It seems these days that the combination of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio is a foregone conclusion…I’m told the next Scorsese film – a biopic of Frank Sinatra – will star DiCaprio as well (fortunately the songs will still be sung by Frank).  

 

Shutter Island, their latest collaboration, was pushed back from a late 2009 ...

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Once our divorce was final, Mara seemed to have finally given up on the idea that she could somehow move back to Dallas and live with me as a roommate.   Either that, or she simply found herself too involved with the life she was trying to build in Florida to think of escape any longer.   A few of the details of the events of the time remain fuzzy in my brain, which is partially ...

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Look, I love movies.   You know that by now.   I love great movies, silly movies, funny movies, cheesy movies, classic movies…even a few TERRIBLE movies.   And because Heather and I try to see as many films as we can in the theater instead of just watching them at home, we know we’re both sort of out of step with the modern-day movie-goer.

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When it comes to music, I am a liner note reader (which could be one of the many reasons I want the physical CD or other medium in my hand, rather than just downloading the songs).   I get an odd pleasure from seeing connections between one release and another.   Sometimes they are in completely different genres, or 30 years apart.   But you recognize a ...

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After much arguing and discussing and threatening between herself and her family, Mara agreed to fly down to Florida (where her parents were living, or soon moving to – the exact circumstance escapes me).   There she would become a short-term inpatient, followed by a longer-term outpatient, with yet another mental health facility.   Mara didn’t seem interested in the program itself, nor in moving to Florida.   But she ...

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As Mara began to lose weight, my own life was facing major stress.   Work was a nightmare; I had left a job where I was busting my ass 60 or more hours a week, and was now making more money but with nearly the same hours, and much more daily stress.   I was drinking more than I wanted to, my relationship with my girlfriend seemed to be going nowhere, and even with the ...

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Eternal Sunshine #38, the March 2010 issue, is now available. Among the usual foolishness, you can find:

Columns from Andy York, Paul Milewski, and Jack McHugh
The latest chapter of Fire and Rain
Jokes
Photos
Two new variant openings (including rules and maps)
Letters
Hypothetical Questions
More of the Movie Quote Contest
The Baseball Prediction contest
and lots more!

You can find the pdf version in the Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at: ... << MORE >>

... << MORE >>

I’ve never found George Clooney to be a great actor.   He can be funny (O Brother, Where Art Thou) and carries his particular attitude-filled charm quite easily (Ocean’s 11 being a perfect example).   But when I heard rave reviews for Up in the Air, directed by Jason Reitman, I felt I had to give it a shot.   Reitman is very capable, and the plot seemed ...

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Diplomacy World #108, the Winter 2009 Issue, has just been released. You can find it in pdf format both on the Diplomacy World website (www.diplomacyworld.net) and in the DW Yahoo group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/diplomacyworld/)

Inside this issue (which had a theme of Face to Face Diplomacy) you'll find:

Jack McHugh on Favorite Con Memories

Dave Simpson on the Future of FTF Diplomacy in the UK

Steve Cooley ... << MORE >>

In general, the modern-day action film leaves me cold.   The plot and dialogue are secondary to the CGI sequences and other special effects.   Marketing of the film in other countries brings in a good percentage of revenue, so the less the film relies on dialogue the better.   Still, I have been a lifelong fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s consulting detective, and director Guy Ritchie has entertained ...

<< MORE >>

Eternal Sunshine #36 is now available for download. You can find the pdf version in the ES Yahoo group at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

or in both pdf and html version at:

www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

This latest issue includes such items as:

Part 2 of a new essay, Fire and Rain
Movie Reviews
Letters
Hypothetical Question of the Month
The 10-round Movie Quote Quiz
Paul Milewski
Jack McHugh ... << MORE >>

Those of you who have been reading Eternal Sunshine for a while, or who first encountered me through my old zine Maniac’s Paradise, will probably remember that Heather is my second wife.  My first wife and I divorced in 2002, although we’d split up as a couple a few years before that.  Mara had been my High School sweetheart, my first (and only) love up to that point…and someone ...

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Given the subject matter of A Serious Man, it isn’t surprising to me that it has received somewhat limited distribution.  Brought to us by the Coen brothers, those moviegoers expecting to find Fargo or O Brother Where Art Though should look elsewhere.  A Serious Man is clearly their most autobiographical movie so far, and treads in Coen style on some very simple topics: the meaning of life, how perspective decides how we ...

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Eternal Sunshine #35 is now available for download.  You can find the pdf version in the ES Yahoo group at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

or in both pdf and html version at:

www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

This latest issue includes such items as:

The conclusion of I'm No Edward Norton
Part 1 of a new essay, Fire and Rain
Movie Reviews
Letters
Hypothetical Question of the Month
A new 10-round ... << MORE >>

For all of you Whining Kent Pig fans, there are now *TWO* Whining Kent Pig gift applications on Facebook.  The first is Whining Kent Pig Food Staples, where you can send friends such WKP standards as brown sugar, moldy bread, or Ring Dings.  And the newest is Whining Kent Pig Memories, which allows you to give friends such WKP necessities as a 49-card deck or cards, an overflowing toilet, or piles of newspapers.  Check them out on Facebook! ...<< MORE >>

At first, work had its own difficulties.  To begin with, there was the matter of being accessible by phone.  After breakfast and collecting my bag lunch, I’d leave the halfway house on the 7am van, which would take us to the light rail station (arriving around 7:20).  From there I’d take the rail to Union station and catch a bus, which I could get off right across the street from work.  Timing, however, was the issue.  There was no way to ...<< MORE >>

Alfred Hitchcock once gave an interview where he explained what suspense was, and how it could be used.  In essence, he said that having a bomb under a desk blow up could be frightening, but having that same bomb sit under the desk for five minutes while two men in the room discussed baseball, unaware of the bomb’s existence, was unnerving suspense.  Paranormal Activity, which in some ways is the new Blair Witch Project (a micro-budget horror film which is growing in popularity by word of mouth), ...<< MORE >>

I’m sure there are people out there who have seen Office Space and hated it.  There must be.  But so far I haven’t found any.   That isn’t to say that the humor of Mike Judge is beloved in all cases; Idiocracy – while a favorite film of some people – was to me a great idea with horrendously unfunny execution.  Fortunately, Extract returns us back to the same sort of familiar humor as Office Space: an Everyman who is somewhat unhappy ...<< MORE >>

The November 2009 issue of Eternal Sunshine is now available, both in the ES Yahoo group at

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

in pdf format, or in pdf and html format in the Diplomacy section of my personal website at

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/ 

Lots of fun this issue, including , Part 4 of I'm No Edward Norton, the beginning of the new By Popular Demand game, Deviant Diplomacy insanity, and much more.  Enjoy!  Check it out and send me some letters, orders, and feedback!

PS - The direct link to the pdf file is:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/es34.pdf

...<< MORE >>

Diplomacy World #107, the Fall 2009 issue, has just been released.  You can find it at the official Diplomacy World website:

http://www.diplomacyworld.net

and at the Diplomacy World Yahoo group:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/diplomacyworld/

Inside this issue you’ll find articles such as:

The Diplomacy World Variant Design Contest

Jim Burgess and Edi Birsan on Balance of Power

Numerous reports from HuskyCon VII

New DW Technology Editor Chris Babcock’s take on the future of on-line Diplomacy

New DW Strategy & Tactics Editor Joshua Danker-Dake on finding purpose when victory is unattainable

The final two years of the DW Demo Game “After the Rapture” ...<< MORE >>

The October 2009 issue of Eternal Sunshine is now available, both in the ES Yahoo group at

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

in pdf format, or in pdf and html format in the Diplomacy section of my personal website at

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

Lots of fun this issue, including a new column contributor (you'll have to look to see who), the return of Albion, Part 3 of I'm No Edward Norton, the end of the latest By Popular Demand game (and the beginning of the next one) an dmuch more.  Enjoy!  Check it out and send me some letters, orders, and feedback!

...<< MORE >>

It was only luck which found me a job while in the halfway house.  All my attempts to locate one on my own had failed.  I’d filled out applications anywhere I could think of, tried to get a job at the propane company next door to the halfway house (who often hired clients, but we’re getting tired of the process), and even asked if I could get a job at Goodwill (who was considered the “employer of last resort”).  None of those avenues were successful.<< MORE >>

Although I love many Tarantino movies, I can’t say he is one of my favorite directors.  Reservoir Dogs is a favorite, but Kill Bill and other recent films left me cold.  Still, I was intrigued by the idea of QT giving his take on World War II.  Brad Pitt can be great or can mail a role in, and I wasn’t sure what to expect…was this going to be a bloody shoot-em-up action film or something where the dialogue drives the plot?  I’d ...<< MORE >>

When it comes to summer movies, most of them are simply mindless action, cliché-ridden dialogue, and clear lines drawn between good guys and bad guys.  District 9 is a summer film that gives you reasons to think, but still entertains.

 

The premise of the film is a bit unusual.  A large alien craft arrived 20 years ago and hovered over Johannesburg, South Africa.  Then…nothing happened.<< MORE >>

Despite all the anxiety I was having about finding a job, nothing could dampen the enthusiasm I had for Heather’s first official visit on Sunday.  We’d talked about it on the phone, and since there was really nothing to do in the Halfway House (and visits were confined to the community room, which consisted of a television, a pool table that was missing a few balls, and tables and chairs scattered throughout), Heather was going to bring a book of crossword puzzles that we could do together, along with ...<< MORE >>

Eternal Sunshine #32, the new September issue, has just been released.  You can find it in pdf format in the Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at:

 http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

or in both html or pdf format in the Diplomacy section of my personal website at:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

Included in this issue you will find:

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For me, Woody Allen has usually been either genius or misfire.  And my opinions don’t always match well with those of movie critics.  The Mighty Aphrodite was boring to me…I barely got a laugh out of it.  Yet it seemed I couldn’t find a critic who didn’t love it from start to finish.  Whatever Works, his latest film, has received rather negative reviews, or mixed at best.  True, it has some flaws, but overall Whatever Works is a wonderful, fun film, ...<< MORE >>

The August 2009 issue of Eternal Sunshine, Issue #31, has just been released.  Inside you'll find:

The usual crap
Halfway Home to the Halfway House - Part Seven
I'm No Edward Norton - Part One
Subzines from Jack McHugh, Paul Milewski, and W. Andrew York
Play Reviews by Larry Cronin
Football Prediction Contest
Plenty of Game Openings
Letters
Hypothetical of the Month
The latest game results
And maybe some other stuff, who can remember?

 Check it out!  You can find it in pdf format in the Eternal Sunshine Yahoo forum at:

 http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

 Or in both pdf and html format from the Diplomacy section of my personal website at:

 << MORE >>

When your wife tells you "Hey, when we go to Super Wal-Mart today, let's try to get the same check-out lady we got last time" you life is beyond repair.  You've fallen off the ladder of life, had both your legs broken in multiple places, and gangrene has set in....in the middle of the desert, with no living creature around for miles except the vultured that wait for your still-fresh corpse to become available for their nourishment.

It

is

OVER.
...<< MORE >>

The Summer 2009 issue of Diplomacy World, #106, has just been released, with a theme of Historical Variants!  141 pages of Diplomacy for your reading enjoyment.  It would impossible to list all of the highlights, but a small sampling would include:

·         Multiple articles on World DipCon 2009, including one from champion Andrew Goff

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Reviews of Away We Go have been mixed, but I think that those who cannot find warmth, humor and honesty in the film simply don’t understand the generational yearning that baby boomers feel when they reach their mid-30’s.  A product of broken families, “modern” child-rearing methods, and a desire for material over emotional, it becomes easy to find yourself utterly jaded.

 

This is why Verona and John (Maya Rudolph and ...<< MORE >>

Back in the dark ages, before Spider-Man, Sam Raimi was a struggling film director who created one of the scariest and creepiest films of the time: The Evil Dead.  With only limited blood and violence (and a shoestring budget), he developed a terrifying atmosphere of demonic forces, a dark and evil forest, and inescapable horror (with the now recognizable drop of humor and cheese that Raimi greatly expanded in the two sequels).  Now, he and his brother Ivan have returned to this format with Drag Me to ...<< MORE >>

I am sorry I haven't added any new sound files to the web site lately.  I have GOT to get to more of that one of these days. ...<< MORE >>

My first day out looking for work, all in the same shopping center (four corners of a major mid-Dallas intersection) would also be my first day out on my own in semi-freedom.  The long bus journey to Texas didn’t really count, because I was so shell-shocked and tired that there was very little I could do but try to make it from station to station.  This, however, was my first day of what seemed like being a normal person (despite all the phone calls I would have ...<< MORE >>

Now released: The July 2009 issue of Eternal Sunshine, issue #30.  Included in this issue:

* Diplomacy results
* By Popular Demand
* Movie Reviews
* Deviant Diplomacy II
* Bourse
* New Game Openings
* Subzines by Jack McHugh, Andy York, David Hood, and Paul Milewski
* Prison Stories
* and more!

You can find Eternal Sunshine #30 in pdf format in the ES Yahoo group at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

or in both pdf and HTML format in the Diplomacy section of my personal website at:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

Check it out and let me know what you think!

PS - Diplomacy World #106 is about to go into final proofing...watch for it sometime after July 4th ...<< MORE >>

Given the right film, Michael Caine has always had the ability to carry himself as one of the great actors of the last 40 years, from Zulu to Alfie to The Italian Job and on through the ages.  Occasionally a bit loose with his choices, in recent years he his presence has been a welcome, shining attraction in a number of very satisfying movies; his part in Children of Men, in particular, I found terribly moving.  Now we are presented with Is Anybody There?, which despite its rather simple setting and what could have been twisted into a trite plot, ...<< MORE >>

Eternal Sunshine #29, the June 2009 Issue, is now posted.  It includes all of the usual foolishness, such as:

Halfway Home at the Halfway House Part 5
Hypothetical Question of the Month
Movie Reviews
Book Reviews
Columns by W. Andrew York and Jack McHugh
Music that Doesn't Get Old
Diplomacy results for Wouldn't It Be Nice and Dulcinea
Bourse
Deviant Dip II Results
Final Results for the Eternal Sunshine 7x7 Gunboat Tournament
Two new games transferred from Strange Meeting
and more!

You can get the pdf file in the Yahoo group at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

Or in either odf or html from the Diplomacy section of my website at:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

Check ...<< MORE >>

A lot of life at the halfway house was much more relaxed than in prison.  Counts weren’t a timed activity; a staff member simply walked around with a clipboard, marking down everybody he or she saw until they’d gotten everybody on the list of who was supposed to be on-site at the time.  Meals were at scheduled times (and breakfast quite early), but dinner was served three times a night.  As long as you had a reason for not being able to make the earliest dinner, they allowed you to eat at the second.  The third dinner was reserved for ...<< MORE >>

We were watching TV tonight and this ad came on.  It's good stupid fun.

...<< MORE >>

While the remainder of my bus trip was tedious, exhausting, and seemed to be eternal, it was actually rather uneventful.  I grabbed a sandwich in Little Rock, and managed to get a few hours sleep between there and Dallas.  We arrived in Dallas about two hours later than scheduled, and I’d had it drilled into my brain that any late arrival would be considered a serious violation of the travel policy.  So I canned the number I had for the halfway house, but the woman who answered didn’t seem to care one way or the other.  “Just get here as ...<< MORE >>

As it turns out, when a woman asks if you're happy with your life together, the response of "Yes my love, I am so much happier since I got home from prison" is not the full-hearted expression of bliss she's probably looking for from you. ...<< MORE >>

Eternal Sunshine #28, the May 2009 issue, has now been released!

Inside you will find:

Gamestart for Deviant Dip II, the craziest Diplomacy variant ever
Columns by Jack McHugh and Andy York
Results for the 2nd Eternal Sunshine Movie Quote Quiz
Part Four of Halfway Home at the Halfway House
Diplomacy
Bourse
Letters
Foolishness
And much more!

You can find the latest issue in pdf format in the Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

Or in both pdf ...<< MORE >>

The Spring 2009 issue of Diplomacy World, #105, has been released!  Inside you’ll find some terrific articles, including highlights such as:

• An Interview with Diplomacy World Variant Editor Jack McHugh
• Multiple reports in WACCon 2009, from the liked of Jim
        O’Kelley and Siobhan Granvold
• Benjamin Hester on the Austrian Endgame
• Chris Babcock on Diplomacy and Cryptography
• The latest chapter of The Adventures of Fatman and Frottage
        by Rod Walker
• Two-time Australian Diplomacy Championship winner Andrew Goff
        on Taking Your Game to the Next Level
• The 1909 and 1910 seasons of the Diplomacy World Demo Game
• Tom Anthony’s “Ghost” Rating System
• And so much more!

You can find ...<< MORE >>

The latest issue of Eternal Sunshine, #27 (the April 2009 issue) has all kinds of fun stuff, like:

 

Columns from Jack McHugh and Andy York
Diplomacy
Hypothetical Question
Another Movie Quote Contest
Bourse
Game Openings
Letters
Movie Reviews
Book Reviews
Prison Stories
and more!

 

Check it out in pdf format in the Yahoo group :

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

 

or in html and pdf format at:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

 

Enjoy!

...<< MORE >>

I suppose it might be a bit of a surprise to base a drama/comedy film on the idea that cleaning up blood and brain matter from crime scenes could make a profitable business, but then again almost every television show these days involved some sort of Crime Scene Investigation unit.  So why not the cleaning people who come in when it’s all over?

That’s the new business direction of Rose (Amy Adams), who is a single parent trying to support her seven-year-old son.  Making a living as a maid for a cleaning service, while still having romantic trysts with her ...<< MORE >>

When you’re in prison, time passes slowly whenever you bother to think about it.  But when you simply use it as a schedule - breakfast at six, work at eight, count at four – instead of a measure of hours, you can find the hours have turned into days and the days into weeks faster than you’d imagine.  A regular schedule helps with that, especially if it is one which keeps you busy enough.

On the other hand, when you travel by bus time passes slower than when you’re in “the hole” sleeping on a paper-thin mattress on a cold ...<< MORE >>

I generally avoid remakes whenever possible (the poster I just saw for the remake of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington still has me feeling ill).  But since Heather had never seen the Wes Craven version, and considering how low-budget it was, I agreed to give this new version a try.  All things considered, it was a decent suspense film, a level above most of the thriller crap they dish out these days.

The story itself is rather simple, a mix of unfortunate coincidences.  Vacationing at their remote lake house, a couple (Tony Goldwyn and ...<< MORE >>

If you follow movies at all, it is inevitable that you’ve heard quite a bit about The Wrestler, and about how though the film Mickey Rourke has resurrected a career which has been deceased for some time.  For a short while Rourke’s portrayal of Randy “The Ram” Robinson was the favorite to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards.  He didn’t win in the end, and having now finally gotten around to seeing the film I believe the Academy made a wise decision giving it to Sean Penn for Milk instead.  For while Rourke gives a fine performance, it isn’t ...<< MORE >>

Eternal Sunshine #26, the March 2009 issue, has now been released.  It's filled with the usual foolishness: Diplomacy, word games, contests, letters, columns from Jack McHugh and Andy York, personal writing (including part 2 of "Halfway Home at the Halfway House"), and even a revealing column from Heather.  You can see it in pdf format in the Eternal Sunshine Yahoo group at:

 http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/eternal_sunshine_diplomacy/

 or in both html and pdf format on the Diplomacy section of my website at:

 http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/

 Check it out, enjoy, and think about sending some feedback!!!

 

...<< MORE >>