“I tore my taint!”
It was spoken in a similar accent as “They took our jobs!” and by someone who had fallen off of a mechanical bull.
Is it worth the text?
Rip Van Balzer
Had a bad enough seizure yesterday that just kept lingering with spasms, so I kind of slipped into a little coma, so to speak, in my recliner. Robin finally woke me up late in the evening because I was snoring so loud, and I went to bed where my CPAP is located.
However way I managed it, I’m better rested today, so I’m gonna try to get something productive done.
Here we go again, Media.
New York Post released an article about handicapped people being paid to escort rich people ahead of the lines at Disney, and it’s based on 100% hearsay HERE.
And when you get something this juicy that isn’t backed up by any proof at all, you know what that means, right? IT MUST BE TRUE!
It can only mean there must be something far more important going on that requires a stupid distraction.
Total Recall (minor spoilers)
I finally got around to watching the latest Total Recall movie, and I loved it! I’d heard the moaning and groaning about the movie prior to watching it, and it’s one of the reasons I took my time. I’ve really got to stop letting that stuff get to me! This film was one wild ride!
Now, the original film came out in my teens, so I was at just the right age to be completely hooked on it, along with other Verhoeven films such as RoboCop and Starship Troopers. When I heard they were doing a remake of Total Recall, my first reaction was like when I heard about the upcoming RoboCop remake… why? The first was so awesome and still holds up.
Then I heard the hate over the news that in the remake, Quaid doesn’t go to Mars. This seemed blasphemous to fans but it doesn’t bother me one bit. Consider the source material: in Philip K. Dick’s short story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” Quail (his name in the story) does not go to Mars. The character had already been to Mars, hence his longing to go after his memory was wiped, but we never see the character leave Earth.
Normally, when remakes are done, I’m fine with them so long as they’re well-made and they’re not carbon copies of the original. The Psycho remake was pointless, in my opinion, as was The Hitcher clone (though the sequel was a hoot). If you’re going to tell the story again, do your own thing while paying tribute.
The latest Total Recall pulls this off, and it does so beautifully. On most occasions, I prefer the version that can be closest to the source material, like John Carpenter’s The Thing – it was much closer to “Who Goes There?” than the old The Thing from Another World. However, the short story for Total Recall was actually more of a comedy. Outside of the initial visit to the clinic, it’s good that both films do their own thing, and because of the originality we see in both, we have two great, action-packed sci-fi films that stem from the same idea, and the remake does make some great nods to the original which makes it all the more fun.
Waking up to Facebook
I love Facebook but wow, sometimes it makes me shake my head so hard.
I thought – thought – I’d seen some crazy stuff for the morning when I logged on to see this comment on an Iron Man 3 discussion:
I just wish Marvel stop doing this superhero mash up crap in MOVIES… I just can’t take it that we are supposed to accept that Thor, Hulk and Iron Man are all supposed to live in the same world and share the same history.
I asked if the person was serious before banging my head on something.
I thought that would be my wild one for the day, but nope. Within minutes, I’m posting the following reply elsewhere:
Just popping on to say A. It’s ridiculous to imply that every time children goes missing, it’s because a Mexican sold them across the border into sex slavery, and B. Springfield, MO is NOT the setting for Simpsons. The town is called Springfield but there’s also one in Illinois, etc – it’s a vague, common town name.
Got my first iPod and what it means for me.
I used birthday money received to buy my very first iPod, and this wasn’t necessarily to spoil myself, though I’m sure I’ll enjoy it plenty. It also wasn’t a big fancy one with a screen – I really had no use for that. I only wanted something that would hold enough music for a long road trip, and I wanted a shuffle function so I’m not listening to the same order every time. Anything else would be overkill, especially since it would only take one seizure in the car to crack a screen.
So I got the iPod Shuffle. It’s perfect! No screen, it holds about 2GB of music and it… shuffles. It’s so tiny that I worry I’ll lose it, but it will fit nicely in my shirt pocket. I also got a silicon sleeve for it and some noise-cancelling earbuds because I’m told the ones that come with it aren’t the best.
So here’s why: When I’m in the car, the road noise gets to me after maybe an hour of riding. That sound of tires on asphalt does something related to my conversion disorder and the next thing I know, the car has to be pulled over because I’m having a seizure. We’ve tried turning the radio on but it doesn’t mask the noise well enough. Also, sometimes it gets a bit squelchy, or a loud commercial comes on and makes things worse.
Another thing, and this may be rooted with some psychological trauma that helped cause the disorder, but as the anxiety of an oncoming seizure builds, I begin to get weird flashes in my head, like I’m in a car crash – vehicles flying at the windshield and such. I guess it’s all part of a panic attack coming on before the seizure but it’s certainly not nice.
Anyway, I look forward to trying this iPod out on the next road trip. I know it works well because I gave it a shot here in the house. Robin couldn’t hear the music though it was turned up plenty loud, and I could barely hear her. This may be worth using on days at home when the dogs are barking a lot, etc. That always increases my seizure activity.
Back on Ambien, baby!
So, Restoril really sucks, as you might gather from this blog entry HERE.
Oddly enough, the gentleman my mother takes care of also takes Restoril, and she notices him moving his fingers a lot in his sleep. She thought it was cute, like perhaps he was working on something in his dreams, similar to a dog running in his sleep. But that got her to thinking perhaps the drug has a weird side effect not mentioned in literature, and since I have an issue with spasms, etc, in my sleep to begin with, it was only worse with me.
He had also tried Ambien but quickly stopped because he would get up in the middle of night and insist on stacking mattresses or something. Well, I also get goofy, as evidenced HERE but I’d rather that than having raw hands and feet each day.
So, does this mean Webby Tiger Piss will continue? The chances are certainly higher, right? As always, I’ll never post silly stuff purposely to have something for it. Thing on WTP will only go there if I have no recollection of doing it afterward.
We shall see.
By the way, I did ask if I should try something else, like Lunesta, and the doc said to just go back to Ambien.
Sleeping Battle Plan
Tonight, I’m going to go to bed with my old weight-lifting gloves on. I’ve been unable to do much computer work, etc, lately because my hands feel raw all the time. My feet, too, but I’m not trying to do things with them – they just hurt.
See, this change in sleeping medication isn’t working out. Ambien was making me too goofy so I was put on Restroril. Well, where Ambien was helping with my Conversion Disorder spasms during sleep, Restoril is not. In fact, I think it’s aggravating things. It gives me bad dreams every night! I’ll dream that someone is trying to microwave our degus, or that I’m divorced from Robin and I don’t know why, or that my father is alive again, but yelling and screaming at everyone in one of his old drunken rages.
And so I’m having seizures in deep sleep again. All night long while I’m knocked out by the pill and stuck in its induced nightmares, my toes and fingers are steadily clenching and relaxing, then clenching again, repeatedly for hours. Also the stomach spasms, etc.
I’d been wondering why everything hurts so much more lately, but Robin witnessed me doing this the other night so I know for sure what’s up now. And if I don’t take the pill, I’ve got insomnia all night and seizures, so I’m damned either way.
Until I can talk to the doctor about it, the weight gloves are going on tonight. Maybe they’ll keep my fingers from clenching so much through the night and I can actually use my hands better tomorrow. They’re screaming just typing this up, ugh.
Wish me luck!
Great first review of Adam J. Whitlatch’s The Weller!
Retro Rocket Press had its first release recently, and the praise is already coming in! Check out what Survival Weekly had to say about The Weller by Adam J. Whitlatch:
