Miss Sloane a dud

Posted on December 24, 2016 by JB under Art, General thoughts, Movie Reviews

I didn’t see that coming (Sarc)

So it looks like the highly touted anti-gun / anti-NRA movie is bombing badly at the box office.

Miss Sloane is a story of a DC lobbyist that takes on the “most powerful opponent of her career”, an obvious reference to the NRA.

So the elites in Hollywood somehow thought that a film where the hero is a lobbyist would make for a good movie. I suppose in progressive land this makes sense. However, in the really real world where the American public is growing tired of the self-righteous elites dictating our rights, it may not have been such a smart move.

The movie according to Box Office Mojo, had a total revenue for Miss Sloane at a paltry $3.188m. That’s after 4 weeks. Let’s compare to say, Bad Santa which has also been out for 4 weeks and has made over $17m in about 1/3 of the number of theaters.

I saw the preview for Miss Sloane while waiting to watch Arrival. My wife and I looked at each other and laughed, nope we wouldn’t be wasting money on that propaganda.

Jessica Chastain may be a good actress, I don’t know I haven’t seen anything she has been in. Zero Dark Thirty which would normally fall into my range of films, had some elements that didn’t meet the smell test so I may catch it on TV someday.

Bias alert: I am an NRA member….

In other news:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Permits to carry concealed handguns are up in the second-most populated county in Colorado.

El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Natalie Sosa told The Gazette that officials noticed the spike after last year’s shooting on Halloween was followed by another on Black Friday.

The department issued 7,100 concealed carry permits through November this year, almost twice as many as it did in 2015.

#Miss Sloane, #dumbideas #Guncontrol

Records? Player?

Posted on November 12, 2015 by JB under Art

Yes I’ve been negligent. But hey how often can you complain about the world? So, in the spirit of “screw the world”, I give you this piece today.

How many of you still have records? You know, vinyl records? More importantly how many of you have a record player?

I still have a box deep in the bowels of my storage shed that contains my last remaining records. I haven’t taken a look in the box in years so I’m not even sure what records I have there. I know there are a number of Elvis records and I’m pretty sure my KC and the Sunshine Band album is there but other than that I just don’t know. The idea the my old Pink Floyd “Final Cut”, is there would be nice or the BB King album that was best listened to with a red light on in the room. But who knows.

The reason I’m thinking of the old vinyl is that I passed by a record player at a local store the other day. Now of course, they have CD and connections to play MP3s.

Some of the styles are throwbacks that that look a lot like the suitcase models of the record player boom years.

Crossely has some of the coolest retro style players I’ve seen so far.

The only problem I have is that I don’t really have any room for a player again.

Someday when I have that retro bachelor pad….

Lunar Eclipse 2015 Colorado Springs

Posted on September 27, 2015 by JB under Art, General thoughts

The pictures would have been better had there been fewer street lights I would think, but still pretty cool.

Ultra Swank great site for the retro

Posted on September 23, 2015 by JB under Art

I found this site a few days ago. I love the images here. If your into retro design or really anything from the recent past it’s pretty “cool”.

There are many articles on design, architecture, style, furniture, and Kitsch. Below are some examples of images that form the articles.

Stylish Mid-Century Hotels & Motels

This image is from an article on

The American Dream of the 1940s & 1950s

And example of something I found there I want. This Philco PC comes from the Schultzework.com, another “cool” site.

The Philco PC

Ruins of War–good read

Posted on September 8, 2015 by JB under Art

I just completed Ruins of War by John Connell.

The story is a crime drama set in post war Munich, Germany. A killer is stalking the city killing and dismembering his victims. He sets their appendages in the shape of a cross.

Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Warrant Officer Mason Collins must track him down and stop the killing spree.

The backdrop is of a post war Germany and a desperate German populace that not only must survive the killer but the cold German winter amid the destruction.

I enjoyed the book. It’s always fun to read about a place you been and recognize the names of areas or buildings. Granted I was there in the 90s and not the 40s but it was still easy to picture the city and how it must have been.

The main characters were solid, not great but solid. The story had enough twists to make it interesting and not unbelievable. Overall a good read.

I really hadn’t planned on two books in a row about serial killers though.

Reading I Ripper

Posted on September 6, 2015 by JB under Art, General thoughts

Last week I finished up “I Ripper”, by Stephen Hunter. This is a story of Jack the Ripper viewed through Jacks own diary and the dairy of a Reporter. This is quite a departure for Stephen Hunter who’s Bob Lee Swagger sniper saga is probably his best known work.

I Ripper is not for everyone, in fact if you check out the many reviews on the various book sites, it’s all over the charts from one star to five and everything in between.

I personally liked the story, but then I’m a fan of gothic England and while there have been many worse serial killers since Jack the Ripper, he is intriguing. The atmosphere of the late 1800 England and the White Chapel areas was detailed in it’s grit and grime.

If this is your type of story than it will satisfy.