourselves outright, or...
4 tags
BfHerbie
A little explanation about my nickname, there will be an exam later. My name is Armando. I am a recovering nerd, geek, space-cadet, of the sort that used to play Dungeons and Dragons, collect comic books, and go to Rennaissance Fairs in character. I am not ashamed of my past. I still partake of certain comic book conventions; the only important one that gathers every year in San Diego, I watch...
June 2008
5 posts
4 tags
Polish Power
Just finished another book in Duane Swierczynski’s ouvre, roman noir updated for the post-internet age. It’s called Severance Package, to go along with the book I finished last week which was The Blonde, and I’ve got to say: as trashy, black-hearted fun, I haven’t been into an author like this since I “discovered” Andrew Vachss for myself. If that doesn’t...
Unrequited haikus:
Unrequited haikus: So there’s this girl. at work Curly hair. Piercing. Tall. Should have asked her out. My so called love life Dreaming of a love affair last night passed out drunk She walks in beauty crying she seems very lost Have you seen my sis? I am reclining Talked to her. Minutes ago. Relieved she walks by There’s something different about you today you seem different happy You walked by....
3 tags
To Sir, with Bacon and Ham
The end of the school year is always fraught with trouble. There are endless assessments, exams you might call them, cumulative folders need filling in, report cards, yadayada; a big mountain that I managed scaling incrementally over 2 weeks time minimising the effects of stress and overwork and yet I still jumped head-first into “Crazyville Canyon”. I can gloat my dear reader, weeks...
5 tags
A Long Walk Spoiled
It’s been an up and down week tethered to the usual rants and raves from the menagerie of harpies and sicko-phants that exhibit themselves in the gallery. Here’s a slice:
a lady I knew, a year or two older than myself, passed away the other day from stomach cancer, the same disease that took her father and her brother. She had 3 kids, little ones.
a hanger-on, pretender to the...
4 tags
Wicked
I’m still dragging from the great night I had, a night I’d been planning with my girlfriend Jennifer for awhile now (it was her birthday the night before) and I’m still having the music running through my head. We saw Wicked (how very upscale), and while I don’t usually like big production number musicals I did like Wicked. Yeah, I guess it was the witty digs at the...
May 2008
1 post
Nothing like the Sun
It’s so much easier to write when life is in flux, the words a tether, the strands of a life together; images on a page. A ring, a dress, a humidor on one. A calendar, a drawing, wind chimes on the other. The coral deposits of a life, of love Not so much when life has turned the words cast, thoughts in a fugue, returning instead to a closed eyed smile. a picture. a place, a dish, a hand...
April 2008
2 posts
5 tags
Interdisciplinary Studies
I graduated from college at Cal State University Dominguez Hills in 1999. My major was Interdisciplinary Studies. Really, it was called PACE. Program for Adult College Education. It is, as the college handbook says, “a broad-based, liberal arts and sciences major that focuses on developing exemplary skills in written and oral communication, textual analysis, critical thinking, and problem...
5 tags
Alpha and Omega
Circumstances fluid, excuses, blind, babbling-on: just friends, no chemistry, still looking, open options, not the type, not the vibe, coming on too strong, too weak. it’s me, tisn’t you. Profiles, compatability, just lies, games we offer, to ourselves. Scared of getting what we want. I have all I need do you?
March 2008
3 posts
5 tags
Desafinado
Es mi primer idioma, es el idioma de mi familia, es el idioma del amor y de la fantasia. Y con tan poquita de esas dos que tenemos ahorita decidi de comunicarme aqui de esta manera. Yo se que es un cambio de locura y si puede ser que la locura me entro y hay que manejarlo mejor, pero tengo ni ganas ni habilidad de hablar ni escribir en mi idioma adoptivo. Ya he dado bastante de mi corazon en...
1 tag
Everyone's Best Friend
Nobody likes a clown the face paint cracked the smile forced kneed one too many times eyes deadened pain mortgaged a trail of promise and promises Fear They prefer the lead makeup perfect the smile forced greed filled far too many times eyes deadened soul mortgaged a trail of promises and the promised Cheers Would I be a lead a trail of broken hearts the smile forced No, all I am is a simple clown...
1 tag
AFI Top 100 Challenge
I’m back dedicated readers, all 3 of you with renewed vim and vinegar. Today’s post is a challenge from my friend Hannah. She’s taking the AFI Challenge to watch the top 100 movies of all time. I decided to list those that I’ve watched are in my own top 10 list, and dedicate myself to watch the rest by the end of April. Think I can do it? Let’s go.
Here’s my Top 10: 01 The Godfather 2 02...
January 2008
1 post
1 tag
Done
I’m done with it. 5 days before Christmas my girlfriend tells me what I’ve been expecting for 3 months. For that entire time, she’s taken a step back from us, re-evaluated what she wants and decided that she didn’t want me and my sh*t in her life anymore. 4 years together, and instead of the pyrotechnics of the last lousy relationship, I get basically a Dear John phone...
December 2007
1 post
1 tag
Once
Just saw one of my favorite movies of the year. Once. It’s a musical, but a modern re-imagining of a musical. It’s a love story, but just as much a paen to lost love, as it is an ode to a time, a place, a past and a city: Dublin, Ireland. Now, I’ve never been there, but I want to of course, and the fact is that while this is a small movie about two down and out musicians who...