Staff Retreat!

This photo is from a staff retreat Mr. Snodbottom forced us to go on way back in February. It rained the whole time and Kendall and I stayed in our suite making s'mores in the bathroom sink. 

While Kendall and I were in our suite, Becky texted us this picture- it was the only food we'd left in the kitchen for the rest of the staff! Oops- but I truly think our crew bonded as a result of only having asparagus to eat for 48 hours. (Maybe they didn't bond with us, but that's okay too! Learning experiences all around.) 

Austin's Art

This is a photo Austin gave us of some black and white pictures he took. He said this was a gallery "back home" (even though I'm pretty sure he grew up 10 minutes from the studio). It looks more like his Mom's house to me. On second thought I think this is from a magazine or something- unless that text on the left side was another artist's work. 

Believe It or Not!

Believe it or not, I cannot find a single photograph of the "Superman Returns" poster I had back in ought-six. The poster I had probably looked kind of like that one. And I'll have you know I went through A LOT of mental anguish searching for a picture that had that poster in it. I saw so many skinny photos of my old self!! I hate 2006 me!!! SO MUCH.

And in a telling twist- on my search for a picture of my old poster- I did find many photos of FOOD. Here's one photo (above) of a pie. Mrs. Potterbutter Butterchurn could have made it, but we could also have asked Becky or Austin to bake it. We've eaten so many pies they all run together (and settle on my big fat ass).

Let's Talk Superman

It must be said (okay not really, but it can be said) that "Superman Returns" of 2006 is much better than this year's "Man of Steel." 

Now, "Man of Steel" is enjoyable (although they attempted to make it a sober drama with 1.5 hours of non-stop explosions at the end), and has plenty of things going for it:

1. It includes fun scenes of Russell Crowe on Krypton and as Ghost Dad in the space ship.

2. Amy Adams is unexpectedly forceful and perky as Lois Lane. Let me rephrase that. Amy Adams is forcefully perky as Lois Lane. (I wanted to make it a good pull-quote for the DVD box).








3. For the gays and gals out there Henry Cavill is plenty cute enough to carry a Super-movie. (Personally, I prefer Brandon Routh's 06 model Kal-El. Henry Cavill's physique is more He-Man than Superman, but again I ain't complaining- just splitting hairs. And eating ice cream. Fat blobs like me eat ice cream and blog about how Henry Cavill is too muscle-y while the laptop bounces on the gelatinous protrusion that is my stomach.)



4. One other thing "Man of Steel" has is Kevin Costner. First off- how did the 90's become nostalgic? Why am I brought to tears by the sight of Kevin Costner walking through a corn field? It's like Shoeless Joe might stroll out any second and ask to bunt. (Did I get the baseball terminology correct?)







Now (quickly) points against "Man of Steel":

1. No speedo. Modern audiences (as opposed to those of 2006) find the red speedo ridiculous. A man who flies and melts things with heat vision is not believable in a speedo.

2. The suit is navy this time to convey the darker tone of the film? Thanks Jor-El for at least leaving us with the cape!

3. It's just a personal thing- but I could have done without 45 minutes of the exploding buildings at the end of "Man of Steel." That still would have left almost an hour's worth! We get it- Zod BLEW THINGS UP. 

But all in all, a Superman movie is still a fun summer event. Now when they make "Man of Steel 2," I just hope there's lots of confusion around Clark Kent in glasses/Superman without glasses (that's my favorite Superman plot element, after the speedo). 

No Big Deal

No Big Deal- Elvira and Kathy Griffin are tweeting at us all the time.

Memento Memo

It just occurred to me that if Kendall and I ever needed to make notes on our bodies . . . well, screw notes- we'd have room for the entire text of "Ulysses."*

*"Ulysses" is a really long book** written by James Joyce. It centers on a single day (June 16, 1904***) in the life of two Dublin men.

*Here is a real photo of Marilyn Monroe herself reading "Ulysses!" How do I know it's real? It popped up 2 dozen times in my Google image search for "Ulysses." 

**Okay it's not "Under the Dome" long, but still!

***Did you know that "Ulysses" has its own holiday? It's true! June 16th is known as Bloomsday, named after a "Ulysses" character, and is a celebration of all things James Joyce. It is observed in Dublin and elsewhere around the globe. 

The Apology Post

It is so shameful to have only 7 blog posts for the first half of 2013!!! I marvel at those numbers from years gone by! In 2008 we posted 354 times! (We must have had lots of free time back then.)

Anyway- let's start fresh! I will try (in as many blog posts as possible) to update you on the doings around the old Cliff and Kendall podcast studio. (Our new episode about Spices is up on the right- don't let the subject matter scare you away- it's a great episode. And I should know- I'm one of the hosts).

Okay if I'm gonna get our blog post numbers up (2013-people problems- am I right?) then I shouldn't write anymore on this post. But if I post a lot before anyone can read them- they'll read them from last to first- so it will be like that "Memento" movie-

Readers who are now all the way back at the beginning, the story is over for you, but only beginning for me!