Tuesday, January 30, 2024

I fixed a gate

If someone were to ask, I would never represent myself as "handy." When Pinewood Derby time came around, my poor son actually had to use the sandpaper and pocket knife technique because we didn't have any tools. But today I fixed something. I fixed a gate. 

We have a gate in the back that you roll open. Nothing fancy. No remote control or motor or magic sensor or anything. You just pull it one direction or push it the other direction. Depending on whether you want it open or closed. However, it does require some technology to function. Specifically, the technology of the wheel. 


And while that's a pretty simple technology, if it stops working, well, so does the gate. And that was the problem I was having. 

I'd been noticing that the gate seemed heavier when I pushed it open or pulled it closed. And I had no explanation for this. It had been raining a lot. Could the wood just be wet? I mean, really wet? So much that it affected the overall weight of the gate? Seemed unlikely/impossible. 

So yesterday, I took a good look at the wheels. And sure enough, the nut that holds the bolt that attaches the wheel to the gate in place had worked its way off. And the screw had receded into the hole such that you couldn't put the nut back on. I couldn't figure out how I would get that bolt back through with the weight of the gate bearing down on it. 

So, I borrowed a jack from my neighbor. 


And you might think, But Chad, why didn't you just use your own jack. And I would answer, "Because I bought a hybrid, and it doesn't come with a spare tire or a jack." And you'd be like, "For real?" And I'd just kind of shrug. 

But my neighbor had one. And it fit! So I hoisted up the gate and screwed back on the nut, and now it works like gangbusters. 



And that is the story of how I fixed a thing! 

THE END

Spring Break

It just occurred to me for the first time ever that in Texas we have Spring Break in the winter. And we always have.

I don't really feel any kind of way about that. Maybe it should be called something else? But then we would have been deprived of this incredible art. 


Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Monday, January 8, 2024

Movies I Watched in 2023

It's the time of year when people post their favorite movies lists. Usually their top 10 for the year. For the past few years as a kind of humorless joke, I've just posted the couple of handfuls of movies that I actually got out to the theater to see because depressingly it's only numbered about 10 anyway. Also, I don't really like to discriminate.

This past year I did a better job of seeing movies in the theater, which is one of my favorite things to do. Still nowhere near what I used to do, quantity-wise, but I feel like I'm at least somewhat back on the horse. And I already saw a movie in 2024. Unstoppable! 

These are the movies I saw in the theater last year in order. This time, taking a cue from my friend Josh's inspiring and exhaustive movie list (Check it out here!), I added some stills I found on the internet. Unlike Josh's inspiring and exhaustive posts, I didn't write any reviews. I saw them. I'm telling you. That's it. 

If for some reason you enjoy finding out what I've been up to, movie-wise, feel free to "follow" me on Letterboxd for a much more incomplete accounting of my cinematic behaviors. One thing I do over there is list the research movies I watch when I'm working on a screenplay, so if you're curious about the types of scripts I've been writing, that will give you some idea. 

Here goes.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Paris, Texas

Computer Chess

Times Square

Make Popular Movies

Alien

Mod Fuck Explosion

Spider-man: Across the Spiderverse

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Barbie

The Mother and the Whore

Asteroid City

True Stories

Zachariah

Stop Making Sense

Mutiny in Heaven

The Bikeriders

American Fiction


That was great. Let's do it again next year. 

Note: For more information about the films, clicking on the images will take you to IMDB.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

One-Part Songs

Earlier today, I was listening to "Anyway You Want It" by Journey, and I realized that the whole song is essentially the same part without any changes. Sure, the vocal melody and feel changes for the refrain, but the essential chord progression just repeats. The spine of the song is just that one phrase, over and over. I'm wondering what other songs make good use of this one-part structure. Off the top of my head, I can think of two:

"Born in the U.S.A."
"All Along the Watchtower"

What are some other ones?

(Again, I'm not talking about the vocal melody but the underlying musical structure.)

UPDATE:

Had a bunch more suggestions for this one over on Facebook.

"The Passenger" - Iggy Pop
"Natural's Not In It" - Gang of Four
"Gloria" - Them
"Everybody's Gotta Live" - Love
"Save it for Later" - The English Beat
"When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around" - The Police
"Demolition Man" - The Police
"Papa was a Rolling Stone" - The Temptations
"Failures" - Joy Division

And of course, the perfect marriage of form and content:


h/t to Mike Corwin for that one.

Friday, January 19, 2018

He Said/She Said

Earlier today I was listening to a Power Pop playlist that I'd made a while back, and these two songs came on within a few minutes of each other. I realized they're kind of saying the same thing from two different perspectives. Thought it might make an interesting comparison/contrast. What do you think?

The Primitives - Really Stupid

The Vapors - Talk Talk

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

My Top Ten Music Movies

1. Half Cocked
2. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
3. Tender Mercies
4. 24-hour Party People
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains
6. Leningrad Cowboys Go America
7. Payday
8. This Is Spinal Tap
9. Almost Famous
10. Linda Linda Linda 

What did I miss?