The Life Thread

[Crewe]

So I was browsing a thread about The Wire and the question was brought up, what films should a Wire fan watch?
It was obviously a younger crowd, but films like Serpico, French Connection, All the Presidents Men, Chinatown and the like were touted and rightly so.
To me, these were well known films and are guys like me were surely reading this with a "well, duh" attitude.
In my mind, how could you not have seen theses films already? It kinda goes to what we discussed earlier about being tuned in to times beyond our own.
Im blown away when someone learns about Pink Floyd's record breaking appearance on the charts, or some other "everybody knows that fact."
Its the same reason I roll my eyes when some millennial breaks out with this is the "greatest xyz ever" completely oblivious to the fact that film, album, song whatever has already been done, and probably a better product to boot.
In any event, get off my lawn...

[Bucfever]

Of those four films, I've only seen Serpico....


I KNOW, I KNOW

[Crewe]

that's a good one to see

[Bucfever]

So, how was everyone's holidays?

[Crewe]

food poisoning had me down for 6-7 days around Christmas. Was able to get out for Xmas Eve and Day for a bit and was 100% a day or two after.
the good side is, as you could tell by the entertainment threads here, Ive been catching up on lots and lots of my backlogged queue.
And now Ive delved into Hitchcock again...

[Rigg44]

So, how was everyone's holidays?

Good, or in other words boring.  The older I get the more I appreciate the beauty of boring.  Spent xmas and new years with just the wife and kids.  So it was a relaxed and enjoyable holiday season for us.

 

[cflnut]

My holidays started on November 21, and I go back to work on January 7. So I'll say mine were pretty good. Outside of the normal holiday dinner at my sisters place, I got together with some friends I hadn't had the chance to see for a wile. I did however spend most of my time at home relaxing with the cats, and the PS4. 

[TheNorm]

So, how was everyone's holidays?

Not bad. Brother came into Chicago so the family was able to hangout together for Christmas, then drove back in to Michigan on the 28th and got to hangout with friends for a few days here. One nice thing about being a travel nurse now is that since my holiday pay is pretty damn high, the hospitals typically don’t want to schedule me for them. 👍🏽

Other than that, it was nice to just relax.

[Bucfever]

Forgot about my own, heh.

Went back to Myrtle Beach for the first time since leaving back in 2017 (well, slight lie. We were there for literally one night after the cruise, the ship docked in Charleston, we rode back with her mom and sis to Myrtle and flew back out the next day).

But, yeah. I stayed at my mom and dad's, she stayed at her mom's place, so that part sucked. Had a good xmas eve with her side though, Christmas day with mine and had kiddo after noon on that day. Fiancee left on the 26th to visit the rest of her family in Pennsylvania, I stuck around and met up with some old friends, saw plenty of movies with kiddo (none of them good, sadly. Well, Bumblebee was actually OK, but Aquaman  and Vice were a mess. Although we DID see Die Hard in theaters on the following Sunday, so that was cool).

Highlight was probably either the sushi dinner with friends or an entire day of playing board games (starting with "Who Goes There?" and never quite finishing the "Firefly" board game).

But, yeah, good time. On New Years Eve I flew to DC and met back up with the fiancee (we had flown into DC, she'd rented a car, we drove into MB, and then she drove that car back to PA. Cheaper to return it to the same airport so we flew back out of DC and she met me there when I flew back in), hung out and flew back home to celebrate the New Year.

[Crewe]

Anyone have any suggestions on improving cognitive abilities?
if times are not good, I tend to have sinking spells that are tough to overcome.

[Crewe]

I didn't know where else to drop this in, but I check out this vid every so often as it is one of my absolute favorites.
Ann Willson has a set of pipes that just won't quit. Saw Heart back to back couple of years ago and they are still at the top of their game. I doubt you would find many to disagree.
In any event, I just love this video. To me, it encapsulates everything music should be.
Raw energy, passion, the sheer excitement and joy, the expressiveness, it just emotes on so many levels. Jason Bonham on the drums, the jubilance of Page and JPJ, the somber, reminiscing expression of Plant, not to mention the anxiety of playing in front of those guys, oh and the President and First Lady as well, by the way.
To even be a part of that experience on stage must have been a pinnacle of life.
Maybe I enjoy it a bit too much, but its such a powerful tribute IMO.

What does it for you?

[Crewe]

Saturday I hosted a poker game, for which I haven't done in ages for several reasons. Didn't have enough room, lived to far from everyone, and mostly, didn't keep in touch with my former poker buddies.
We used to play every pay day and this was prior to the big Texas Hold em craze that swept the nation.
So we played dealer's choice, which would include every thing from 5 & 7 card stud, 5 draw, lowball, hold em, guts etc...
During and after the big hold em craze, every one played tournament style, hold em only.
So I arranged this game with family and friends who happened to be up to 15 years younger than me.
I had told them all it would be dealer's choice and they were fine with that.
The interesting things were that one, I figured we would be playing hold em mostly since that's what they knew, but the other was, that despite being fairly knowledgeable regarding gambling, they had trouble with how the other games were played, which of course are staples in poker.
Everything was fine and it was a great time but I just found that interesting, no real point to the story other than that observation.

I'll add that we always played with a limit which was reasonable so no one would go broke early on, but you could still easily lose a couple of hundred if you weren't careful so it wasn't nickel dime pennies. These fellas weren't used to that either and I could tell they wanted to bluff and buy so many times by going "all in" but couldn't. Forced a newly of playing on them lol Still, fun stuff and I just found all of those tidbits rather fascinating. Call it a generation thing I guess?

[Crewe]

Last year, prior to my jaunt to Boston, I decided Im going. Im going to visit places that Ive wanted to go for years and never have.
There's always a reason not to go. No money, no time, no travel companion etc...
Now, what little money I save, goes for this. I have to go while I still can. I can't retire anyway so why put it off? Starting in the US and next is...

Nashville-anyone from there, been there, going there?

Im headed that way in April and am really looking forward to it. Already have tix to see the AAA Round Rock Express (fun fact; named after Nolan Ryan) face the Nashville Sounds. Hope to score some Predator tix, although those will be sky high, even if they are playing when Im there.
I have a couple of record stores lined up, museums (Cash and Third Man Records to name a couple) and will hit as many bars as I possibly can.
If there's something I need to see or experience, let me know!

[TheNorm]

Haven't been in a few years and only got to spend a day there, but loved it!
Broadway is awesome, lots to see. Checked out The Stage on Broadway and Robert's Western World (bars), and it was alright. Country music isn't my thing by any stretch of the imagination but the atmosphere was pretty damn cool.

Check out Edley's BBQ while you're there too. I didn't go, but about a year ago a couple friends of mine did and brought back some Ghost Sauce from there...I love it. Enjoy!

[Crewe]

Edley's is one I haven't heard of, so perhaps I will just for the Ghost sauce lol
We are staying right on Broadway so yea, gonna hit a lot of em. From what I've read, its not saturated with country anymore as the town draws a more diverse crowd. Im not a large country fan anymore, but I was before it went all kinds of berserk with that Billy Ray nonsense.