Archive for December 14th, 2017

So, so close…

Thursday, December 14th, 2017

Hutto is a fairly small city near Austin (about 15,000 people).

Two Hutto residents are facing charges after law enforcement found found meth and cocaine, nearly two dozen firearms, explosive devices and other paraphernalia inside a house.

…

Inside the home, the release says Hutto investigators recovered 21 rifles and handguns. One of the recovered firearms had been reported stolen 18 years ago, officials said.

…

Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs and several other weapons were arranged in a “defensive posture” throughout the residence, the release says.
Hutto police also found an illegal alcohol distillery at the property. Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission agents joined the other agencies in the house search to dismantle the distillery.

So we’ve got:

  • Alcohol
  • Firearms
  • and Explosives

Man, if they had just had untaxed cigarettes or something else equally ludicrous, we would have had the BATFE quadfecta.

Posted in Cops, Guns | 1 Comment »

Quote of the day.

Thursday, December 14th, 2017

One might look at the master collaborators — from Kern and Berlin to Rodgers and Hart and Loesser and Jule Styne and Jerome Robbins — and come to the conclusion that the history of the Broadway musical is the history of short Jewish men yelling at each other.

—Jack Viertel, The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built.

Posted in Books, Music, Theatre | Comments Closed

Cahiers du cinéma 2017.

Thursday, December 14th, 2017

The Library of Congress announced the latest additions to the National Film Registry yesterday.

Random thoughts:

  • The Saturday movie group is doing pretty well, if I do say so myself. We watched both “Spartacus” and “Ace in the Hole” this year. Of the two, I like “Spartacus”, I think more than the CHeston “Ben-Hur” (which we watched last Saturday). But even I think “Spartacus” is a little long. (And I believe this “restored edition” is even longer than the Criterion DVD we watched.) As for “Ace in the Hole”: wow. This is a fantastically underrated movie that you should buy on Criterion and watch as soon as you can.
  • The greatest Christmas movie ever is on this year’s list. Good.
  • Haven’t changed my mind about “Field of Dreams”.
  • We need to find “He Who Gets Slapped”, “one of the earliest ‘creepy clown’ movies”.
  • Maybe I should watch “Memento”.
  • Saw the original “Superman” in theaters. I remember it being…okay. But even as a 13-year-old, I didn’t care much for Superman as a character: where’s the conflict if you have a character who is basically invulnerable to everything? (And don’t give me that kryptonite crap: Superman is allergic to his home planet? Really?) I think I just wasn’t born with the superhero gene.
  • Saw “Titanic” in theaters too. I don’t think it is a great movie, and I wouldn’t have put it on the list, but it does have Kate Winslet going for it.
  • I would like to see “Four Little Girls”.
  • I’ve never seen “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”.
  • We need to watch “Only Angels Have Wings” one night when RoadRich is with us.
  • A Winsor McCay WWI propaganda film? Sign me up, please.
  • “Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser” is pricy. But I do want to see it.

Posted in Movies | 2 Comments »