The Pantheon™ of Great Actors

, originally uploaded by pr9000.

In a thread over at Slev's house I mentioned that Alex Rocco is in my Pantheon of Awesome Actors™ for being both Moe Green in "The Godfather" and Roger Myers Jr., maker of "Itchy and Scratchy," on "The Simpsons." I decided to expand the Pantheon™ a bit.

The logic of this list must be respected; it might not make sense to you, and if it doesn't, then go make your own Pantheon™. This one's mine, and I'm going to break it out by categories in separate posts.

First up:

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
These are actors who have done something worthy of being Pantheoned™ by virtue of being great in more than one movie, TV show, etc., or just something else to enhance their Pantheonicity™ ... and I'm trying to avoid the big names like DeNiro, Pacino, etc., because you can just assume they're there already. And I'm allowing people to enter the Pantheon™ even if their multiple works come from the same director -- for example, I've got John C. Reilly for his work in "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia," even though both are from the same director.

Alex Rocco (Moe Green, "The Godfather" and Roger Myers Jr., "The Simpsons")

Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero, "Goodfellas" and Mira Sorvino)

Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian, "The Empire Strikes Back," and himself on "Scrubs")

Angelica Huston (Etheline Tenenbaum, "The Royal Tenenbaums" and Marcia Fox, "Manhattan Murder Mystery)

John C. Reilly ("Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" -- two of my favorite movies, BTW)

Harrison Ford (Han Solo and Indiana Jones)

Clint Howard (Ron's little brother has been in every other movie since 1978)

John Goodman ("Raising Arizona" and "The Big Lebowski")

Craig T. Nelson (for the first two years of "Coach" as well as "The Incredibles")

Holly Hunter ("Raising Arizona" and "The Incredibles" as well)

Bill Murray (for his SNL skit where he's the lounge singer in the shower, and Mr. Bloom in "Rushmore")

Philip Baker Hall (Jimmy Gator in "Magnolia" and "Mr. Bookman" from "Seinfeld" -- every librarian, in his deepest heart of hearts, wants to be like Mr. Bookman)

Conan O'Brien (Writers Division) ... the man who brought you "Homer Goes to College" and The Masturbating Bear. Such range!

There will be more to come.

the full bikini wax

chan sunset, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Normally, late April/early May is a great time for photography in Minnesota, as the last vestiges of winter fade away with warmer afternoons and evenings.

I say "normally" because today's high was about 40 degrees, and just two days ago we had snow on the grass. So "normal" isn't exactly happening in 2008.

My plan was to start posting some of favorite shots from Minnesota, so I guess I'll start with this sunset from July 2005. I remember this storm because it was quick and violent, and before it was over, you could see that just out west there was some quick clearing.

I ran outside with my old Kodak point-and-shoot -- my first digital camera -- and took a few shots. I actually posted this one to Flickr, I think because of that stray white cloud in the foreground. I think this "new" one is far better.

Having "waterfront" property was quite a treat when we first moved here, until I realized the amount of work it takes to keep the shore free of weeds. Enough sediment makes its way to the shore to deposit lots of soil between the pebbles that make up our "beach," and there are three ways you can go:

(1) Let nature take its course -- which some neighbors have done. It's a nice effect, but you have to plan it somewhat, or you'll just have a bunch of crappy weeds

(2) Patrol the living hell out of it -- which was the path I took. It requires constant vigilance, lest the weeds take over. It's the equivalent of the full bikini wax

(3) Find some middle ground, usually involving chemicals -- which was a path I took at one point. I don't like nuking nature, but it's a hell of a lot easier than working. I left what I called Frog City -- a little patch that the bullfrogs kept as a home base -- all alone, but the rest of it? Looked like Tokyo in 1945, and I liked it that way.

Maybe the best idea is (1), and I might just plan that this year. If my "natural" water plant decoration skills match my interior decorating skills, I might be best to leave it alone altogether.

for penguins fans, this photo is priceless

443 w wrightwood lobby 1

443 w wrightwood lobby 1, originally uploaded by pr9000.

(That's John D. Carroll in the lobby of our first Chicago apartment)

On Wednesday, it was almost 70, sunny and pleasant. As I type this, it's 31 and snowing. "Anything can happen in Minnesota," Amina's grandfather just told us. He's been here for about 100 years, so he'd know.

One thought: why is it that, when people are making a big transaction and need to calculate costs, etc., they always say they want to "crunch the numbers?" Why are numbers always crunched? I like "massaged" better.

la lima

la lima, originally uploaded by pr9000.

People are debating whether Ed Begley Jr.'s bicycle operated toaster helps save the Earth. For me, I can't believe we've come to a point where debating what a washed-up actor does to toast his bread is worthy of discussion.

Good discussion over at Slev's house and Mr. Mowatt's neighborhood about the "green is good" fashion message coming from The Powers That Be™ ... I guess I didn't get my point across clearly on Slev's site. I agree that it's a marketing ploy. But I also agree that "think globally, act locally" is a great idea.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go work on my McMansion.

"frylock? really? what a nerd."

frylock? really? what a nerd., originally uploaded by pr9000.

dude sees us over there.

dude sees us over there., originally uploaded by pr9000.

Trotter's fondest wish is to catch one of these two bastards pictured above. He's on constant lookout for squirrels! -- that's the only way to say it, with the exclamation point! -- who brazenly dare to eat from our bird feeder on the deck.

I caught these two a few weeks ago. I didn't know we had two, and as you can see, the foreground squirrel -- I call him Frylock -- has darker cheeks than Shake in the background. I'm sure Trotter knew there were two. And he also knows there are a few chipmunks living under the deck, in an old woodpile we have under the stairs.

Some day, Trotter will get to eat one of these evil, lying, manipulative, thieving creatures. In his mind, the squirrels will taste like filet mignon.

Until then, though, he'll have to settle for leftover mac and cheese in his dogfood.

twisting my words to make his point

Slev has taken me out of context. The full quote was:

"You are a fantastic writer of furry pornography short stories, but woefully bad with television analysis."

See how he twists my words? That's why I was his (however short-lived) campaign manager. A man like that can lead!

i'm in yur windoze, tranzlatin' yer bibles

fletcher's natural position, originally uploaded by pr9000.

I like LOLcats as much as the next person, but this project is just a bit ... creepy.

Delta's New In-flight Safety Vixen Video

Holy sweet Moses! When she does the "smoking is not permitted" thing, I really, really want to listen to her.

North by Northwest

North by Northwest, originally uploaded by Balakov.

I'm oddly inspired by this. You should check out his whole photo stream. He's phenomenal.

orange gerb

orange gerb, originally uploaded by pr9000.

My niece, Hailey, went to the circus yesterday. Some day she'll learn to appreciate that family gatherings can suffice, but for now, it's the only way she can get in a room full of clowns, animals and food that's really bad for you.

The circus, originally uploaded by beths96.

I think that, like most children, she's not exactly thrilled with clowns:

, originally uploaded by beths96.

•••

Last night, Amina and I finally found "The Darjeeling Limited" at our local Redbox ... we'd been looking at the Byerly's Redbox, but it just wasn't there. McDonald's, though? Totally had it, which should have been a sign unto me.

Ten years ago, Wes Anderson released "Rushmore." My mind says I was living in Lincoln Park at the time, in a small studio with John Carroll, but the movie was released in 1998, and I thought I had moved out by that time. But maybe not. 

Either way, I checked it out on a whim at the now-a-condo Biograph Theatre on Lincoln. I remember walking in a snowstorm to see it, mainly because I was too poor to afford a cab (or so I thought). I read a review in the Reader that had good things to say, and at the time I was very much into my "seeing movies by my lonesome" phase, so I was happy to go by myself.

"Rushmore" was the first time I ever cried at the end of a movie. I remember laughing at so much that happened during the movie, and I was the only one giggling. Maybe I didn't get the jokes, or maybe I'm just attuned to the sense of humor in the film. Regardless, I felt like a part of my life had been shown on the screen.

I went back two days later, and took John to see it the next Friday. That's how much I loved "Rushmore."

Since then, it's been one disappointment after another from Anderson. And "The Darjeeling Limited" kept that streak going. I'm not going to review the movie -- nobody cares to hear me take it apart, piece by infuriating piece -- but one thing jumped out last night, as Amina struggled to stay awake.

"This reminds me of 'The Virgin Suicides,'" she said. We hated that movie. Director: Sofia Coppola. And who was a co-writer on "The Darjeeling Limited?" Roman Coppola, her brother.

New rule: Coppola + movies = watch TV instead.