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February 29, 2004
Beautiful Gift
On a lighter note, the above images are of a beautiful Phalaenopsis orchid given to me as a house warming gift by my friend Leslie Sutter. I love orchids, and have tried to grow them before, but I didn't have much luck with the lighting in my apartment. I have a lot of windows in my new house and the orchid has been thriving! Phalaenopsis is Greek for "resembling a moth" and the flowers on the orchid will last for several months. Mine has 5 flowers open right now and one unopened bud. If it continues to do well, I will be adding others to my home in future months. Click on the images for a larger view. Also, they have been added to the gallery as well.
Posted by ahuckle at 03:18 PM | Comments (5)
"Houston, We Have A Landing"
You may remember a previous entry on my site titled Kidney Stones Suck!!! Well, the picture you are looking at above is a 3x magnification of a stone I passed this Saturday. It is in a ziploc bag on my vintage 50's formica kitchen table. It looks like an asteroid or some sort of fool's gold nugget. Surprisingly, given all the pain I have been in, it's passing was not that painful (lucky for me!). I have a suspicious feeling this is not the entire stone, as my evening afterwards was unfortunately quite painful. I also received news on Wednesday that I have another stone right in the middle of my right kidney. Apparantly this one pictured above has friends, and they are beginning to get angry about their friend's disappearance. So tomorrow I will be missing another day of work to have a dye contrast test to see whether or not I will be having surgery on Thursday. A part of me believes that if my doctor had taken my pains more seriously two years ago instead of telling me it was "all stress related and in my head" that I would not be going through all of this right now. At least in the grand scheme of things it is all fairly minor.
Posted by ahuckle at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 28, 2004
"Lost In Translation"
I just got back from my friend Dave's where we watched "Lost In Translation". What a quiet yet moving film. I really enjoyed it and was very impressed by both Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson. I have always had a fixation on Japan and hope to one day visit, yet to me this movie was more about the quiet, thoughtful times in your life where you are feeling lost and trying to find yourself and the reasons for why you are the way you are. I guess personally I am going through one of those phases right now. Perhaps I am being more open on here than I should, but then again it seems only my friends read here so what the hell. All in all a good film, it really made me want to do something I rarely do, which is go off somewhere traveling by myself. Maybe I will do just that.
Posted by ahuckle at 11:34 PM | Comments (4)
February 25, 2004
Fanaticism
I went to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" this evening as a friend had bought me a ticket. All I can say is that I'm not quite sure what all the fuss was about, except for the extreme violence. It pretty much followed the story in the Bible, and really offered no new insight into the life of Jesus or those around him. I was distrubed to see that people had brought children to see it, as it was extremely gorey with lots of slow motion graphic close-ups of peeling skin and blood. I find it ironic that many in this country point their fingers at other cultures and call them religious fanatics, as this was a prime example of religious fanaticism. The most disturbing part were the people lined up outside the theater as I left with signs that said "prayer" on them offereing to pray with me or for me. I guess I should offer up that I am a non-practicing Catholic who believes in some sort of higher power but does not follow any structured or standardized religion. I therefore declined the offer. So....am I glad I went to see it? Yes, as I am a follower of popular culture and I wanted to be able to make up my own mind about the film.
Posted by ahuckle at 09:48 PM | Comments (10)
February 23, 2004
Saints And Sinners
I saw two movies tonight that both dealt with religion and that were both scary as hell! The first I saw at the theater which was The Magdalene Sisters. It dealt with the Magdalene Asylums that were in place in Ireland from the 30's till the last one closed in 1996, where wayward girls were sent by their families or parish priests to atone for their mortal sins. These mortal sins included flirting with boys, being raped, and having children out of wedlock. Once at the the "convents" the girls were stripped of their belongings and often their identities and were forced to work in the laundries all day long without speaking while the nuns raked in the profits. there were forced to eat slop while the nuns sat behind a screen eating lavish meals. Any deviation from the rules resulted in humiliation and vicious beatings. It was quite a powerful film and so shocking to me that this went on for so long.
The second film was a documentary on the Sundance network called Hell House. It chronicled the Trinity Church just outside of Dallas Texas, who ever year around Halloween put on an eloborately staged haunted house dealing with all sorts of sins that will send you to hell. These included graphic re-enactments of drug use, gang violence, rapes, and raves! These are all acted out showing the evils they drive people to in order to scare pople into finding God! I couldn't believe it! I wonder how they think portraying rave scenes and girls being slipped date rape drugs and being raped are going to send people on the path to rightousness? They put so much time and effort into it and all I can think is "There are so many other positive things they could be doing if their goal is to try to help people". What about doing something like Habitat for Humanity? Or volunteering at homeless shelters or battered women's shelters or any kind of human services other than staging bogus haunted houses with all the drama of those religious cartoon pamphlets that show "Jane going to Hell for KISSING"! One of the more bizarre parts of the documentary was during a sermon when the minister told the congregation to speak to God in their personal "Love Language" and then he and everyone else began speaking in tongues! Unbelievable.
I guess my whole point to this entry is that these two films have underscored one of my personal beliefs, which is that religion should be something to comfort people, not terrify them and make them feel sub-human. I guess that is why I choose not to follow any organized religions, as most do not share this philosophy.
Posted by ahuckle at 11:15 PM | Comments (7)
February 20, 2004
Me Me Me!!!
I just added the About Me page to the main site. Check it out. I put on some recently taken pics of myself. I may take them off just as quickly, who knows?
Posted by ahuckle at 11:31 PM | Comments (9)
The Horror Revealed!!!
Check out Awful Plastic Surgery! It reveals some truly scary before and after pics of Meg Ryan, Farrah Fawcett, Bruce Jenner, Axl Rose and many, many more! Truly frightening!
Posted by ahuckle at 01:40 PM | Comments (5)
A Portrait Of Dorian Gray
I just saw Meg Ryan on the Ellen Show this morning, and I was horrified! I almost didn't recognize her! She looks like a goblin! I have always liked Meg Ryan, and a lot of her films, and I always thought she was attractive, but she has ruined her appearance with plastic surgery. Her lips are like enormous fish lips, and her face is oddly shaped now, looks like cheek implants or something. Now, those of you who know me know that I have nothing against plastic surgery at all, but you would think a rich movie star would know someone who would say to her "Meg, stop! You look awful!". Maybe not. Maybe having a lot of money means everyone tells you you look good no matter what. I hope that if I ever have plastic surgery that my friends will tell when enough is enough!
Posted by ahuckle at 12:00 PM | Comments (8)
February 19, 2004
"Here Is The Story, Of A Lovely Lady..."
I just saw the funniest commercial on t.v. for Swiffer! It had Alice from the "Brady Bunch", Benson Dubois from "Benson", Florence from "The Jeffersons", Rosario from "Will and Grace" and the butler from "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" all at a resort doing all these crazy things beacuse they don't have to clean anymore because of Swiffer! Alice was doing back-flips off a super high diving board, The Fresh Prince butler was in the pool with Florence and he took off her bikini top, Benson was having drinks, and Rosario was parasailing! It was so surreal and hysterical! I can't wait to see it again, which is something I never say about commercials.
Posted by ahuckle at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
Extra, Extra!!!
I have just updated the Gallery page of my main site with new images of some of my paintings. I hope you will check it out!
Posted by ahuckle at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
ZOMBO.COM
You should check out ZOMBO.COM. I have no idea why this would exist, but it is kind of funny in a deranged way. I wish I knew some more background information on it.
Posted by ahuckle at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)
February 18, 2004
"Resounding Spirit"
A couple of Fridays ago I went to see an exhibit at SUNY Potsdam called "Resounding Spirit: Japanese Contemporary Art Of The 1960's" which was full of amazing work, mostly from the Roland Gibson Gallery archives. The work was very inspiring to me and has given me some future ideas to explore some avenues in art I have never dreamed of exploring. The opening of the show was a performance piece by Japanese artist Ushio Shinohara, a member of the Neo-Dada movement. It was very surreal, here was this 70 year old Japanese man with a mohawk, wearing boxing shorts and gloves, who proceeded to dip his gloves in buckets of paint and "box" the canvas! It really was something to behold! the only down side to the whole performance was that someone sitting near had extreme, extreme b.o., to the point where my eyes were watering! I really will never be able to grasp poor hygiene, because it seems to me that unless you are destitute, cleaning one's self should be relatively easy. But, all in all, it was a pleasant evening of art and a show that I recommend anyone locally should see.
Posted by ahuckle at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
February 15, 2004
Business In The Front, Party In The Back
I just finished watching a very interesting documentary on Trio called "American Mullet" about one of the worlds most loathed, feared, unsettling and by some, loved haircuts, the Mullet. Believe it or not, there are a large amount of people in the world who are very proud of their mullets, and an even greater number who despise them! This documentary covered people of all types from all over the country who have mullets, and their reasons for having them. Many didn't want to be labeled by society, they wanted to be rebellious. some said it made them a part of nature, how that is I'm not quite sure. A particularly strange young woman, said it makes people think she is a rock star, and that people confuse her for Pat Benetar and Joan Jett all the time. I think those two ladies would be very upset to learn this. There were actually a lot of people in the documentary who believed having a mullet made people view them as a rock star. Another man profiled made his living as a Billy Ray Cyrus look-a-like, and had even one a trip to Dollywood! He said he would fall into a deep state of depression if he were to cut his mullet, that it is a part of his identity. I guess these people are like everyone else, they do not want to be judged by their appearance, or so they say. I am skeptical of this. I believe if you are going to wear a haircut that hideous, perhaps part of you secretly wants to be judged. If that's the case, then so be it. You should check out Wesley Willis' fabulous song "Cut The Mullet". It will give you a whole new perspective on the mullet.
Posted by ahuckle at 03:12 PM | Comments (3)
February 14, 2004
So Full It Hurts!
I just went out for a lovely and very delicious dinner with friends (I refuse to say Valentine's Dinner as I am not a fan of Valentine's Day) and now I am stuffed beyond belief! I had Tuni Maki for an appetizer, a Ceasar salad with herb bread, Pad Thai with Ginger Shrimp and Chicken and Strawberry Chocolate Cheesecake and coffee, plus two Dewar's and soda. For a while I thought I might be ill, but I am fine now, and going out soon with my darling friend Whitney for more drinks! I hope you all are having similarly pleasant evenings!
Posted by ahuckle at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2004
"Luke, I Am Your Father"
Well, at long last Lucasfilm has announced that the original "Star Wars" trilogy will be released on DVD on September 21 2004. They are promising all sorts of never before seen footage, remarkable sound and a never before seen documentary on "Star Wars". Sorry to sound like a geek, but I loved "Star Wars" as a child, and I still own all the original toys, so I am eagerly anticipating this!
Posted by ahuckle at 10:53 AM | Comments (12)
February 06, 2004
"Icons, Feed The Fires, Icons Falling From The Spires....."
I am unbelievably excited about the news on Steven Severin's (the bass player from Siouxsie & the Banshees) website! In June of this year there will be a boxset release of all the Banshees' b-sides called "Downside Up"! It will include over 50 tracks, 30 of which have never been released on CD! There are also plans beginning in November of this year to re-release all of the Banshees' albums, remastered with extra stuff included! Siouxsie & the Banshees have long been one of my favorite bands, and right now I am the happiest boy on Earth!
Posted by ahuckle at 09:53 AM | Comments (17)
February 03, 2004
Plastic Fantastic!
Apparantly there is quite a contoversy brewing over German artist Gunther von Hagens exhibit of 645 corpses preserved through a special "plastination" process. Some people are making allegations that several of his Chinese corpses were executed, a charge he vehemently denies. Check out the article and website for more info.
Posted by ahuckle at 08:58 PM | Comments (3)
February 02, 2004
Gettin' Booby With it!
Well, I am probably one of very few people who did not see Justin Timberlake flash Janet Jackson's breast to millions of people worldwide last night. I'm sure I will have multiple chances to see it all over every tabloid news show, news network, and most likely a Dateline special too! It seems CBS, MTV, Justin and Janet are all apologizing, saying it was a "wardrobe accident", but CNN reported that Janet had a silver pasty on over her nipple. Now tell me, how many people put on pasties "just in case" their breast is exposed?
**UPDATE***
My "sources" tell me it was not a pasty, but some sort nipple ring.
Posted by ahuckle at 10:46 AM | Comments (12)
February 01, 2004
Time Flies!
It is February already, and once again I am wondering "where does the time go"? It just seems to fly by faster and faster while I get less and less done. I started my first home improvement project on my new house today by beginning to rip the carpet up off of my stairs. They seem pretty nice underneath so far, but I have at least two more days of tack removal and staple pulling!
Posted by ahuckle at 07:40 PM | Comments (1)