Los Angeles Rams 0 - Cincinnati Bengals 0 - Pre-Kick Commercials

 Jurassic World Dominion Commercial shows dinos in snow.  Damn Laura Dern looks sexier than ever.  

Youtube TV - not going to get me to subscribe


HEY It's The Rock! Finally the Super Bowl has come back to Los Angeles!

Cutting a Promo.  

Hey is he going to be at WrestleMania maybe?

It's here next year.  I wouldn't put it past him to announce.

Naaah.


Um.  the Rock can announce all my games.

Here we go....

Los Angeles Rams 0 - Cincinnati Bengals 0 - Pre-Game

 
Im ready for the game.  That's my vintage (circa 1990) Rams jersey.  Sadly it doesn't fit anymore.  I do believe the last time I wore it would have been Halloween 1999.

I got a four pack of Founders Breakfast Stout, and I'm watching on the NBC Sports App on my Apple TV.

This marks the Fifth appearance of the Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams.  They lost to the Eagles in 1979.  Defeated the Tennesee Titans in 2000.  Lost to the Patriots in 2002 and 2019.

Today is the third appearance of the Cincinnati Bengals.  They lost to the San Francisco 49ers in 1982 and 1989.

Cincinnati won the toss and deferred to the 2nd half, the Rams will get the ball.

Next up Kickoff.

ONE YEAR and 8 Months Later - The budget collector has RETURNED

 For one day and one day only the Budget Collector will be returning to live blog the Superbowl later today.  Coverage will begin at 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

Will you be there?  I guess I will.

Wait what channel is the damn thing streaming on?

The Case of the Missing Case - A GI Joe Dio Story by Me

I did one of these a long time ago with my Dr. Who Character Building Figures.  This was way easier.

The background is my monitor.  Derp.  

 

Ed Ruscha's Los Angeles Photography GIFTED to us all by The Getty Trust

 

The Getty Trust has just given the world a gift, as it's been reported elsewhere.  Truly though it is. It's a treasure trove of photography by one of the greatest Los Angeles area artists who ever lived.  Ed Ruscha's archive has recently been released digitally.  It's stunning and lovely.  Find it here: https://www.getty.edu/research/collections/

This is, after all, the Budget Collector Blog.  What better way to enjoy some amazing art than for free in your own home.  

I'm fascinated with the past, and I love to see how things used to look.  Sometimes I can remember them.  If I had been alive.  I was alive for this set of pictures, these were taken August of 1974, I would have been 3.  They come from this session of photos

DISCLAIMER - I POST THESE FOR STUDY PURPOSES ONLY.  Don't sue me Getty.  I was temping there when my kid was born.

https://www.getty.edu/research/collections/component/10007Q

$50 for a 21" Color TV!

I remember stamps.

This one fascinates me, because it doesn't look like this at all today.

Same Building!

Superman: Red Son - Animated Film Review

Later reprint of the original 3 issue series.

One of the ways to stretch your budget and still indulge in your inner-geek is to attend special screenings of genre films.  Now I do understand that living in Los Angeles does give me somewhat more access to said screenings, such as the one I attended last night, so this tactic may not work for a lot of you.  OK most of you.  OK both of you reading.

Apparently Warner Brothers Animation likes to have "premier" screenings of their direct-to-video films, and they let the fans in for free.  All you really have to do is to send them an email when the announcements go out.  This time I found out about it early enough and the screening fit into my schedule, so it was a go.

The film was an adaptation of the 2003 Elseworlds mini-series "Red Son" in which instead of landing in Smallville Kansas, Kal-El's rocket lands in the Ukraine and he becomes the Soviet Superman.  I remember buying the original issues at the time and I'm pretty sure I still have them, but it had been an awful long time since I read the comics.  I decided I wasn't going to reread them entirely before I saw the film, just familiarize myself with the major beats of the story.  I figured I wouldn't be nit-picky on what they decided to excise until afterwards.

That was smart to be honest, because I probably WOULD have nit-picked their excising of an entire character and plotline and the re-execution of two major plot-points wasn't quite as graceful as it should be.  If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read the next paragraph.

[SPOILERS BELOW]

I said, NO SPOILERS

So the character completely removed was Joseph Stalin's illegitimate son Roslov who is the head of the Soviet Union's secret service.  In the book it's his existential crisis that leads Superman to be absent and allows an assassin to take out Stalin.  Superman then reluctantly takes power.  Also Roslov is the killer of Batman's parents.  In the film version, Roslov is not there and Superman takes out Stalin himself and there's no reluctance about his ascendancy to the Premiership.  Batman's parents seemingly die in a gulag that Superman liberates just after their death.  I think.  It wasn't that clear to be honest.

[End Massive Spoilers]

Overall the story holds up and I think for the most part the filmmakers did a good job of adapting the material.  I did re-read it last night after the screening and most of the beats are still intact.  The editing seemed judicious and the adaptation is superb.

The voice-acting is top-notch.  Jason Isaacs as Superman is really refreshing.  He's not the corn-fed Kansas 'boy-shucks' everyman that Clark appears to be so often in these types of things.  This Superman is a weapon in the beginning who slowly realizes that his ideals and the reality of the world are not compatible.  That even though he only really wants to be a benevolent overlord, even his best intentions are not purely noble.   I also really enjoyed Diedrich Bader as Lex Luthor, who ultimately and unsurprisingly gets the rare win over Superman here. 

Pretty much the entire cast plus Bruce Timm and Sam Liu, writer and director.

It's available for download now, Blu-Ray/DVD
March 17, 2020

Clearly this is a tale of Nature vs. Nurture.  The Superman that we all are familiar with has certain innate values that have evolved over time but are still fairly grounded in his initial incarnations.  This Superman is the same character, only he didn't grow up in the American Heartland loved by two of the greatest parental figures in all of literature.  This Superman came of age being told not to hide his gifts, but rather to use them for the good of his people, however these words came from an mass-murdering insane dictator.  So naturally even if at his core he's the same, this Superman is all together different.

And that's not a bad thing. 

Geeks Who Drink - Or I'm Finally Into Bar Trivia/Pub Quiz

This journey began a few months ago when I discovered the New Zealand Rom-Com show "Nothing Trivial...About a Broken Heart" on Amazon Prime.  The show started in 2011 and ended in 2014, 3 seasons, 39 episodes and a tv movie wrapping it up.  The basic jist of the show is five strangers meet at a Tuesday night trivia at their local and form a friendship bond that lasts throughout the show.  Auckland seems like a beautiful city, and it's now on my bucket list to visit.  I'd also like to see one of the lead actors sing 'cause you know he has his own band and everything.

After blowing through the entire series in like a week or so, I decided it was HIGH TIME that I ventured out into the world and found a pub quiz of my own.  Little did I know there was a company out there doing pub quiz across the country in various bars five nights a week!  Didn't take long to google them and finally on June 25 I ventured to The Empire Tavern out in Burbank which is a fairly new beer and wine bar kind of off the beaten path.

That first night I played all by myself, and I came in third place with 74 points.  The winning team had 89.  After doing fairly well by myself I was offered a spot on a team next time and I said I'd do my best.  I liked the format and loved the bar, so I knew I'd be back.  BTW, my team name for the first two times was "Space Cowboys" since I was wearing my Father's Day Cowboy Bebop t-shirt.

I really wanted to try again though, so two days later I went over to The Lincoln Beer Company which is also in Burbank close to my apartment.  Again pretty much by myself I came in third place with 74 points.  The top two teams that night were all sitting at one table though, so I sense some collusion.  That said, besides those two full teams of six each, I beat everyone else in the bar, and there were at least 20 other people playing.  So that felt good.

July 2 back at the Empire and my team does much better, we come in second with 83 points, which is still a personal best.  There's usually a total of 96 points available but this one had more points for some reason.  Also the regular quizmaster was out on vacation and we had a sub, though the sub was the same guy as at Lincoln the week before.  Our team name was "So You're Saying There's a Chance" because their previous team name was "Forever Fourth" and I vowed they would never be lower than 3rd ever again.

One week later on July 9 at Empire, same sub QM and by this point I'm kind of getting tired of him.  He's not good.  In fact he's bad.  And I spoke about it with other players not on my team and they concurred, they'd had him before and he sucked.  So I emailed Geeks who Drink and they actually responded in a professional manner and thanked me for my input.  He didn't come back the next week when our regular QM was still gone on her honeymoon.  We were back to third place on the 9th, with 80 points.  For some reason we were back to Space Cowboys that night.

July 16 seemed like a game-changing night.  Our team name, "I Contain Multitudes" - paraphrasing the great Walt Whitman poem "Song of Myself".  We came in 2nd, with 73 points, but only lost by 2, to the Goats, who were on a 3 game winning streak (maybe more, I didn't check the scores from before I started playing.)  Still I'll take that sweet $10 reward off our bill.  Oh and it was finally this night when I figured out the people on my team, the ones who invited me to be on their team, yeah they own the bar.



So at this point I've been playing for 3 weeks, and I've done 5 quizzes.  Come in third 2x, and second 2x now.  I'm itching for a victory.  For some reason last Thursday I was on a quest to not be in the doldrums that I wasn't at Comic-Con in San Diego (despite the fact I was offered tickets, I did not follow up because my kiddo is off in Utah this month visiting her Mother and I don't want to go without her).


  So I ventured Downtown, into enemy territory and found a bar very close to USC called "The Dragon and Meeple".  It's a gaming bar, as in board games and other types of nerdiness.  Much like "The Guild Hall" over near me.  The employees couldn't really figure out why attendance was so low, they'd only done trivia a couple times previously, until I reminded them about SDCC, and they got it.  I was joined by a work colleague halfway through the game who really could have helped me on the music round, but it was no worries, I won handily with 70 points, beating the team in 2nd by 11.  I won a $25 gift certificate to the bar/store I can use next time and I also got a free drink for winning one of the four bonus rounds.  It was a good time.  Oh and my team name: "I Wish I Was At Comic-Con".

Brings us to last night, back at Empire, and our normal team is down to just four people.  Not a problem, because we carried the night.  We led virtually the entire game, and our regular host was back for the festivities.  Our team name was "I Promised My Mother I'd Make Better Choices" which was actually somewhat true, and also the 2nd name I chose, given the first one was kind of poking fun at the host.  But I'm going to use it next week.  Anyway, we won by a whopping 3 points, 80 to 77 over the Goats.  And there was much rejoicing.

Check out the scheduled for Geeks Who Drink and come join me would ya?  I've got at least 3 more weeks at Empire for sure.  I'm also itching to go to Scum and Villainy Cantina where I hear the prize is over $100!