This morning, I was reading another blog when I clicked the Blogger link on the page header, not really thinking about it. It took me to the publishing page for this blog. I happened to notice that the last time I wrote anything was a year ago yesterday. The previous post before that was from August 2016.
Every so often, I get the bug to write something, but more often than not, I forget about it. Worse, I often don't think about it at all. I really can't recall the last time I even thought about this blog.
At least I can give an update on things since I last wrote.
In the year since I last posted:
1. I settled my worker's compensation case. They've been paying out since around February. I've been trying to save as much as I can, but I've been essentially living on the money that comes in.
(EDIT: With regards to my worker's comp case, I mentioned in the previous post that I believed I would have to go to court at some point in time. I never even set foot in a courtroom at all. I never saw the plaintiffs' attorneys or spoke to any of them directly. Everything was done through my lawyer and through his office, except when I had to be assessed by the doctor whose report who be used in deciding the case.)
2. Through worker's comp, I've completed retraining to become an optician. In three weeks from today, I am retaking the American Board of Opticianry certification exam. I took it last May, but did not pass. I really don't know if I will pursue opticianry as a career, but I feel like I need to take advantage of the opportunity that God has given me.
3. I have finally be cleared to go back to work. Since September, I have been working at Whole Foods Market as a shopper for Amazon Prime Now. People submit their shopping lists, we fill the orders, and pass them off to Amazon Flex for delivery. I like what I do, but like a lot of the people I work with, I don't get too many hours. Hours are posted to the employee website on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 4:15 pm, and it's first come, first served.
There's not much else to say for now, other than the standard promise to post more often, then neglect this page for another year.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
It's been a while
Maybe, things will be different this time.
...
As I write this, my 33rd birthday will be in a week. Since I last wrote, I turned 32. Actually, a lot has happened in the past fourteen months. Since I've been gone this long, maybe an update is in order.
First, I had lower back surgery on October 3rd of last year. It had been several months in coming, and due to insurance issues, was very nearly derailed (or at least delayed) before it could happen. For me, it marked both the first time I've been under the knife and the first time I've ever had a hospital stay.
Actually, it wasn't much of a stay. I packed enough stuff anticipating on overnight stay. I checked into the hospital at 5:00 am to be in surgery by 7:30, and I was released about 3:30 that afternoon. To save you doing the math, that ten and a half hours. Looking back, I was surprised that they didn't keep me longer, but I'm glad I didn't have to stay because I remember the hospital being very warm to the point of being stuffy. Also, for the brief time I was in a room before discharge, I became increasingly fidgety. I think once I became aware I was going home that day, I was anxious to be out of there.
I tried to go back to my old job at the printing company this past January, when my disability insurance ran out. The doctor signed out for me to go back with physical restrictions, as I was still in the recovery phase post-surgery. I called about returning to my job, when the HR director told me that they couldn't take me back. First, I had been away for so long that they were no longer legally required to keep my position open and they hired someone else. They said I was free to reapply if I wanted to, but they also said they couldn't accommodate the physical restrictions, claiming they would be a safety issue in the warehouse.
At the time, I was going to just leave things as they were, when my dad told me that since my injury was caused by my work environment, and because they wouldn't take me back, I should pursue a claim against the company. Admittedly, if Dad hadn't mentioned it, I might not have done it, since I hadn't even occurred to me until he brought it up.
With the help of a church elder, I was able to find a lawyer who was willing to take my case, when I wasn't even sure if I had a case to pursue. When I first went on disability, I had to mark in the application that my injury wasn't work-related since my injuries were affecting my leg more than my actual lower back (I ruptured a disc in my lower back that was affecting the nerves in my legs, where all my initial symptoms were). However, I decided to pursue the claim when my lawyer informed me that a work-related injury can be either caused by or exacerbated by work. if the lawyer had said there was nothing to my claim, I would've just let it go.
Since February, when I first went to a lawyer, I've been examined and received treatment from multiple doctors, including being put back on pain medication, and have been examined by the doctor whose report will actually be used in ruling on my case. I don't know when I will have to go to court, but I'm aware that I will have to give my testimony at some point. My primary doctor says workers' comp seems to be seeking an unusually fast resolution to my claim, so things could happen at any time. I'll give an update when that happens.
Throughout all this, since the beginning of the year, I have been looking for a new job. I actually had a job for a short while throughout the month of March of this year. I was a data collector for a survey company here in the San Fernando Valley. It might've been a good (or least, decent) job if I had been any good at it.
My job was to cold-call businesses and try to get whoever answered the phone to complete surveys on behalf of our clients. People hate getting these calls at home; imagine being asked to do that while you're at work. In order to do my job the way my bosses wanted it done, I was basically asking a total stranger to put aside their work on their company's time. As you could imagine, I wasn't very successful. In a five to six-hour shift, I could easily clear over a hundred calls, pretty much because I could never keep anyone on the phone.
The job was easily the most lax work environment I've ever had. It was the sort of job that seemed to have a lot of turnover; It never came close to being full-time work (unless you were a supervisor) and since we never actually sold anything, there were no bonuses. Also, when I was hired, I was told that there would be periods where work would drop off so there would be times where they wouldn't be needing me to come in. So in my time there, I never worked an eight-hour shift and I never worked a full week, which was fine, at first.
After being with the company about a month, and I wasn't really getting any better at the work, my manager called me at home. She said that her bosses had told her that she "needed to cut her numbers", so they didn't need me for the time being. They would probably call me back at some point when they needed more people. At the time, I didn't think much of it because I remembered what I was told about those periods when I was hired.
A week went by. Then, two weeks. Then, a month.
I think it was a month and half later that I realized that I had been fired. Now, the word "fired" was never used, but when I see the same Craigslist ad that I responded to being re-posted after I'm not called back, I put two and two together. Naively, it did not occur to me any sooner that I had simply been let go. A lot of things seem not to occur to me as quickly as they should.
...
Over the summer, I finally got back into a weekly Bible study. I hadn't been a part since probably before the last time this blog was updated. I needed to be engaging with my brothers and sisters again. since I suffering spiritually from the lack of regular fellowship. The Bible that believers not to forsake the gathering of the brethren (Hebrews 10:25), but to paraphrase the same verse, it had become a habit of mine, one I needed to break.
It takes real effort for me to engage with other people, being of a reclining nature. For a while, it seemed like it had become easier for me to reach out to others, but then, I let that behavior lie fallow, and it seemed like all that time and learning just evaporated. In the end, I pray to keep reaching out and being available to minister as much as I am able.
Oftentimes, I will pray if that's all I can do for someone or their situation, that God would have His guiding hand over that situation. If I think there's something I can do, I pray that God would open that opportunity where I might be able to help.
...
Well, I've been going on long enough. I want this to be posted before midnight, and I can feel my last dose of pain meds beginning to take effect, so I'll be going to bed soon.
Maybe, hopefully, I'll hang with this blog again. Maybe, unlike last year, there won't be just one post in 2017.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Getting back to it (and hopefully staying with it), plus a major update
Welcome to the first new blog post in over seven months. I don't know how many times I thought about posting something, but let the idea go. With all the free time I've had of late, there have certainly been plenty of opportunities for me to sit down and write. Enough has happened over the past seven-and-a-half months for me to write about.
For those who are not up on the details, I have been in disability since January 21 of this year. It started in mid-December with hip pain. At first, I thought I had a pinched nerve, or that I may have even tore something in my hip. My doctor had me begin physical therapy twice and week, and I improved slightly.
However, the pain was such that I took a lot of time off; so much so that it began to negatively affect my record at work. Finally, my doctor recognized that I needed to take some extended time away from work to deal with my health issues. When I approached human resources with my doctor's recommendation, the HR manager told me they were preparing to recommend to me themselves that I go on disability. One of my managers even informed that that it was for the best that I take time off, as I had taken so much sick days, I was on the brink of being fired over it.
I went to my doctor on Thursday, January 21, and he approved my disability request. I took the paperwork back to work, they signed off on their end, and I left. I have not been back since, though I have stayed in contact with HR as necessary. When I went off, I anticipated being gone for about six or seven weeks. Do the math, and you'll realize that I am now into my eighth month.
...
I spent about two months in physical therapy. Much of the time was spent connected to or strapped into a machine of some kind. The therapist would do a brief examination, adjust my at-home exercises, and connect to a machine that would stimulate the nerves and muscles in my lower back. After that, I would spent the last twenty to thirty minutes in a stretching machine to decompress my back. I never minded the feeling of being stretched; it actually made me feel a little lighter. But when the machine released, I could feel all my weight coming back onto my body. It was always weirdly disorienting.
After two months in therapy, the physical therapist determined that I had plateaued on my progress. He sent me back to my doctor, saying that physical therapy had done all it could do for me at that point. At that point, I stopped doing the exercises as they were no longer making a difference.
All this time, my doctor was progressively lengthening my time off. I was not improving, and surgery was rapidly becoming an option for my sciatica.
...
Finally, my doctor referred me to see a neurosurgeon. The surgeon examined me, then requested a set of MRIs. I'd never been in an MRI machine before, and the surgeon had me get images done twice. Both times, I sweat like a pig inside the machine, and even with earplugs, it's incredibly noisy. The top of the machine is less than six inches from my face, so it's incredibly confined. I'm not claustrophobic, but I began thinking about what I would do if I ever had to get myself out of the machine for whatever reason. I prayed there wouldn't be an earthquake.
The first time I went, it was so hot that day. I got an ice cream cone afterwards, and it was so warm, the ice cream ran all over the place. I had to take a shower when I got home because things were so messy.
The two MRIs determined that I have a herniated disc in my lower back. The herniating material is pressing on one of the nerves in my back, causing the pain and weakness I've had in my left leg, and had begun to affect my right leg to a lesser extent. The MRI also showed that I have a tumorous growth on my spinal cord. This led to me being referred to another surgeon who would actually perform the surgery I need.
...
The second surgeon examined the MRIs and was concerned about the tumor that was found. He wanted to make sure the tumor wasn't anything more serious before fixing my disc. Specifically, the surgeon said he wanted to determine if I had an ependymoma or a schwannoma. This meant a third set of MRIs of my back, neck, and head, with and without MRI contrast. In the end, it turned out to be a benign ependymoma, but the surgeon wants to check on it with MRIs every six months or so.
After six months of waiting and multiple doctors' visits, I finally had a surgery date set. It was going to be this coming Friday, August 12. Then, one more delay.
...
The week of July 25, I received a letter from work, telling me that my insurance coverage was being terminated. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company was required to pay my insurance premiums through the first ninety days of my disability leave. The company mistakenly continued to pay through the month of July. I have to reimburse the company for what they spent on my premiums, and that my coverage was ending on July 31. When I found this out, I knew that I couldn't keep my surgery date and I had to cancel. I was so scared, so frustrated, and so angry, I didn't know what I was going to do.
As a result, I had the option of continuing my coverage through COBRA, or seeking coverage through Medi-Cal. After getting incredibly upset and stressed-out (and having to apologize to a lot of people for getting angry), I began the process of applying for Medi-Cal. Although Medi-Cal would've covered me, the initial application take forty-five days to process, and I would've had to begun the assessment process all over again with another doctor.
After talking to a number of people, including a couple of nurses from church, I ultimately decided to go with COBRA through work. Although I will have to pay about $360.00 a month out of pocket, I will be able to stay with my original health plan and keep my doctor and the same surgeon. I submit the paperwork and my first premium this week, so I will hopefully have a new surgery date soon.
...
With all that's happened, it would be easy to get discouraged about things. I haven't really experienced a lot of discouragement, but I have discovered that my patience has been lacking. I've had a lot of time on my hands, and I haven't always made the best use of it. With the two medications I've been taking for the past several months, I've often not had the energy to do all the things I could've done.
I think God has been using this to show me where I've needed to go spiritually. We are told to "wait on the Lord, and be of good courage" (Psalm 27:14). My trust in Him has also been lacking, and I tend to turn fearful in difficult or stressing moments. I hate the sense of uncertainty I have in those moments. 1 John 4:18 says, "(P)erfect love casts out fear"; if we trust in the Lord as we ought to, we don't have to be afraid. I've been confronted by the fact that my trust falters so easily when trouble comes, when I ought to be fleeing to God and trusting everything to Him.
...
I'll post another update when I have an idea of when my surgery will take place. Sitting down to write this has motivated me to get back to writing this blog. We'll see what happens.
For those who are not up on the details, I have been in disability since January 21 of this year. It started in mid-December with hip pain. At first, I thought I had a pinched nerve, or that I may have even tore something in my hip. My doctor had me begin physical therapy twice and week, and I improved slightly.
However, the pain was such that I took a lot of time off; so much so that it began to negatively affect my record at work. Finally, my doctor recognized that I needed to take some extended time away from work to deal with my health issues. When I approached human resources with my doctor's recommendation, the HR manager told me they were preparing to recommend to me themselves that I go on disability. One of my managers even informed that that it was for the best that I take time off, as I had taken so much sick days, I was on the brink of being fired over it.
I went to my doctor on Thursday, January 21, and he approved my disability request. I took the paperwork back to work, they signed off on their end, and I left. I have not been back since, though I have stayed in contact with HR as necessary. When I went off, I anticipated being gone for about six or seven weeks. Do the math, and you'll realize that I am now into my eighth month.
...
I spent about two months in physical therapy. Much of the time was spent connected to or strapped into a machine of some kind. The therapist would do a brief examination, adjust my at-home exercises, and connect to a machine that would stimulate the nerves and muscles in my lower back. After that, I would spent the last twenty to thirty minutes in a stretching machine to decompress my back. I never minded the feeling of being stretched; it actually made me feel a little lighter. But when the machine released, I could feel all my weight coming back onto my body. It was always weirdly disorienting.
After two months in therapy, the physical therapist determined that I had plateaued on my progress. He sent me back to my doctor, saying that physical therapy had done all it could do for me at that point. At that point, I stopped doing the exercises as they were no longer making a difference.
All this time, my doctor was progressively lengthening my time off. I was not improving, and surgery was rapidly becoming an option for my sciatica.
...
Finally, my doctor referred me to see a neurosurgeon. The surgeon examined me, then requested a set of MRIs. I'd never been in an MRI machine before, and the surgeon had me get images done twice. Both times, I sweat like a pig inside the machine, and even with earplugs, it's incredibly noisy. The top of the machine is less than six inches from my face, so it's incredibly confined. I'm not claustrophobic, but I began thinking about what I would do if I ever had to get myself out of the machine for whatever reason. I prayed there wouldn't be an earthquake.
The first time I went, it was so hot that day. I got an ice cream cone afterwards, and it was so warm, the ice cream ran all over the place. I had to take a shower when I got home because things were so messy.
The two MRIs determined that I have a herniated disc in my lower back. The herniating material is pressing on one of the nerves in my back, causing the pain and weakness I've had in my left leg, and had begun to affect my right leg to a lesser extent. The MRI also showed that I have a tumorous growth on my spinal cord. This led to me being referred to another surgeon who would actually perform the surgery I need.
...
The second surgeon examined the MRIs and was concerned about the tumor that was found. He wanted to make sure the tumor wasn't anything more serious before fixing my disc. Specifically, the surgeon said he wanted to determine if I had an ependymoma or a schwannoma. This meant a third set of MRIs of my back, neck, and head, with and without MRI contrast. In the end, it turned out to be a benign ependymoma, but the surgeon wants to check on it with MRIs every six months or so.
After six months of waiting and multiple doctors' visits, I finally had a surgery date set. It was going to be this coming Friday, August 12. Then, one more delay.
...
The week of July 25, I received a letter from work, telling me that my insurance coverage was being terminated. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company was required to pay my insurance premiums through the first ninety days of my disability leave. The company mistakenly continued to pay through the month of July. I have to reimburse the company for what they spent on my premiums, and that my coverage was ending on July 31. When I found this out, I knew that I couldn't keep my surgery date and I had to cancel. I was so scared, so frustrated, and so angry, I didn't know what I was going to do.
As a result, I had the option of continuing my coverage through COBRA, or seeking coverage through Medi-Cal. After getting incredibly upset and stressed-out (and having to apologize to a lot of people for getting angry), I began the process of applying for Medi-Cal. Although Medi-Cal would've covered me, the initial application take forty-five days to process, and I would've had to begun the assessment process all over again with another doctor.
After talking to a number of people, including a couple of nurses from church, I ultimately decided to go with COBRA through work. Although I will have to pay about $360.00 a month out of pocket, I will be able to stay with my original health plan and keep my doctor and the same surgeon. I submit the paperwork and my first premium this week, so I will hopefully have a new surgery date soon.
...
With all that's happened, it would be easy to get discouraged about things. I haven't really experienced a lot of discouragement, but I have discovered that my patience has been lacking. I've had a lot of time on my hands, and I haven't always made the best use of it. With the two medications I've been taking for the past several months, I've often not had the energy to do all the things I could've done.
I think God has been using this to show me where I've needed to go spiritually. We are told to "wait on the Lord, and be of good courage" (Psalm 27:14). My trust in Him has also been lacking, and I tend to turn fearful in difficult or stressing moments. I hate the sense of uncertainty I have in those moments. 1 John 4:18 says, "(P)erfect love casts out fear"; if we trust in the Lord as we ought to, we don't have to be afraid. I've been confronted by the fact that my trust falters so easily when trouble comes, when I ought to be fleeing to God and trusting everything to Him.
...
I'll post another update when I have an idea of when my surgery will take place. Sitting down to write this has motivated me to get back to writing this blog. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Christmas Review night seven
There was no post last night, as I had no corresponding post for yesterday's date last year. Tonight, one of my favorite reviews. You can tell because it's possibly the most detailed review.
...
As I promised yesterday, I'm back tonight with another Christmas review. Tonight, I'll be looking at an episode of the 1960s iteration of Dragnet, titled "The Christmas Story", which originally aired December 21, 1967.
On Christmas Eve, Sergeant Joe Friday (working in Burglary/Auto Theft division in this episode) is sitting at his desk, making out the last of his Christmas cards. Bill Gannon, his partner, comes in with a little fir tree cutting for a table-top Christmas tree. Gannon gives Friday a little grief for buying his girlfriend a monogrammed stationary set for Christmas, until Gannon lets slip that he bought his wife a sewing machine.
They get called out to the San Fernando Mission Church, where the parish priest, Father Rojas, reports that the baby Jesus statue has been stolen from the Nativity scene. Father Rojas emphasizes how meaningful the Nativity scene is to the largely poor parishioners. Friday and Gannon begin searching for the statue but face little chance of getting it back in time for Christmas the next day. They try a store that sells religious figures but don't learn anything useful.
Friday and Gannon are visited by one of the altar boys, who tells them he saw a man leaving the church with a bundle about the size of the statue. They determine that the man is named Claude Stroup (actor/musician/composer Bobby Troup) and that he has a record. Friday and Gannon find Stroup at the mens' hotel where he lives. When they take him downtown for questioning, it quickly becomes clear that Stroup has nothing to do with the missing statue and they release him.
Friday and Gannon return to the church to tell Father Rojas of their failure to the find the baby Jesus statue. As they are about to speak to the Father, a little boy comes into the church, pulling a wagon with the baby Jesus statue inside it. The boy, Paquito, tells the men that he prayed for a new wagon and promised to give the baby Jesus a ride if he got one. Paquito admits to taking the statue, but all is forgiven. Friday and Gannon depart to celebrate Christmas.
…
"The Christmas Story" is in fact the third time that Dragnet creator/star Jack Webb adapted this story. It was first adapted for the radio version of Dragnet under the name "The Big Little Jesus" on December 22, 1953. It was then produced for the first TV version of Dragnet and aired just two days after the radio version, on Christmas Eve, 1953. As with every episode of Dragnet, " The Christmas Story" is based upon an actual event. Unlike every other episode, this story is taken from the files of the San Francisco Police Department rather than the Los Angeles Police Department.
Series creator Jack Webb strove for a level of technical accuracy that had not been seen before in a police series. Appropriate terminology and techniques were applied to the scripts. This could vary in anything from investigative technique to evidence gathering to depicting the duties of officers throughout the department.
As far back as the 1950s, Webb sought to make clear, though his character Joe Friday, that police work takes long hours and effort to doggedly pursue evidence to catch criminals. Webb presciently noted that brilliant deductions based on scant evidence don't really happen in actual police work, as seems so prevalent on police shows these days. Dragnet sought to depict policemen as hard-working people making sacrifices for the greater good, and worked to improve both public perceptions of the police and how police could and should work within the community.
...
As I promised yesterday, I'm back tonight with another Christmas review. Tonight, I'll be looking at an episode of the 1960s iteration of Dragnet, titled "The Christmas Story", which originally aired December 21, 1967.
On Christmas Eve, Sergeant Joe Friday (working in Burglary/Auto Theft division in this episode) is sitting at his desk, making out the last of his Christmas cards. Bill Gannon, his partner, comes in with a little fir tree cutting for a table-top Christmas tree. Gannon gives Friday a little grief for buying his girlfriend a monogrammed stationary set for Christmas, until Gannon lets slip that he bought his wife a sewing machine.
They get called out to the San Fernando Mission Church, where the parish priest, Father Rojas, reports that the baby Jesus statue has been stolen from the Nativity scene. Father Rojas emphasizes how meaningful the Nativity scene is to the largely poor parishioners. Friday and Gannon begin searching for the statue but face little chance of getting it back in time for Christmas the next day. They try a store that sells religious figures but don't learn anything useful.
Friday and Gannon are visited by one of the altar boys, who tells them he saw a man leaving the church with a bundle about the size of the statue. They determine that the man is named Claude Stroup (actor/musician/composer Bobby Troup) and that he has a record. Friday and Gannon find Stroup at the mens' hotel where he lives. When they take him downtown for questioning, it quickly becomes clear that Stroup has nothing to do with the missing statue and they release him.
Friday and Gannon return to the church to tell Father Rojas of their failure to the find the baby Jesus statue. As they are about to speak to the Father, a little boy comes into the church, pulling a wagon with the baby Jesus statue inside it. The boy, Paquito, tells the men that he prayed for a new wagon and promised to give the baby Jesus a ride if he got one. Paquito admits to taking the statue, but all is forgiven. Friday and Gannon depart to celebrate Christmas.
…
"The Christmas Story" is in fact the third time that Dragnet creator/star Jack Webb adapted this story. It was first adapted for the radio version of Dragnet under the name "The Big Little Jesus" on December 22, 1953. It was then produced for the first TV version of Dragnet and aired just two days after the radio version, on Christmas Eve, 1953. As with every episode of Dragnet, " The Christmas Story" is based upon an actual event. Unlike every other episode, this story is taken from the files of the San Francisco Police Department rather than the Los Angeles Police Department.
Series creator Jack Webb strove for a level of technical accuracy that had not been seen before in a police series. Appropriate terminology and techniques were applied to the scripts. This could vary in anything from investigative technique to evidence gathering to depicting the duties of officers throughout the department.
As far back as the 1950s, Webb sought to make clear, though his character Joe Friday, that police work takes long hours and effort to doggedly pursue evidence to catch criminals. Webb presciently noted that brilliant deductions based on scant evidence don't really happen in actual police work, as seems so prevalent on police shows these days. Dragnet sought to depict policemen as hard-working people making sacrifices for the greater good, and worked to improve both public perceptions of the police and how police could and should work within the community.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Christmas Review night six
Tonight, night six of my Christmas reviews. My brother and I watched what is routinely considered one of the worst movies ever made, 1964's Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
Normally, I would write a fairly detailed summary of the plot, but that's not really necessary for this "classic". The plot is as follows:
Martian children are depressed, and the King of Mars, Kimar, is told that Mars needs a Santa Claus. Despite the objections of a renegade Martian, Kimar abducts Santa to Mars along with two kids, Betty and Billy Foster. The renegade Martian, Voldar, tries to undermine Kimar and Santa's efforts to bring Christmas to the children of Mars. However, Santa stops him with the help of the kids and of Dropo, a goofy but kindhearted Martian who Santa makes the official Santa Claus of Mars.
…
I don't want to give this movie any more attention than it deserves, because this movie was the worst thing I've had to watch for these Christmas reviews. Instead of writing a fully detailed review, I'm just going to write bullet points listing some of my observations.
-This movie doesn't seem to have been made for a lot of money. There are a couple of action sequences where it seems the only direction was "Whatever you do, don't break anything! We don't have the money to replace it if it breaks!" One scene features the worst polar bear costume I've ever seen; it wants so badly to be intimidating, which is difficult to do when you resemble a stuffed bear with all the stuffing removed.
-Santa Claus is about the most unlikable character in this movie. He tries to say funny things but none of what he says is funny; he's so bad even the kids in the movie don't laugh at him and typically, child characters would be written to find everything Santa says wildly hysterical. If anything, it gave my brother and I the impression that the child actors were the only ones who realized what a stinker they were making. Also, he has kind of a creepy vibe about him. It might be due to the fact that the actor playing Santa opted to affect a rather sinister laugh rather than just doing the typical "Ho, Ho, Ho!"
-I have a hard time imagining anyone actually enjoying this film as a "good movie". It's so boring that adults would get antsy trying to sit through this with their kids. As for kids, I can't really see this movie holding a child's attention for very long. A lot happens, but none of it adds up to much. If given a choice, I can't picture a kid sticking with this movie for the long haul.
-The movie is also plagued by pacing problems, one of the hallmarks of a truly great bad film. The movie takes nearly a half-hour to get going plot wise, which is far too long for an eighty-minute movie. I think the filmmakers realized they had been wasting a lot of time, because the movie rushes to a lame, unsatisfying climax; we get a "fight" in Santa's Martian toy room where the previous "DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!" direction seems to have been used.
-The movie is also plagued by pacing problems, one of the hallmarks of a truly great bad film. The movie takes nearly a half-hour to get going plot wise, which is far too long for an eighty-minute movie. I think the filmmakers realized they had been wasting a lot of time, because the movie rushes to a lame, unsatisfying climax; we get a "fight" in Santa's Martian toy room where the previous "DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!" direction seems to have been used.
Can't recommend this film, unless you're an aficionado of bad cinema.
…
Update-December 21, 2015: When I reviewed this movie on my old blog last year, I actually had a copy of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians for the previous couple of years, but had trouble getting myself to sit down and watch it. I knew it was bad by reputation, but some movies are just so awful that they can exceed your expectations of awfulness. This movie has nothing going for it at all.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Christmas Review Night five
Day five of my Christmas reviews. Tonight, The Simpsons Christmas Special, otherwise known by the name "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire", which first aired on December 17, 1989.
Homer and Marge show up late to the Springfield Elementary Christmas pageant, featuring Bart in the fourth grade choir singing "Jingle Bells" ("Batman smells/Robin laid an egg…) and Lisa as the torch-juggling Tawanga, the Santa Claus of the South Seas.
Back at home, the kids begin making out their Christmas lists: a pony for Lisa and a tattoo for Bart. Homer, meanwhile, finds out he won't be getting his Christmas bonus. Marge takes the kids Christmas shopping with her jar full of Christmas money, but is forced to use it to get laser removal for the tattoo Bart tries to get behind her back. This leaves the family without funds for Christmas, though Homer has kept the truth about his bonus from Marge.
Depressed, Homer nurses a beer at Moe's Tavern when Barney comes in wearing a Santa suit. He gets Homer a secret part-time job as a mall Santa, but Bart discovers the truth when he jumps in Homer's lap and yanks his false beard. Left with only thirteen dollars after deductions for his efforts, Homer is talked into trying his luck at the dog track with Barney. He dismisses Barney's hot tip after hearing about a dog named Santa's Little Helper, taking it as a sign. Barney's dog wins while Santa's Little Helper takes a distant last place.
Homer and Bart try searching the parking lot for a discarded winning ticket, but get nowhere. As they start for home, they come across Santa's Little Helper, tossed out by his owner for losing too many races. Homer and Bart take him home, seeing a kindred spirit in a born loser. Homer comes in and starts to confess to the family about his bonus, but Bart brings in Santa's Little Helper to the surprise and delight of the family. In the end, Homer saves Christmas for the family after all.
…
This is one of my favorite Christmas specials ever; it might be the one I like the most.
Having turned thirty this year, I'm old enough to remember those earliest days of The Simpsons, when parents believed that Bart Simpson was a bad influence. Maybe he was at the time, but looking back on those oldest episodes, Bart's antics can sometimes seem almost quaint in comparison to what happens on television now. Times change, I guess.
By the time of this special, the Simpsons characters had already been on television for two years, as brief shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show, which debuted on Fox in the spring of 1987. This episode depicts a time so early in the actors' performances that Homer still had traces of his original voice, which slowly evolved over time. At this point, actor Dan Castellaneta was still doing, as he put it, a bad Walter Matthau impression. At this point, Homer hasn't quite taken on that higher-sounding slow-headed pitch his voice would have.
Homer and Marge show up late to the Springfield Elementary Christmas pageant, featuring Bart in the fourth grade choir singing "Jingle Bells" ("Batman smells/Robin laid an egg…) and Lisa as the torch-juggling Tawanga, the Santa Claus of the South Seas.
Back at home, the kids begin making out their Christmas lists: a pony for Lisa and a tattoo for Bart. Homer, meanwhile, finds out he won't be getting his Christmas bonus. Marge takes the kids Christmas shopping with her jar full of Christmas money, but is forced to use it to get laser removal for the tattoo Bart tries to get behind her back. This leaves the family without funds for Christmas, though Homer has kept the truth about his bonus from Marge.
Depressed, Homer nurses a beer at Moe's Tavern when Barney comes in wearing a Santa suit. He gets Homer a secret part-time job as a mall Santa, but Bart discovers the truth when he jumps in Homer's lap and yanks his false beard. Left with only thirteen dollars after deductions for his efforts, Homer is talked into trying his luck at the dog track with Barney. He dismisses Barney's hot tip after hearing about a dog named Santa's Little Helper, taking it as a sign. Barney's dog wins while Santa's Little Helper takes a distant last place.
Homer and Bart try searching the parking lot for a discarded winning ticket, but get nowhere. As they start for home, they come across Santa's Little Helper, tossed out by his owner for losing too many races. Homer and Bart take him home, seeing a kindred spirit in a born loser. Homer comes in and starts to confess to the family about his bonus, but Bart brings in Santa's Little Helper to the surprise and delight of the family. In the end, Homer saves Christmas for the family after all.
…
This is one of my favorite Christmas specials ever; it might be the one I like the most.
Having turned thirty this year, I'm old enough to remember those earliest days of The Simpsons, when parents believed that Bart Simpson was a bad influence. Maybe he was at the time, but looking back on those oldest episodes, Bart's antics can sometimes seem almost quaint in comparison to what happens on television now. Times change, I guess.
By the time of this special, the Simpsons characters had already been on television for two years, as brief shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show, which debuted on Fox in the spring of 1987. This episode depicts a time so early in the actors' performances that Homer still had traces of his original voice, which slowly evolved over time. At this point, actor Dan Castellaneta was still doing, as he put it, a bad Walter Matthau impression. At this point, Homer hasn't quite taken on that higher-sounding slow-headed pitch his voice would have.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Christmas Review night four
Tonight, we'll be looking at the Christmas episode of the 1960s series The Avengers, entitled "Too Many Christmas Trees". The series has nothing to do with any of the Marvel Comics books or characters, or any of the recent movies, other than that the 2012 Avengers movie had to be renamed Avengers Assemble in Great Britain because of the rights to the name.
In the story, British agent John Steed has been having bizarre dreams that seem to predict future events and feature a sinister-looking Santa Claus. He dreams about seeing the death of a colleague who's fallen under suspicion, and wakes to find the colleague's death is front page news, the result of severe neurological trauma.
It becomes clear that a group of genuine psychics are behind both the deaths and Steed's dreams. The group is also responsible for the leaked information that first cast suspicion on Steed's dead colleague. Meanwhile, Mrs. Emma Peel invites Steed to spend Christmas with her at the country home of Brandon Storey, a publisher with an obsession with Dickens. When they arrive, we find the psychics among the other guests and house staff.
Steed's dreams continue, now depicting him as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, a mysterious woman leading him to the guillotine. His dream again comes true when the woman, Janice Crane, shows up as a guest for Christmas and is herself one of the psychic conspirators. At the party that evening, Janice tries a "parlor trick" on Steed where she reads my mind, preparing for the final psychic attack. Mrs. Peel drops a glass to break Janice's concentration, but it seems the work has been done.
Steed begins acting strangely, singing old nursery rhymes to himself. Mrs. Peel discovers that Steed was to be drugged to help him sleep (and be vulnerable to psychic attack), but Steed himself thwarts this. The singing is a form of mental defense, confusing his attackers with literal nonsense. Steed has already deciphered what's happening, and his singing was prescribed by Doctor Teasel, a seemingly sinister guest who actually works for the same government ministry as Steed.
Steed's dream imagery lead him and Mrs. Peel to the conspirators. A physical confrontation thwarts the conspirators' plans and reveals that the true ringleader (and the man behind the sinister Santa Claus) is their host, Brandon Storey.
…
This is one of my favorite episodes of The Avengers, full of atmosphere as it evokes an old-fashioned Dickensian Christmas. Storey's obsession with Dickens extends to Dickens busts throughout his large house, character costumes at the Christmas party (Oliver Twist, Jacob Marley, and the Artful Dodger among them) and the Hall of Great Expectations, recreating Miss Havisham's neglected wedding feast.
This episode's Dickensian connection runs deeper than its plot-line. Series star Patrick Macnee (John Steed) had a small role as young Jacob Marley in the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, simply titled Scrooge, in which guest star Mervyn Johns (Brandon Storey) played Bob Cratchit. I cannot prove it, but I tend to doubt his involvement was any sort of coincidence, considering that Scrooge was quite popular at the time, and is generally regarded as one of the more faithful Dickens adaptations.
…
Update: December 19, 2016- I posted this on my previous blog exactly one year ago. At that time, I began the review with a brief paragraph about how I'd been sick that week. Just a minor note that these reviews are subjected to some minor edits and/or revisions as needed. Also, I would like to write more reviews of movies and TV shows like the ones I've been posting thee past few days. I've already considering a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That will probably wait until after the Christmas seasons, and the end of these review reposts from last year.
In the story, British agent John Steed has been having bizarre dreams that seem to predict future events and feature a sinister-looking Santa Claus. He dreams about seeing the death of a colleague who's fallen under suspicion, and wakes to find the colleague's death is front page news, the result of severe neurological trauma.
It becomes clear that a group of genuine psychics are behind both the deaths and Steed's dreams. The group is also responsible for the leaked information that first cast suspicion on Steed's dead colleague. Meanwhile, Mrs. Emma Peel invites Steed to spend Christmas with her at the country home of Brandon Storey, a publisher with an obsession with Dickens. When they arrive, we find the psychics among the other guests and house staff.
Steed's dreams continue, now depicting him as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, a mysterious woman leading him to the guillotine. His dream again comes true when the woman, Janice Crane, shows up as a guest for Christmas and is herself one of the psychic conspirators. At the party that evening, Janice tries a "parlor trick" on Steed where she reads my mind, preparing for the final psychic attack. Mrs. Peel drops a glass to break Janice's concentration, but it seems the work has been done.
Steed begins acting strangely, singing old nursery rhymes to himself. Mrs. Peel discovers that Steed was to be drugged to help him sleep (and be vulnerable to psychic attack), but Steed himself thwarts this. The singing is a form of mental defense, confusing his attackers with literal nonsense. Steed has already deciphered what's happening, and his singing was prescribed by Doctor Teasel, a seemingly sinister guest who actually works for the same government ministry as Steed.
Steed's dream imagery lead him and Mrs. Peel to the conspirators. A physical confrontation thwarts the conspirators' plans and reveals that the true ringleader (and the man behind the sinister Santa Claus) is their host, Brandon Storey.
…
This is one of my favorite episodes of The Avengers, full of atmosphere as it evokes an old-fashioned Dickensian Christmas. Storey's obsession with Dickens extends to Dickens busts throughout his large house, character costumes at the Christmas party (Oliver Twist, Jacob Marley, and the Artful Dodger among them) and the Hall of Great Expectations, recreating Miss Havisham's neglected wedding feast.
This episode's Dickensian connection runs deeper than its plot-line. Series star Patrick Macnee (John Steed) had a small role as young Jacob Marley in the 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, simply titled Scrooge, in which guest star Mervyn Johns (Brandon Storey) played Bob Cratchit. I cannot prove it, but I tend to doubt his involvement was any sort of coincidence, considering that Scrooge was quite popular at the time, and is generally regarded as one of the more faithful Dickens adaptations.
…
Update: December 19, 2016- I posted this on my previous blog exactly one year ago. At that time, I began the review with a brief paragraph about how I'd been sick that week. Just a minor note that these reviews are subjected to some minor edits and/or revisions as needed. Also, I would like to write more reviews of movies and TV shows like the ones I've been posting thee past few days. I've already considering a review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That will probably wait until after the Christmas seasons, and the end of these review reposts from last year.
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