Wednesday, December 30, 2015

From the Sidelines 2015 Review

Once again I wasn’t able to give the blog the attention it needs resulting is a steep drop off in traffic. In the collegiate world, it is said one needs to “publish or perish” and so it is also with blogs.

According to Google Analytics, there were 20,175 pageviews from 14,132 visitors from January 1st through December 29th. Statcounter disagrees and says the numbers were 15,048 and 10,033 respectively. Give AdBlocker and NoScript usage, I’ll guess that Google is more accurate and still missed some visits. People from all over the globe visited from more countries than I care to list with the U.S. only making up 47.43% of the traffic.

It amazes me that From the Sidelines has so many international visitors.

Looking at the ongoing web browser wars, Chrome was the dominant browser by far for 45.49% of the share. That was no surprise, however the second most used browser was. Safari was used for 22.61% of visits to the blog easily passing Firefox at 14.58%. This was rather stunning though I knew Firefox is in decline.

Some exotic browsers showed up at less than 1%, most of which I hadn’t heard of before: Iron, UC Browser, YaBrowser, Coc Coc, Maxthon, S40 Ovi Browser, MRCHROME, DoCoMo, JUC, Lunascape, NetFront, and YE. A few of those are state supplied browsers from countries where Internet access is highly monitored, so apparently I haven’t run afoul of their censors.

Aside from the home page, the following posts were the most visited in 2015:

  1. Children Who Chase Lost Voices Review
  2. The Invisible Boy Review
  3. India’s Bantam Weight Fighter: The LCA Tejas Displays 
  4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Review
  5. The Big Sleep 1946 and 1945 Review
  6. Pacific Rim Review
  7. Spirited Away Review
  8. Battle of Britain Review
  9. Dracula (1931) Review
  10. Whisper of the Heart Review

The continuing traffic to the LCA Tejas post has turned it into an evergreen thanks to the horrifically (and controversial) prolonged development of the aircraft. Showing how much I know, the post was expected to fade into obscurity when I wrote it. It is pleasing that Children Who Chase Lost Voices ended up at number one for it is a movie deserving of more attention than it has gotten.

2016 will see more posting, or so is the hope since no promises can be made. It will be interesting to see if that stops the decline.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Windows Live Writer Is Dead!

Long live Open Live Writer!!!

As of December 14, 2015, Google turned off the old authenticator code again permanently crippling Windows Live Writer for usage in posting to Blogger. Fortunately, the promised open source version of Live Writer went live earlier this month and the latest revision supports OAuth 2.

Download Open Live Writer here if you want to keep having the Live Writer experience with Blogger.

This is only my second post using it, so I haven’t had a chance to evaluate all the functions. It does import drafts from WLW, so that is a big plus. On the downside, it didn’t import my categories, so I’m having to type them from memory rather than using the convenient check box system that used to be in place.

A leftover review that didn’t get finished for Halloween may be the first to test how it handles pictures, though I may come up with a project before that just for the purpose.

It is terrific that the application will finally get modernized again and I look forward to more features being added over time.

Christmas Gifts

It has been too long since I last posted mainly due to health issues along with an early holiday trip to Indiana to visit my sister and her family. As a result, the materialistic side of the season has already been dealt with so there should be no stress for once during Christmas itself. For a more spiritual point of view, I suggest checking out the new Featured Post section in the right sidebar for something I wrote five years ago.

The best gift received this year wasn’t even given to me directly, rather it was witnessing the incredible achievement of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch on the 21st. Blasting off and launching multiple satellites while having the first stage successfully land is historical to say the least. A longer video from the launch to the landing can be found here. Kudos to Elon Musk and all the technicians, engineers, and workers involved in the endeavor.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

It has been a long and painful month of my father and I suffering from an upper respiratory virus. While still under its effects, there are things to be grateful for.

Take today for instance. Thanksgiving dinner with friends featuring great food, good company, and better conversation made for a memorable afternoon. Not even badly damaging a tire on the way back was able to take away any of the good spirit engendered.

Having a roof over my head along with heat during cold rain turning to ice is not to be sneezed at too. On a more trivial note, watching Mystery Science Theater 3000's Turkey Day marathon featuring silly satire is something I appreciate. Only in a free country can something like it be produced.

That is something not so trivial, on second thought.

Gratitude is an amazing thing for it brings to attention things we take for granted. It is far too easy to lose that which we take for granted, so feeling grateful can inoculate us against that if we  but pay attention.

To all my fellow Americans I wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Is Coming Back!

I’ve already pledged my small amount to the effort and those of us who did in the first 24 hours pushed the Kickstarter over $1,000,000. So if you are a fan of the show, please help to bring it to a new generation.

Between this and the old episodes slowly rolling out at Rifftrax, a new era of MST3K has begun. Bad movies watch out, you will now have nowhere to hide!

Looks like I chose a good time to introduce the madness to children of my friends, now they can get in on the revival. You can too, please back the project so we can get as many episodes as possible.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Phantom of the Opera (1962) Review

When Hammer Films was on a roll remaking classic horror stories the idea of revisiting a masked man lurking in an opera house was inevitable. What they never imagined was that the surefire hit would be anything but. This film bombed so spectacularly that it nearly ended the director’s career. Uneven and draggy, the new Phantom failed to terrify audiences despite some redeeming qualities to the production.

Phantom of the Opera 01

Imagine having Cary Grant playing one of the most famous movie villains of all time. Imagine that the movie would be made by Hammer Films, a studio having massive success releasing color remakes of black and white classic horror flicks. Imagine the box office receipts!

That’s the thinking that started The Phantom of the Opera remake into fast development. What was finally unveiled to the public not only lacked the superstar actor, but also the frights of Gaston Leroux’s novel. There is some confusion as to whether Grant may have been set to star as either the titular villain or the heroic lead, however it really doesn’t matter since he wouldn’t have been able to save this rather bloodless movie.

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

The Brides of Dracula (1960) Review

This sequel was the obligatory follow up to Hammer Films monster of a hit Horror of Dracula. Beset by production problems from the very beginning, what was put out certainly wasn’t what the public expected. Dripping more atmosphere than blood, the unusually warm and character driven story focused more on the heroic acts of Doctor Van Helsing than the villainy of the undead.

Brides of Dracula Title

Most people remember Hammer for their vampire films, especially those starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. He isn’t in this one due to personal fears of being typecast (supremely ironic given what happened later), however this movie is one of the better entries in the genre even if the title is false advertising. Yeah, the character Dracula isn’t in it either.

Monday, October 05, 2015

Into the Last Quarter

2015 has gotten away from me, I realized when seeing October arrive so quickly. Last year was difficult due to my father’s travails, but still, things got done. Not so this year and I find myself trying to play catch up while falling further behind.

My health hasn’t been catastrophically bad, however it has been bad by even my lowered expectations. Nothing I planned for the year has been accomplished or will be before 2016 rolls around. Simply there is no energy to go around with too many things needing doing.

Between that becoming glaringly obvious and the rather somber tone of General Conference this weekend, I’ve found myself less than motivated. Plowing on is the only plan with no real hope of progress in this desolate world filled with superficiality dominating the culture.

Ah well.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Super Bad Moon Rising

While the title sounds like the name of a pretentious rock band, the lunar eclipse that happened last night was truly a “super moon” as well as a “blood moon.” Heralded by some nitwits as a sign that the world was ending, it only brought about a final battle between photographers and the ever dimming lunar face.

Lunar Eclipse 07

Okay, make that just one photographer, me.

After a week of feeling fairly terrible, the rare combination of fair skies and a rare celestial event prompted me to get the telescope out last night. Once outside, the amazing amount of light pouring out of the sky into an only slightly hazy atmosphere led to the brilliant idea of trying to take some photographs. Brilliant idea or merely a touch of lunacy? That ended up becoming the question of the night.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Summer 2015 Capsule Movie Reviews

In the past I’ve written a few mini-reviews of films after seeing them in theater, but this year I’ve been too tired or busy to type my impressions. So better late than never here are three micro-reviews of films I’ve seen this summer at the nearby Spring Grove Cinema.

Jurassic World

First a disclaimer has to be made: I’ve never been a fan of the franchise despite being a kaiju and science fiction lover. The first flick was entertaining, if not very memorable, and what little I saw of the sequels they were pretty abysmal. This opinion puts me in a tiny minority, of course. So it was with low expectations I went into the darkened theater to watch dinosaurs once again run amok.

Expecting a popcorn based confection with no style or substance, I was very surprised to find a genuinely tasty plot blended perfectly with intelligent action along with surprising amounts of emotional moments. Likeable characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard carried the movie mainly due to a very cookie cutter villain played by Vince D’Onofrio (see Daredevil on Netflix to see what he’s really capable of) and a mixed effort by the supporting cast.

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Great Video on CG in Modern Movies


I have been known to complain about poor computer generated special effects in movies and also films that seem to exist only to bombard the audience with artificial imagery, so this video was of great interest during my browsing the Net today. Particularly fascinating is the usage of CG for things we don't even notice -- watch the whole thing. It may change your viewpoint. The final analysis is something I agree with and bless Rocket Jump for including Ray Harryhausen's work at the end.


Thursday, July 30, 2015

July is Already Ending?!

It has been well over a month since my last post and time has not flown by, yet seems to have escaped me instead. Still haven’t even taken notes for my next movie review, though I did glance at the movie briefly while making sure the PC monitor is still calibrated. Being an early adopter of Windows 10 meant finessing the video settings on my Nvidia GTX 670, though I’m one of the lucky ones with no Nvidia Windows 10 problems (other than having to enable vertical sync in all games).

Eagle02

A lot has happened since the middle of June, including FFT (Forced Family Time) when my sister and her family visited the week before Independence Day. Starting with cleaning house before hand, I’ve been run into the ground this summer making life quite difficult.

So what does that have to do with bald eagles?

Monday, June 15, 2015

On Target

Since it has been a season of everything going wrong that could possibly go wrong at the Boonedocks, I thought I’d post a picture of something finally going right for a change. UPDATED July 24: Problems.

Initial Zero In

A new scope, the UTG 3-9x32 Compact CQB Bug Buster AO, is my first step into better optics for the 5.56mm/.223 Rem cartridge that I shoot the most. It may be my last step if it holds up over time given the above results.

Update: It didn’t hold up at all. Details after the break…

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) Review

The decade of the 1980s was the era of the cult movie and probably spawned more initially unsuccessful films that eventually became popular than any other period. A perfect example of the kind can be found in this moody little story about a rock band that hit it big in the early ‘60s then disintegrated under mysterious circumstances. While the mystery may not be all that clever, the characters, acting, and music make this a classic rock and roll flick.

Eddie and the Cruisers title

Movies about the inherent drama found within rock and roll bands are a dime a dozen, being a kind of low hanging fruit that writers and producers can’t resist. Easy to write, easy to shoehorn a music act into, and always teeming with conflict they are also relatively cheap to produce.

So what sets this low budget flick apart from the pack?

“On the Dark Side”.

Okay, I’m being a little facetious, but once the movie premiered, vanished quietly, and moved on to cable rotation, that song dominated MTV and radio in 1984. Odds are younger folk have heard that tune on classic rock stations and never seen the movie. They have missed out on quite a treat featuring a talented cast that went on to bigger things later.

Back in the early ‘80s, I watched this film many times on cable and so it was with some surprise that I ran into a used DVD at a local coffee shop. The surprise wasn’t that it had been put out in that format, but that I’d never gotten around to purchasing it. So of course I had to buy the well battered DVD out of nostalgia and to review.

Eddie and the Cruisers VideotapeEddie and the Cruisers Media Magazine

The movie begins with the previously mentioned song being played live before a 1960s audience. Don’t be alarmed by the sudden shift from film to VHS level quality! Artistic choices can be alarming, but remember not to panic since it is only a device meant to show a shift to the present – the present being 1983 in this case.

Media Magazine staff are watching archival footage of an old band, Eddie and the Cruisers in a small studio. Conveniently, they name each member of the band thereby introducing us to the cast of characters we’ll be watching for the next ninety minutes. If it feels a little heavy handed, it is. I forgive the hokey method because it helps the story get up and running very quickly.

Cheesiness aside, we also get to know the main instigator of the film, Maggie Foley (Ellen Barkin), in the scene. Blonde and always smoking a cigarette, she’s the intrepid if somewhat suspect reporter always looking to work an angle for ratings -- even if it means making things up. Pushy, blonde, and slightly seductive, Maggie appears to be a main star of the production.

Appearances can be deceiving. It may be overanalyzing, but that seems to be one of the themes of the story.

Eddie and the Cruisers Car CrashEddie and the Cruisers Frank Ridgeway

Eddie and the Cruisers hit it big back in ‘63, only for tragedy to destroy the band. Nostalgia for their music has their songs getting air play again and with that setup, the story begins to unspool. A lost album and the circumstances around Eddie’s death are the twin mysteries driving the narrative.

Not only are the fans haunted by what was and could have been, so are the remaining survivors of the rock and roll group. “Warm Summer Nights” features nostalgia driven lyric, so it is the perfect song to segue way to the real main protagonist of the movie, Frank Ridgeway (Tom Berenger). Through his eyes and memories we are presented the tumultuous events of twenty years before.

 Eddie and the Cruisers 57 ChevyEddie and the Cruisers First Meeting

Currently a high school English literature teacher, he once was a college graduate pushing a broom at a bar on the Jersey Shore.

This was a dead period in American rock and roll, with girl bands dominating the pop charts and the British Invasion led by the Beatles yet to happen. Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens were killed in the plane crash immortalized in Don McLean’s “American Pie” three years before on “the day the music died.”

So it was the Jersey Shore sound that kept rock and roll alive during the interim, at least according to the movie. In reality, that regional sound didn’t start up until the late ‘60s. Never learn your history from Hollywood, folks.

Eddie and the Cruisers First Meeting 02Eddie and the Cruisers Frank Meets Maggie

Del Shannon’s classic “Runaway” is the trigger bringing back Frank’s memories of a fateful meeting with a pretty girl. The flashback goes somewhat awry when she turns out to have not just a boyfriend in tow, but an entire band. Still, the chance meeting would change Frank’s life forever.

Entering his life are:

Eddie Wilson (Michael Paré), the leader of the band and main vocalist. Sparse with his words and always passionate, he’s a driven perfectionist.

Joanne Carlino (Helen Schneider), Eddie’s girl and backup singer. Immediately drawn to Frank, she’s obviously going to be a source of friction within the group.

Sal Amato (Matthew Laurance) fills the role of the member chafing from being in the leader’s shadow. His tastes in music does not mesh well with the mercurial Eddie, but hey, who pays attention to bass players anyway?

The drummer (David Wilson). Not only doesn’t he suffer from sudden human combustion, he doesn’t show any signs of life or even a name. He is “just going through a phase” according to Eddie.

Wendall Newton (Michael ‘Tunes’ Antunes from the Beaver Brown Band) plays sax and that’s all. He never says a word during the entire film, in fact. There are token performances and then there is this, which is fairly ridiculous.

And of course, no band would be complete without their sleazy manager. Coming off as a low level conman, Doc Robbins (Joe Pantoliano) is something of a scene stealer whenever he gets a chance to speak.

Eddie and the Cruisers Record AlbumEddie and the Cruisers WHRE

A present day break in leads Frank to reuniting with the surviving band members one by one. Someone wants the missing tapes from the Season in Hell album that never was put out and is willing to go to extremes to do so. Against that backdrop are flashbacks to when the band started to see success. Alternating between the past and present is the structure for the movie, so this isn’t a flick you can walk out of for awhile and easily jump back into.

Eddie and the Cruisers Rimbaud

All the tropes need covering so the one of girls coming between band members isn’t going to be surprising. Consequently, a considerable amount of time is spent on Joann’s flirtations with Frank. Obviously still single in the ‘80s, she is the one who got away for the bookish man. His introducing her to the poem “A Season in Hell” by Arthur Rimbaud becomes a pivotal plot point in a scene that screams “pay attention to me!”

So pay attention!

Eddie and the Cruisers BeachEddie and the Cruisers Wordman

There are some stand out moments depicting the band coming together with their new song writer when Frank is drafted by Eddie. The two bond quickly due to a mutual desire to create art rather than just churn out what everyone else is doing. Eddie in particular wants to make songs that “will last forever” and dubs the college boy the Wordman.

The rest of the band is not so enthused by all this, but what their leader wants, he gets.

Eddie and the Cruisers Oldies ActEddie and the Cruisers Sal Amato

Such treatment can engender resentment and that kind of bitterness can last for decades. Sal is that member of the group, so it is painfully ironic that he’s running around with a Cruisers tribute band to make money. Despite all the years, he’s still in Eddie’s shadow.

It is character moments like this that make the movie, since the mystery is such a straightforward story. Seeing the band members older and haunted by their brush with fame is compelling cinema thanks to their being believable characters. Anyone who has been involved with a band or has friends who were will recognize the personalities presented here.

Eddie and the Cruisers CollegeEddie and the Cruisers Joann and Frank

Frank has his own mixed bag of emotions for all was not fun back in the day. Taking the band out of their comfort zone and then taking Joann for something akin to a date exposes the classic New Jersey lower class resentments seen so often in entertainment. Wordman doesn’t quite fit in with the rest, despite his humility and even temper, no matter how hard he tries.

Eddie and the Cruisers WatchingEddie and the Cruisers Words and Music

Conflict ensues with Eddie and the immortal line “words and music” makes its debut when Frank explains his sometimes turbulent relationship with the late singer to Maggie. It seems like everywhere he’s going, the reporter is there or was just there digging for more on Wilson. Her flirtations with Frank are questionable in their sincerity adding some tension to the newshound’s appearances.

Eddie and the Cruisers Kenny HopkinsEddie and the Cruisers Kenny Finds Wendell

More bad memories are uncovered via catching up to the drummer, Kenny Hopkins (David Wilson). Yes, he actually has a name, though not much more in the way of a personality. Frankly, he comes off as a bit of a creep and someone you’d keep your daughter away from. Just going through a phase? Pfft, that’s his true nature.

Maggie’s digging combines with Frank’s revisiting the past leads to more questions, including the biggest of them all. Is Eddie really dead or did he copy Rimbaud by faking his death? What really happened during the recording of the second album? Who is after the tapes?

Thoughts

Cult movies usually become so for one of two reasons: they are so terrible they become unintentional comedies or they are gems that managed to be overlooked at first. Luckily, this movie is an example of the latter. Sincere and guileless, it never gets overly pretentious as the highly entertaining, if formulaic, yarn unspools.

Eddie and the Cruisers is an earnest movie that often has an intimate feeling about it. This is due mainly to the performances of the cast with no real weak points except for Wendall. Whether he had dialogue in the script that was cut or was provided none, Antunes got no chance to shine like the others. Given he was the only real musician amidst a bunch of actors, maybe that was for the best.

Whatever the case may be, an impression is made of dealing with real people rather than cardboard cutouts churned out from a typewriter. Hey, that’s what was used back when this was made. Fancy shmancy word processors… Real writers went deaf from the sound of keys thwacking the paper and had fingers stained with White Out fluid.

Ahem. These kinds of wandering off of subject happen when you get old.

Direction by Martin Davidson is competent, though not flashy. The same can be said about Fred Murphy’s cinematography which handles the night filming well, an important thing for a movie that mostly takes place after dark. Other than a few creative shots using mirrors, the camera work is pedestrian with no innovative angles or panning.

Music dominates much of the running time with multiple performances showcasing entire songs while managing not to come off as being forced in. For a brief time, the soundtrack made a star out of John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Deservedly so, though the irony of them becoming a one album hit is a bit too on point. I have to say Paré’s lip synching to Cafferty’s vocals is pretty good and might fool a few people.

Simply put, this was an ideal movie for the MTV era it landed in, back when the cable network aired music videos, influenced cinema, and was watched by what seemed like every teenager in America. The timing couldn’t have been better for it to become a cult hit.

When we aren’t watching performances by the band, the script serves up scads of dialogue betraying the fact this is an adaptation of a novel. P.F. Kluge approved of the adaptation, but couldn’t stand the horrible sequel which only had Eddie Wilson in common with his book.

Rated PG, the movie has plenty of mild profanity and innuendo sprinkled throughout nearly perfectly fitting what the movie rating. Not really suitable for kids in subject matter, ages in the double digits will find the story more interesting anyway.

I recommend Eddie and the Cruisers to rock and roll fans, lovers of wistful characters filled with regret, and anyone who enjoys a good, solidly made movie. After all these years, it still holds up well.

Technical

MGM Home Entertainment’s DVD dates back to 2001 and is a basic offering with only the theatrical trailer for an extra.

Video quality is fairly good with demerits for occasional muddiness during the many dark scenes along with occasional dirt scratches betraying the age of the material. Time seems to have been unkind to a lot of 1980s film stock with lower quality 35mm film being to blame if I recall correctly.

The good news is that the transfer is 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen so if you are like me and only saw it on HBO way back when it is a treat to see the complete picture. Colors are well saturated and show no bleed while contrast is decent. It is not a tack sharp presentation despite the film grain being present.

Audio is typical Dolby Digital Stereo Surround, but don’t expect much in the way of back channel action. This is a solidly stereo soundtrack with no no pops or hiss, but not as spectacular as a movie about music should be. It inexplicably lacks vavoom, making me wonder if the compression was too high.

Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish.

Yep, it is a no frills DVD.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!






Eddie and the Cruisers Can't PerformEddie and the Cruisers Joann Sings

Wendall’s death by “heart attack” marks the beginning of the end for the Cruisers. I like how the scene where Eddie can’t bring himself to perform before a packed bar reveals just how sensitive he really is. Down comes the façade of his tough guy image in a great performance by Paré. While the band plays on with Joann awkwardly singing in his place, the difference without the main man is glaring.

Oddly enough, the replacement sax player doesn’t get any dialogue either. Is it racial or is there a hatred of saxophone players involved? For some reason, I find the latter more sinister.

Eddie and the Cruisers Joann Returns

‘80s Joann makes her entrance late in the story in a reprise of how Frank first saw her. Again the chemistry is immediate, though this time tinged heavily with regrets. The melancholy nature of nostalgia is at its purest in this reunion of these two almost love birds. It is through her memories the final hours of Eddie are revealed.

Eddie and the Cruisers Session in HellEddie and the Cruisers Uncompromising

Can’t make a film about the music industry without creative differences with the money men, can you? We finally get to hear some of the music that was lost and it is clearly five to ten years ahead of its time. Featuring distortion and backwards sampling, it is dark and slightly reminiscent of The Doors.

Told it is unreleasable crap, Eddie goes off in a rage at the record label exec. However, the anger is masking something else going on with the singer.

Eddie and the Cruisers Palace DepressionEddie and the Cruisers Facing Failure

With Joann in tow, he flees to Jersey and a castle made of junk called Palace Depression. A real life place, it was destroyed by vandals years after the movie was made. There he begins to crack up, realizing his drive to create something great has failed and that everything he’s worked toward is gone.

Here is the tortured poet fully realized with the macho mask stripped away to reveal a panicked depressive at the end of his rope. In mere hours he will have vanished and his empty car found in a river.

Eddie and the Cruisers Mystery ManEddie and the Cruisers 57 Chevy Returns

A recovery run by Joann with Frank to Palace Depression is successful at finding the tapes, however they fail to notice somebody following them every step of the way. That somebody has a turquoise Chevy convertible just like Eddie’s.

Eddie and the Cruisers Mystery CallerEddie and the Cruisers Signaling Joann

Somebody who sounds like Eddie calls Joann, somebody who knows all their private signals with phone calls and headlight flashing. For you younger types, this was a time honored way of communications with a gal you were dating who had hostile parents. It was another era, one far, far away from texting.

Eddie and the Cruisers RevealEddie and the Cruisers Doc the Poser

I loved Frank finally being proactive at the end, ambushing “Eddie” without Joann’s knowledge. He manned up and would have worked over his former collaborator, except it turned out to be Doc posing as the dead singer. The tapes are his last chance at making it, so he staged the break ins and phone calls.

Eddie and the Cruisers Weary ReactionEddie and the Cruisers The Tapes

This was quite a scene, adultly handled with a visible weariness in the reactions of Frank and Joann. Rather than being enraged at Doc, they pity the eternal loser desperate for success. Giving him the tapes, they also give him the opportunity to finally get rich. Their actions are very grown up, which can’t be said of characters in many movies today.

Eddie and the Cruisers Happy Ending

Also mature is the couple finally forming at the end, with both of them letting go of Eddie at long last. He was always the one thing keeping them apart, both in life and death.

Eddie and the Cruisers ReflectionEddie and the Cruisers Walkoff

Eddie’s being alive in Canada is depicted very nicely as is his reaction to the tapes finally being released. Not a word is said, just showing body language made it a perfect ending to the story and reason enough to never make a sequel. Sadly they did and you will never read a review of it here for it is supremely bad.

Monday, June 01, 2015

Ragnar Vanished

It is hard to write this post. About 48 hours ago was the last time we saw Ragnar, the almost full grown kitten I rescued back in November. While an avid hunter who loved going outside, he always stayed near the house so he wouldn't miss anything we were doing. Odds are that he was torn apart by coyotes while hunting rabbits.

Rags was an exceptional cat, one of two brilliant little animals I've had the privilege of knowing over the span of nearly five decades. Fiercely loving, he had to be involved in everything we did. If we hiked up to the mailbox, he's accompany us. If there was any labor around the house, Rags would be there to either check it out or try to "help", if help meant playing with the tools involved.

I've lost more than a pet, Ragnar was a buddy, a friend. In the short amount of time, he brought such light and life to a beaten down household. With his death, my heart has died as well. One too many wounds to the soul in a very bad life had turned it into scar tissue. It truly is the last straw.

No more pets, I can't go through this again. Ironic, I was planning to take pictures of him this week and write about what an incredible cat he was. Now all I have is memories.

Friday, May 29, 2015

Randomness

Testing the android app for Blogger to see if it still works. Annoyed that it lost an entire post already.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Google Cuts Off Live Writer from Blogger

 UPDATE: As of June 2, everything is working again. That was an amazingly fast fix given how low priority Blogger has been to Google and Live Writer to Microsoft. Didn't see an update to Live Writer, so I suspect that this is Google's initial fix.

Original Post:

As of May 26, Google changed the login method for external software to access Blogger, cutting it off from all offline editors other than Blogger's default browser editor. Since many of us use Microsoft's Windows Live Writer 2012 to create our posts, this has been a disaster. If you are like me and use a lot of inline images, this is especially problematic since the default editor is terrible at handling images.

Google blames Microsoft:

7:51 AM

Nick - Google Guide said:


Hi everyone,

We appreciate you coming here and letting us know about this issue. It looks like this error is a result of an authentication problem between Google and Live Writer. A long time ago, we announced we were deprecating our old authentication system and we encouraged developers to move to the new one (OAuth 2.0). It seems that Live Writer is still using our old system, which is causing the issue. We are currently looking into it, but we suggest that users also reach out to Microsoft to report the issue.

Thanks,

Blogger Suport Team

p.s. please disregard the previous official announcement.
Edited

However, all other blog editors are affected, such as Raven, Blogjet, and BlogFire. Until one or more of them change over access methods, posting to Blogger will be a great deal more difficult given the Microsoft ceased development of Live Writer in 2012.

In my case, it may prevent the movie review I finally finished writing today from ever being posted, since I can't get the images to work properly with the default editor. Short of learning to hand code HTML image sizing, it isn't happening for me.

So I have to wait for some kind of fix from somebody. If that doesn't happen, it will be time to explore Wordpress to see if it can replace Blogger for me.  Otherwise, I may stop blogging altogether.

This is more than annoying.

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Another Infection

Back in February of 2013, I suffered from an e.coli infection that turned into an abscess. A recent bout of sinusitis has been brutal enough on its own and decided to morph into another abscess in the making in a peculiar turn of events. With my immune system abdicating all its responsibilities, the last few weeks have been miserable.

Currently on antibiotics for the throat closing sinus infection, so nothing new needs be proscribed. All that can be done is too apply hot compresses in the hopes of making the abscess form faster. Fun and games.

I still hope to post more often with actual content, yet life is not being very helpful toward that end.

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

AdSense is Nonsense

As part of trying to understand how the Web works, I have experimented with enabling ads on the site to see how they affect its presence in search engines or if they do at all. Making things easy for Google I opted to use their AdSense program and in the latest experiment tried one ad on the right hand sidebar. That way everything involved, Blogger, Google Search, and AdSense, would all be Google products.

So after a year of no profit with the latest attempt (due to the fact it will take around a decade to hit the cash out threshold), they send me a nastygram informing I’m in violation of AdSense:

Hello,

This is a warning message to alert you that there is action required to bring your AdSense account into compliance with our AdSense program policies. We’ve provided additional details below, along with the actions to be taken on your part.

Affected website: from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com

Example page where violation occurred: http://from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com/2011/11/few-war-movies-are-as-rousing-and.html?m=1

Action required: Please make changes immediately to your site to follow AdSense program policies.

Current account status: Active

My immediate reaction was wondering what in the world they were talking about. After visiting the page and seeing it renders as a mobile version with multiple ads, I rolled my eyes since I had no control over where the ads are placed with Bloggers default mobile version. In fact, I was astounded to see two ads, one each placed at the top and bottom of the post instead of only one as set.

Why is this annoying?

Violation explanation


AD MISLABELING: Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way. For instance, publishers may not place ads under misleading headers or titles as this may confuse users into thinking the ads are actually site links related to that header. To avoid this issue, we ask that publishers use only "sponsored links" or "advertisements" to label ads. More information about this policy can be found in our help center at https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295?utm_source=crs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=notification#Placing_ads_under_a_misleading_heading=en&answer=1346295#Placing_ads_under_a_misleading_heading

There was no header labeling of the ads they inserted on their own into the automatically generated conversion of the page to a mobile friendly format. It is sheer idiocy to trust Google’s services working properly with one another which reminds me of the bad old days of IBM where divisions would war with each other. It is one thing to have one hand not know what the other is doing, but neighboring fingers?

I’ve removed AdSense from the site and doubt I’ll experiment with it again. After removing the ad block on the side no ads render on the mobile version too. I pity anyone who tries to make money off of webpage ads these days if penalties are handed out so capriciously.

Somehow I don’t think the whopping $5 and odd cents theoretically earned by the site will be missed.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Spring Surprise

The surprise being that this post is actually going up.

Though the fact that I’m wearing a T-shirt today is surprising after last week’s snow storm that dumped more than eight inches on the property.

Last time I posted was nearly a month ago. How time flies when you aren’t having fun. While February was tough on my health, March pushed me to my limits with no spare energy for anything constructive. That, of course, includes writing.

Friday, March 06, 2015

Spring Is Coming…

…Or so the weather forecasters claim.

Temperatures are finally supposed to go above freezing for the highs this weekend and I desperately need them to. It has been a cold, harsh winter making my bones ache constantly. Thankfully, things have been rather busy the past month thereby causing time to fly and writing to fall by the wayside.

Lately we have been traveling to Gunderson Clinic quite a bit due to testing being performed on Dad to see if something can be done so he’ll be able to eat food again. So far we know that liquids pass through but not solids, so nothing has changed there except for the fluids transiting more easily than last year.

Monday, February 23, 2015

The Sound of Spam

More referral spam from Russia and the Netherlands cluttered my Blogger stats in Fevruary. Adding to the mess is the loud blast of spam from http: // ranksonic . info / krawler . pho?refToken threatening to blow the doors down on my blog for the past month. Join me as I explore the links you should never click on…

Ranksonic Spam 01

Let’s start with spam from RanKSonic since it is clogging up Statcounter as well as Blogger’s stats. Of course, it is SEO spam claiming to be able to boost traffic to your website. Hey, if they were that good at it, would they be spamming blogs to get business? Of course not.

Ranksonic Spam 02

Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, I tried several links since there was no way I would sign up for the shady service. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy produced 404 errors like the one above, while About Us just took me back to the top of the home page.

Inspires great confidence in their understanding of webpage design, doesn’t it?

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Definitions Matter: IOM Report on ME/CFS

Being a sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) means dealing with skeptical doctors, a lack of public awareness, and a very confusing diagnostic process. The last is a much bigger problem than even sufferers understand for it is the doctors being confused as well.

So I applaud the new diagnosis method proposed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies here in the United States. While I haven’t read the full report yet, the outlines and video presentation depict a much more streamlined (and dare I say it, more accurate) list of symptoms for diagnosis.

Quoting from the Key Facts PDF:

There are five main symptoms of ME/CFS:

  1. Reduction or impairment in ability to carry out normal daily activities, accompanied by profound fatigue;
  2. Post-exertional malaise (worsening of symptoms after physical, cognitive, or emotional effort);
  3. Unrefreshing sleep;
  4. Cognitive impairment; and
  5. Orthostatic intolerance (symptoms that worsen when a person stands upright and improve when the person lies back down).

The first three are mandatory and one of the latter two is needed to fulfill the criteria for diagnosis.

I suffer harshly from the first four and haven’t been tested for orthostatic intolerance. Lately, number four has been particularly bad, hence my not posting much. The last few days have been especially challenging making coherent sentences a challenge even when speaking. Today is better, thankfully.

Also in the report is a proposal to rename the disease to Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease or SEID. Doesn’t roll off the tip of the tongue, does it? However, it is bang on what the illness is really about and, most importantly, replaces “syndrome” with “disease” which is important in the medical world.

Note that this report has nothing on treatment and is confined to diagnostics for doctors and researchers, so please don’t get your hopes up on a treatment being developed quickly or even at all. What this report does is add legitimacy to the illness which is vital for extensive research to be done like Stanford’s findings last year of physical abnormalities in CFS patients’ brains.

After over 25 years of having this miserable illness, I’d given up any hope of advancement in any way or form from the medical community. This may be more than a glimmer.

Monday, February 02, 2015

February Already?

Tiger Tabby

“Tempus fugit,” said the Romans and indeed that observation still applies two millennia later. January turned out to be a bear of a month to get through, so next to nothing got done other than what was required. Hopefully, things will get easier as the temperatures warm and winter weather slowly departs.

That may be awhile, as I was snowed in yesterday and didn’t make it to church. Great irony could be found in the fact that I had asked to be covered for my Sunday school lesson the week before due to a forecast of snow that didn’t arrive. So of course the boy that cried wolf (NOAA) wasn’t listened to this time and I awakened to heavy drifting across our steep drive.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The World Is Burning–So What?

The first post of the year 2015 is something I actually started awhile back and forgot about. Lately I’ve been pondering how people deal with life’s challenges along with how much behavior is influenced by external pressures. Stress fractures in society are increasing in size and quantity while people seem less equipped to deal with them. That’s the backdrop for what I began writing last year and updated for this post…

Russia slowly undermines and takes away chunks of Ukraine, China bullies its neighbors and lays claim to vast swathes of sea, Islamists are wreaking havoc in France and Africa, illegal alien minors including gang members are flooding over the border with Mexico, Iraq lost territory to terrorists and Iran sent troops in, and the United States has the most corrupt and incompetent leadership in its history. Yep, it is business as usual -- if you are a student of history. Unfortunately, most people are not.