Happy October !!!

Happy October from my family's newest lil pumpkin!

Happy October!

Some new Walking Dead! Episode 1: Episode 2: Episode 3:

just a bit of fun...

If you haven't read The Pixar Theory, you should.
The original post came out about a week ago and can be found here.
If you are to lazy to read it, this video covers it pretty well.

Random thought of the Night

Why was I named "Ian"?
To know how to punch out a mutha fucker if need be

Mucho Ado About Nothing

I have never understood people that didn't get Shakespeare.
Even in High School when it was required reading.
The man wrote about universal themes of love and hate; revenge and redemption; loyalty and betrayal.
He wrote tragedies (Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth), comedies (Taming of the Skrew, Loves Labors Lost) and fantasies (Midsummer Nights Dream, The Tempest).
I thing a lot of the problem is that most people only have read Shakespeare or seen it preformed in the classical trained style. And usually then only the tragedies. But Shakespeare wasn't high art in his time. The theater as a whole was looked down upon and was considered entertainment for commoners.
People have been adapting Shakespeare's work for decades to make movies
Throne of Blood = Macbeth
Ran = King Lear
Forbidden Planet = The Tempest
The Lion King = Hamlet
West Side Story = Romeo and Juliet
10 Things I Hate About You = The Taming of the Skrew
There are tons more you can look up online.
People have taken Shakespeare's work and updated them, changed them around to tell the tales in more modern ways. Just look at Romeo + Juliet  from the 90s. Its very 90s!
So I was happy to notice an upswing in the production on one of my favorite plays, Mucho Ado About Nothing.
Just look at this adaption from the 1993, filmed in the actual place the play is set. Great cast, beautiful shot and put together film. It is a bit more in the classical style of Shakespeare, but the real world locations plus acting help convey the story well

The next example, was filmed on stage from London. Set somewhere in the early 1980s. Clever sets and great actors keep this production moving. I highly recommend you rent or buy it, but it is only online. And YES!!! I know it is a bit of a Doctor Who thing.

Which brings us to the lastest adaption. So what does a director, Joss Whedon, do after making one of the highest grossing movies of all time, The Avengers? He adapts Shakespeare on an indie budget, uses all his favorite actors and sets it in modern times. I really look forward to seeing this. I hope it plays around here.

My Friends are Better than Yours.....hehehehe

The "Red Shirts" are Erica and Fuzzy Gerdes! Plus I just like the random "Doctor" in the background

Memphis in May Day 3

So we started off Sunday looking for a place to eat breakfast. Because we weren't paying $30 for a breakfast bar. Sadly we drove all over town looking for something and ended up at the downtown Denny's. Not exactly the local flare.
After breakfast we went back to the hotel and got ready for the day. We started out the day doing the tourist thing again. Which after a nice drive around Memphis we ended up back downtown for the nicest day weather wise.  We went to see the Gibson plant. It was pretty interesting to see how

all the guitars and other instruments are made. Plus I got to play some  awesome guitars. Really, really nice guitars. Five figures, nice guitar. So after hanging out in guitar heaven, Mary and I went across the street to the Rock n Soul museum. It was very empty and after talking to the ladies that ran the ticket booth/gift shop, we decided not to take the tour. But the ladies let me play an awesome little cigar box guitar. Which was the most fun I had playing the guitar in while. The ladies also recommended the place we eat lunch at. They gave us a list and I wish we had found A & R BBQ, but we didn't have time.

So we ended up hitting Beale Street. I have always thought of Beale Street as the little brother of Bourbon Street NOLA. Its smaller, cleaner, bit more family friendly. Got alot of street performers and interesting stores, but doesn't have that sleazy over commercialized feel.  Its just a nice street, touristy, but nice. We had BBQ again at the Blues City Cafe. It was pretty good. The waitress got pissed off at another table and gave us great service just to spit them.
So after eating we headed down to the festival site
We saw some gospel music from The Slide Brothers, some Alt-Country from Deer Tick and blues music from Gary Clark Jr.

We also caught few songs by Papa Roach (Mary was so Happy), Phoenix, and Lucero. But after three days of running around we were tired and skipped The Smashing Pumpkins and The Flaming Lips.
We hit up The Flying Saucer for some beers, food, and a challenge from my fiancee involving Hot Mustard. Had a lot of fun.

Waiting on some Music

Memphis in May Day 4

So to end our Memphis adventure, Mary and I got a good night sleep and found a great place to eat breakfast, The Blue Plate Cafe and visited the Memphis Zoo. The Zoo would have been better if it hadn't been over run with school children and raining. But Mary loves zoos and I love her. So I made the sacrifice (Zoos make me sad. All those animals caged up want to run free). We then hit up Fazoli's in Southaven and headed home. To start planning our wedding, which Mary made massive amounts of progress on in that first day.