The Last of the Paneling

The contractor is here. He’s been here for a couple of hours or so. He took down the last of the kitchen/dining room paneling today and it is everything I dreamed it would be. There is still paneling in the hallway, but I don’t eat in the hallway (or to put it the way Connor McCleod of the Clan McCleod did, I don’t dine in the hall*). The end of the paneling will be a day long remembered (It has seen the end of Kenobi, and will soon see the end of the rebellion**).

The contractor is subcontracting one item on the to-do list out to someone else. That someone else is coming tomorrow at…

…wait for it…

7:30am.

Yeah, that’s going to suck out loud.

Totally worth it though.


*Highlander reference, of course. They had the French guy play the Scottish guy and the Scottish guy play the Egyptian via Spain guy. Fucking brilliant.

**Star Wars quote, of course. Most things in my tiny little brain are revolving around Obi-Wan Kenobi these days and they will until we get the full Disney+ series. The few things in my tiny little brain that are not revolving around the imminent release of Kenobi are revolving around Star Trek Picard. Oh, how yesterday’s enterprise***.

***Star Trek Picard quote that is a call back to the title of a Star Trek the Next Generation episode. A killer episode at that. Welcome to the 21st century, Q.

Admit Defeat

This could probably go under the Stir Crazy Files. It seems like I talk about taking the garbage barrels out to the street way too often for comfort. I’m going to do it again, but I think the reason I do it is because it’s something that happens outside of the house. It’s as close to outside social interaction as the pandemic lets me have. How pathetic is that?

Anyway, I had to take the barrels to the street this morning. I woke up around 6:00am and I was going to get out of bed and take care of it, but I checked the weather and it was six degrees out. How about we wait and see if it warms up at all first, m’kay? I rolled over and went back to sleep.

I got up an hour later and did my full morning routine. A few months ago the trash pick up was getting here at 7:00am and I had to make sure everything was out before the sun came up. Now they are showing up mid-afternoon so I have a little breathing room. Someday it will bite me on the ass, but for today I took advantage of it.

My plan to wait and see if the air warmed up was successful. It was all the way up to eight degrees. I put on my winter coat, sighing in frustration. Then I was just about to step outside when I paused and put on a pair of gloves. Do you know what that felt like to a New Englander with 50 years of winters behind him? It felt like I was admitting defeat. I only had to walk to the side of the house, drag two barrels to the street and then come back. I need a jacket and gloves for that? What a wuss. Winter has beaten me today and I am not happy about it.

In my defense though, when I came back inside the house my glasses immediately fogged up enough that I couldn’t see. I feel like that was my spec’s way of telling me that the coat and gloves were a smart move. Thanks, spectacles.


On a totally unrelated note. I have a song stuck in my head. It’s from the movie The Hangover. I have no idea why it’s stuck in my head. How did it get there? Jen heard me singing it to myself and now she has it stuck in her head too.

We’re the three best friends that anybody could have:

Fanboy Weekend

The last two episodes of The Book of Boba Fett have been so good that I have had Star Wars on the brain for days. This weekend, while I should have been doing more productive things, I have watched the whole sequel trilogy. I didn’t mean to. I was just in that mood, you know? On Friday night I just went over to the Disney+ and popped on Rise of Skywalker. It turned my nerd up to 11. Yesterday I did the same with The Last Jedi. A little while ago I put on The Force Awakens. It’s on right now. FN2187 just got chewed out by Captain Phasma.

So yeah, I watched them in reverse order. So what? You wanna make something out of it?

The Book of Boba Fett ends on Wednesday. Then what? Star Trek Picard comes back in early March. The next Marvel series comes out in late March, I think. When do the zombies come back? Oh Google? The second part of the three part 11th season of The Walking Dead comes back on February 20th. So why not watch me some Star Wars, even if it is in reverse order? Maybe next weekend I’ll start a Marvel rewatch. It probably won’t be in reverse order though.

Think I can blow through the whole MCU in one weekend?

Studio 666

I get the impression that the guy from Nirvana saw Kiss meets the Phantom of the…. of the…. what was the phantom of? Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park, isn’t it?

Anyway, the guy from the Foo Fighters saw Kiss Meets the Phantom and thought, I can beat that.

Snow

Snow… shit; I’m still only in snow.*

We got a few inches last night and we’re supposed to get a few more today. I saw a news report that said Norwood had six inches before 6:00am, but that’s about 45 miles from here. That’s practically a different ecosystem.

I haven’t even put my coat on and my back is already killing me. I just took some Tylenol. Somehow I doubt it will save me. Bellana has an appointment this morning, and at some point later today both kids will go back to dad’s for the weekend. I am not going to be able to shovel everything before work, but maybe I can give them a head start.

Oh and yes, by writing this I am stalling like a boss. You readers are smart cookies. You all saw right through my little ruse.

I Don’t appreciate your ruse ma’am
Credit

*Saigon… shit; I’m still only in Saigon.

You knew where that one came from too. Ya’ll are smart cookies, just like I said.

Merry Christmas, Movie House!

Jen informed me tonight that Jimmy Stewart was suffering from PTSD when he filmed Its a Wonderful Life. All of those scenes where George Bailey was coming unglued and losing his shit? Stewart wasn’t necessarily acting.

Four Lines

In reference to the previous post, Boba Fett did have more than two lines in the original Star Wars trilogy. In fact, he had four lines.

1. “He’s no good to me dead.”

– Boba Fett, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.”

2. “As you wish.”

– Boba Fett, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’

3. “Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold.”

– Boba Fett, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’

4. “What if he doesn’t survive? He’s worth a lot to me.”

– Boba Fett, ‘The Empire Strikes Back.’

That’s it. He has a full blown fight scene in Return of the Jedi and he also gets swallowed whole by a great big worm/bug thing that lives in the sand.

I mentioned he has lines in the prequels and in the Clone Wars TV show. I forgot that he also has lines in the Star Wars Holiday Special. That’s probably the most important Boba Fett scene for me, not because it’s anything special (though it’s not as cringe-tasitc as the rest of the Holiday Special), but because of the fan club.

I was six when Star Wars came out. I say it all the time, but I was the target audience. Star Wars toys instantly because the main focus of my entire existence. I couldn’t get enough, and everything I got my tiny little mitts on was quickly destroyed by the constant usage.

Prior to the airing of The Holiday Special in November of 1978, the Star Wars fan club made an exclusive offer. If you joined the fan club you could get an action figure for a character that would make its debut in the TV special. I can’t remember if I asked my parents to sign me up, or if they did it on their own, but I got that action figure in the mail. Boba Freakin’ Fett. Someone else signed me up as well. I’m not sure who it was. I don’t know if I ever knew who it was. Regardless of who did it, I actually got a second Boba Freakin’ Fett action figure out of it. The character hadn’t even appeared on screen (big or small) yet and I had TWO action figures!

What does all of this mean? Nothing. I just want the show to be good. I want it to reach the very high bar that The Mandalorian set.

Two days.