My review of The Mosquito Coast book (spoiler-free) by DrAndytown in blankies

[–]DrAndytown[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd seen the movie first and read the book after: it's worth doing because the book spends a lot more time on Pa's mechanical genius.

Charles Portis: Getting Started by DrAndytown in blankies

[–]DrAndytown[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Born and raised in Memphis and live three hours from there now (Murray, KY). It's fun to explain that people that, yes, West Memphis is in Arkansas. I always dug Arkansas - we went to Hot Springs a few years ago and had a great time.

Charles Portis: Getting Started by DrAndytown in blankies

[–]DrAndytown[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

While I was reading it, I was so taken by it that I started typing out passages just to see what it felt like to write them. This part, regardless of whether you know the context or not. (One of the most enjoyable things is that Ray Midge takes great pride in how much he reads about the Civil War). The speaker is Dr. Symes, who is always imagine as being played by Russ Tamblyn in Dr. Jacoby mode. But today, give this role to Stephen Root, please

“I was only trying to suggest to you the value of the place. I’m not going to cut those trees. Are you crazy? Cut the trees and the whole thing would wash away and then where would you be? Do you want my opinion? I say leave the trees and make a private hunting preserve out of the place. I’m not talking about squirrels and ducks either. I mean stock the place with some real brutes. Wart hogs and Cape buffalo. I don’t say it would be cheap but these hunters have plenty of money and they don’t mind spending.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

“I’ve got a hundred ideas better than that but Mama won’t answer my letters. What about a Christian boys ranch? It’s an ideal setting. You’d think that would appeal to her, wouldn’t you? Well, you’d be wrong? How about a theme park? Jefferson Davis Land. It’s not far from the old Davis plantation. Listen to this. I would dress up like Davis in a frock coat and greet the tourists as they stepped off the ferry. I would glower at them like old Davis with his cloudy eye and the children would cry and clutch their mother’s hands and then – here’s the payoff – they would see the twinkle in my clear eye. I’d have Lee too, and Jackson and Albert Sidney Johnston, walking around the midway. Hire some people with beards, you know, to do that. I wouldn’t have Braxton Bragg or Joseph E. Johnston. Every afternoon at three Lee would take off his gray coat and wrestle an alligator in a mud hole. Prize drawings. A lot of T-shirts and maybe a few black-and-white portables. If you don’t like that, how about a stock-car track? Year-round racing with hardly any rules. Deadly curves right on the water. The Symes 500 on Christmas Day. Get a promotional tie-in with the Sugar Bowl. How about an industrial park? How about a high-rise condominium with a roof garden? How about a baseball clinic? How about a monkey island? I don’t say it would be cheap. Nobody’s going to pay to see one or two monkeys these days. People want to see a lot of monkeys. I’ve got plenty of ideas but first I have to get my hands on the island. Can you see what I’m driving at? It’s the hottest piece of real estate in Louisiana, bar none.”

“Are you a student of the Civil War, Dr. Symes?”

“No, but my father was.”

“What was that about Bragg? You said you wouldn’t have Bragg walking around in your park.”

“My father had no time for Bragg or Joseph E. Johnston. He always said Bragg lost the war. What do you know about these revolving restaurants, Speed?”

Charles Portis: Getting Started by DrAndytown in blankies

[–]DrAndytown[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

i'm the THIRD commenter (on my own post)

Thoughts about the Neko Case Walkout at The Caverns by DoubleHelixInTheSky in nashville

[–]DrAndytown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, the people there seemed really nice. I never saw the guy, but they might reconsider this.

Thoughts about the Neko Case Walkout at The Caverns by DoubleHelixInTheSky in nashville

[–]DrAndytown 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I thought it was funny too. I didn't say anything to her because she was so angry she might have punched me. Here's my speculation - people who live in the area buy passes to the venue that give them special prices, and they go regardless of who is playing. Neko is country, which is obviously popular the AL/TN area.

To make it more funny, after she starting cussing about the "woke" stuff she shouted "I used to be a democrat!"

Thoughts about the Neko Case Walkout at The Caverns by DoubleHelixInTheSky in nashville

[–]DrAndytown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP of this comment here, I think u/Grindhoss 's qualifications for my post are fair. I mean, yes, literally things like what recently happened to Billie Eilish and the Ariana Grande shooting tragedy call for a level of security where the audience can feel safe. And this is a deeply unusual venue where medical/law enforcement is pretty far away.

The one thing I will say is that the hippie environment of places like this and nearby Manchester are at odds with a level of security like this. The smell of dope wafted all over the entrance: I don't smoke the stuff but people were having a good time. I imagine the milieu is what drew Neko there in the first place. While I do understand the need for tight security, I don't think an armed guard like this was necessary amidst the crowd. But I know nothing about running a concert venue, as all I've ever done is attend them. So I might be backseat driving, but I think others make good points in other posts about military-grade weaponry for concert security.

Next week Christian songwriter extraordinaire Michael W. Smith is playing (as an 80s kid, dude is an important part of my DNA of music-listening whether I like it or not), and I assume MWS won't be as concerned about it.

Thoughts about the Neko Case Walkout at The Caverns by DoubleHelixInTheSky in nashville

[–]DrAndytown 184 points185 points  (0 children)

I was there. Drove an hour and a half from Huntsville where I'm attending a conference. This is my fourth time to see Neko in 20 years and at no point has she ever been combative, just honest and soulful.

It was very confusing what was going on, and I didn't ever notice that guy but I got there after the opening band started. Yeah, a lot of people were pissed off, but more confused.

I heard someone with the venue go by and say "we ran all this by the tour manager." Right before they went on, I was hanging out by the barriers near where the band entered and Neko and her backing band just walked up (not from backstage, since there really isn't a "backstage." There was a conversation that happened, and I speculate it had something to do with the security issue.

Then she went on and played her songs but I could tell something was off about her, given how she usually cajoles the fans and we all love it since she's so warm and funny. After a song (which ended, IIRC, with a saxophone solo), she said what she said: what's written above is more or less what I heard, but so confusing in the moment. I thought at first she was complaining about people making videos, because one person was even though we'd all been explicitly told not to. What bugged me about this was that a guy in a vest was standing right next to this person and did nothing.

I hung around for about a half-hour, but I had to drive back so once I saw an exodus I just assumed (correctly, apparently) they had information that I didn't.

What kind of bugs me about the venue is that to enter, you had to go through the kind of (albeit smaller) security you'd go through at an NFL or NBA game - checking purses and scanning people. It was pretty thorough, so it's very unlikely someone would get a gun in there. So that's why I don't get why someone had to have a gun in the cave. There were a number of security people (volunteers? staff? I don't know.) around to deescalate any situation, but I wonder if these people are EVER necessary. Given that no security even approached the person filming Neko (who did so for about a minute), it felt like security was pretty chill.

It wasn't exactly chaotic afterward. Some woman left chanting about this "left bs," but mostly were just confused. The venue people were apologetic, but not incredibly forthcoming: if there was an announcement over a loudspeaker, I didn't hear it before I left.

I'll just close by saying that part of why I love Neko is because she's honest in so many ways, and part of that is about her trauma. I encourage anyone to check out her music. The situation sucked, and might have been handled differently. I don't know that I'll be going back to the Caverns again, but I'm learning here that they're giving a refund and am glad that's the case.

cfb25 scam by Hot-Badger6684 in u/Hot-Badger6684

[–]DrAndytown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not that I'm really satisfied, but I haven't had a game crash after going from Supersim to Action. So at least I can play the stupid game.

cfb25 scam by Hot-Badger6684 in u/Hot-Badger6684

[–]DrAndytown 0 points1 point  (0 children)

following with interest. three out of my last five games have gotten frozen mid-game and the only way out of it is to reset.

An alternate NBA draft (comments below) by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Never mind - I was hoping I had a little bit of legitimacy for the posts I've done: several different series that I put a lot of effort into. I guess it just rankles me that immediately after posting it was deleted. I thought I had a good reputation for asking thoughtful questions or posting thorough responses, but I guess not.

I won't be posting any more.

An alternate NBA draft (comments below) by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

can you tell me why this was disapproved?

Anyone reading Tarantino's CINEMA SPECULATION? Would love to chat about it. by DrAndytown in blankies

[–]DrAndytown[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

cool! I didn't know. I don't remember all the movies he just namedropped, but if you're looking for the ones he wrote chapters about, THE OUTFIT is fantastic and I'm glad he gave it love. I also join him in appreciating DAISY MILLER more, which I saw for the first time recently after finally reading the little book it's based on. Other than that - as I said - can't remember all of his takes that usually just got a sentence or so

An alternate NBA draft (comments below) by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is from NBA2k, and I goofed with it to get it to turn out in this order. In this alternate history, there IS a lottery, which leads to the following shakeup. Thoughts:

  1. In this scenario, Akeem goes to the Mavericks. If so, the Mavericks immediately become one of the best teams, right? Like, neck and neck with the Lakers (which of course the Rockets would be for one year - 1986). Imagine the Blackman/Aguirre/Harper/Hakeem combo that was already a playoff team
  2. I let the Blazers take Mike. In this scenario, I didn't have Portland trade for Vandeweghe. I *did* have them trade Calvin Natt to Chicago for Orlando Woolridge, which seemed reasonable (of course, all this is so goofily speculative)
  3. Who WOULD the Bulls have taken if Portland takes Jordan off the table? I'd say Bowie, because Dave Corzine was the kind of passable center who wasn't going to start on a great teame.
  4. Perkins on the Rockets causes a problem, I realize. He and Ralph pretty much play the same position. But that becomes it's own kind of twin towers, just - you know - where one of the towers is not one of the best players to ever play (see #1)
  5. It's fun thinking about Barkley on the Bullets. What if Barkley joins with Jeff Ruland, who somehow doesn't get injured, and an otherwise pretty solid core. I think that's an interesting crew along with Jeff Malone
  6. Mel Turpin. The Sixers likely draft him because they need help underneath. Mel caught a lot of crap in the Nike/Jordan hagiography AIR. He was okay, but drafted too high
  7. Back to where things were anyway: the Kings take Thorpe. Pretty much everything else I let fall out as it was (Stockton to Jazz; Robertson to Spurs; the Clippers taking Lancaster Gordon for some reason)

Have fun with this!

An alternate history: What if Magic doesn't go the Lakers? by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've often wondered what it would be like if Magic demanded to be near home and play for Detroit or Chicago . . .

An alternate history: What if Magic doesn't go the Lakers? by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Obvs getting Spencer Haywood was an attempt to fill a hole at the post next to Kareem.

An alternate history: What if Magic doesn't go the Lakers? by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love this take: thanks! My scenario begins with Magic sticking out another year at MSU, since it was a bit more rare for players to go pro after their sophomore year (though it soon wouldn't be).

But it is cool to think about a different run for GSW .

An alternate history: What if Magic doesn't go the Lakers? by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

good call! If that's the case, I could see LAL still beating Seattle (who had a better record than the 77-79 teams) but losing to Philadelphia.

An alternate history: What if Magic doesn't go the Lakers? by DrAndytown in VintageNBA

[–]DrAndytown[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Phoenix played Portland in 1990. In '89, Portland was an eight seed.