revolver journal

Hey gang

Things here in Fl. are pretty cool, but theres something missing: REVOLVER. Just talked to Rob and he told me about the new schedule. Great to hear you guys are still kicking ass. It also made me think of moments I loved in Revolver and led me to this: Fav. moments in Revolver History! One of mine is Farrell chasing down someone in a cartoonish style just t opay them back 5 dolalrs. Tell me one of your fav. Revolver moments!

So the other week a good portion of Revolver went and saw Borat (on opening day, no less, and it was packed), and we all had a good time together, and I think universally at least found some moments to laugh at during the whole thing.

Being a guy that has a problem watching the Flintstones or the Jeffersons because I don’t like set-ups where a protagonist is obviously doing something wrong and will inevitably get a come-uppance for it, I’m not the best candidate for enjoying discomfort comedy. So I was a step behind — as well as never having watched the TV show, so I wasn’t already in the fan crowd.

But there was a lot I did find funny, and a lot I did laugh out loud about — but I think I was in the minority of us that felt kind of “eh” about the movie. It doesn’t really get my recommendation, although I don’t say avoid it … and you’ll probably find it very funny, most people seem to.

To me, it wasn’t much different from an extended Candid Camera bit … or I guess Punk’d to try to put it in a more recent context, just with a nastier edge and targets that represented distinct population segments.

And, really, some stuff made me sad enough to not be able to really find it that funny. In that, the opinions of the dupes being expressed were exactly what you might expect from a stereotype, and that made it feel like some of the ugly, horrible things being said weren’t just some idiot caught letting something slip. It felt more like “there are a lot of people that really think these things”, and that’s not really funny — it’s horrifying. So it exposes something important, I guess, but it really robs me of any ability to laugh.

And here’s something that came out today about some of the people that said some really appalling things.

So, I guess maybe I’m overthinking or being a stick-in-the-mud, but I had a lot of different problems with just purely enjoying the movie. Which maybe is the point?

Well, we came to the bittersweet point of Mike Carr’s last show before he moved along to Florida to be the brains behind an animated Monster. I’m sure it’ll be great, and it’s an opportunity he can’t pass up, but we are going to miss him a ton.

A great guy, really a pro, and pretty much everything you want in a teammate. It’s interesting to me — he deserved a show like last night’s where everyone sort of honored him whether he was leaving or not. Guys like Mike Carr we should make a regular effort to celebrate, not just because they are leaving.

But, he is, for now … but hopefully not from our little digital world here. So here’s to Mike Carr and his continued internet presence.

[Hi Jill!]

Check out what people had to say on the CIN:

Reasons why we love Mike Carr
Mike Carr’s Last Show with Revolver - 10/31

We’re one year old just about now (although our first shows were at the beginning of this year), and it’s been a great time with hopefully plenty more to come (knock on wood).

We celebrated on Friday the 13th with a rad t-shirt exchange party — look what a good time Uncle Rob was having!

And legal guardian Enriquez sent this out to sum it all up:

Dear Family & Friends,

Can you believe it is already “Living La Vida Logo” Day?  I swear, where does the time go?  I can’t believe it has already been another year.  Well, in true Revolver Family fashion, I am once again sending our the annual Revolver Family Newsletter.  I think it is important for us to remember the spirit of “Living La Vida Logo” Day and not get all caught up in the commercialism.

Well, let me say that the Revolver Family has been busy this year.  As you all know being a single father these days is not easy, especially with the rowdy bunch I have (just kidding .  Where to start?  Well we are pleased as punch to announce that Farrell has made first string of his Rugby team in school.  Can you believe he is going into his senior year of high school?  It just seems like last year, he was taking his first step.  Well, not to be out down by her older brother, Leah has taken up the cello.  She practices everyday just like a pro.  Her teacher says she has the talent of a female Yo Yo Mah.  I am not sure who that is, but is sounds impressive (just kidding .

Oh my gosh, before I forget, I am happy to announce that the twins, Len and Jorin, have started their own ska band.  After a very long argument over the name, they finally settled on the name, Hold the Mayo.  I know the name sounds silly, but it is a giant leap forward from their original name,  The Skas the Limit.  They are scheduled to play at the Bartlesville Street Fair this weekend.  Please stop by if you have a chance.  They are playing from 3:47 PM to 3:56 PM.  Bring your ear plugs (just kidding

Well, it hasn’t just been a year of ups, the Revolver family has had their share of downs    It appears Vanessa found her court ordered rehab a lot tougher than she thought.  She last only 29 minutes before she walked out.  I know some day she will get her life together, but what can a parent do.  Also, Rob appears to be a proud father . . . again.  He claims this one is legitimate, unlike the other three, who he still claims are just three crazy women trying to get a portion of his Lotto winnings.  It is good to finally see Rob stepping up a taking some responsibility.

But let’s get back to the good news.  Our own little Mike Carr has gotten hired by Disney World.  The details are still a little vague, but it appears he might have a walk on part for the upcoming Disney Flick, Herbie Fully Loaded II.  I hope he remembers to thanks us during his Oscar speech (just kidding:).

We have had two new additions this year.  As you know I can’t stand to sit idle for even a second.  So what did this crazy guy go and do?  Yes, that is right, I am now a foster parent.  Right now we have added to our family, a couple of trouble youths.  The first one is Ryan.  Ryan comes to us from the inner city.  He is a little rough around the edges.  It is impressive how he is able to use the “F” word as a noun, verb and adjective all in the same sentence.  The other trouble teen is named George.  To be perfectly honest, George scares the bejeezus out of all of us.  He doesn’t seem to say much, but he definitely has a stare that will go right through you.  His only hobby to date is setting small fires in Church.

Okay, I better get back to the “Living La Vida Logo” festivities.  The whole clan will be home today celebrating this glorious holiday.  I just hope it doesn’t get out of control and the cops aren’t called (just kidding .

So Family and Friends, please have a great “Logo” day and remember to keep in touch.

Love,

The Revolver Family

I just added a new page under The Hot Ifomaction on the side there — pictures taken from my Treo 600. I’ll hopefully update it every couple of days with stuff I run across and can poorly photograph with the static aperture on the back of my phone …

check it out!

After a rehearsal for the Movie at iO this weekend, in which I wound up playing a Bonnie & Clyde/Natural Born Killers-style rampaging psychopath-in-love character, I was thinking about the old trope in improv about how drawing a gun in a scene is a bad idea. And whereas I generally agree, I think it’s one of those things where it’s how you handle it … but it does make you have to be sharp, for sure. Let’s talk about it?

I don’t want to limit myself here, but I am 99% sure that I had the best cup of coffee that I will ever have this morning.  More on that in a minute, but first:

I love coffee.  I drink it everyday.  I can’t remember the last time that I’ve ever gone a day without it. 

The Brown Line was especially slow this morning.  I got on at the Belmont station (I transfer from the Red Line) where we stood still for ten minutes (in this time period the train became completely packed), we then proceeded through the next two stations and then had another ten minute standstill at the Fullerton station.  We slowly made our way to Armitage and then, about midway between the Armitage and Sedgewick stations, we came to a complete stop.  At this point it was 8:30 in the morning, when I should be at work.  The train car was completely crowded (shoulder to shoulder) as we stood still waiting to move to the next stop.  The engineer announced that there was a problem with the track and that we would be standing momentarily.  Thirty minutes later he announced that the track was too damaged to proceed and that we would have to reverse directions. 

At this point we were the lead train in a huge backlog of trains, so I knew that it would take forever before we would start moving.  I began to wonder, as I stood in my little tiny square of personal space, how the air circulation was on a jam packed train like this (as I noticed it was slightly hard to breathe).  As I was pondering this people from the other end started yelling to push the emergency button and to call 911 because two people had just passed out.  The engineer came back and opened the windows in our car and made sure that the two people were okay (they were both alert at that point).  Everybody was really nice to each other, and we were all very patient.  At one point somebody said what I had been thinking since we came to this dead stop “all I really want is a cup of coffee”.  I was tired, I was out of it, my legs hurt from standing for so long, everything (the screaming, panic and then return to ”normal” — as normal as it could be, I guess) just seemed so surreal to me.  All I wanted was my morning cup of coffee.

Around 9:45am  we actually began to move back toward the Armitage station. We moved back slowly because there was another medical emergency on the train that was two ahead of us.  It took an additional thirty minutes to get to the station.  I got off of the train and like a bright beacon I saw the Starbuck’s store just accross the street. Sure the fresh air and open space was a welcome change, but I had my mind set on something else.  I waited in an extremely long line (apparently I wasn’t the only one on these trains that had this idea), but that was ok with me.  I waited this long, I could wait some more.  I finally got that cup of coffee.

 I’m not very good at vividly describing a moment like this, but I guess I could sum it up by saying: You could give the best commercial actor 1,000 takes and they wouldn’t even come close to the extreme look of pleasure and satisfaction that I am sure that I had at that moment. I got on the bus (no drink rule be damned) and made it to work at 10:45, about two and a half hours later than usual.

The best part of being stuck on a train for over two hours…

With one of us pursuing a career move that’s going to have them working with monsters, and the upcoming October scaretacular, maybe it’s time we discussed — MONSTERS!

So, there’s this bar on Clark St called Merkle’s, it’s an Iowa bar. So, our attention was drawn to it this weekend owing to the football game and it being festooned with Iowa banners and other spirit-raising flair. I admitted that I never felt inclined to go in that bar (although maybe I should feel very inclined) because Merkle’s sounded like “merkin” to me.

Well, I guess that was the new thing that a few other people learned for the week, but a merkin is a “pubic wig”. Rob was good enough to find this site. Educational!

And here’s a new tongue twister for you all:

Merkin-making Marvin makes mighty marvelous merkins!

Quit your job.  Right now.  Don’t have a job?  Get one.  Now quit it.  Open Microsoft Word and draft a short letter giving your two weeks’ notice.  Tell them how you’ve found something new.  Tell them you’ve found a better opportunity.  Tell them your job has become “dead-end”.  They don’t even have to be truths.  Just extrapolate on how inadequate the position and company have become.  Finish it with a “Sincerely,” then skip a few lines down and type your name.   

Print out the page.  Watch the printer give birth to your creation.  Put your face close to the printer and feel the warmth as it spools out.  Grab a set of tongs, yeah, a set of tongs!  And pull it off the printer like a horseshoe out a blacksmith’s forge - a horseshoe that you’ll fix to the beast on which you’ll soon ride out of town.

You’re not done.  Grab a pen.  Sign your name and make it law.  Take the last letter of your name and extend it in garish fashion.  Maybe do a revolution or two around your whole signature.  Give yourself a logo.  Take a needle to the other side and try to spell your name in Braille.  Because they’re obviously blind if they’re gonna let you walk so easily.  Add an “Esq.” at the end.  Or give yourself a fake title like Dr., Atty. Gen or Grand Marshal.  No, put CHESSMASTER!  If anyone calls you on it, make a reference about how difficult it is to pull off a successful Grob Opening.

Put the letter in an envelope.  Put that envelope in another envelope.  Put that envelope in one of those interoffice mail folders where you have to unwind the string to open it.  Cut the string off of other interoffice mail folders and wind those strings around yours.  Make ‘em work for it.

Spray the folder with Febreeze.  Put a couple Lisa Frank unicorn stickers on it.  Draw your favorite Care Bear on the front.  Make ‘em think there’s fantastic news inside! 

Now hold it up.  Does it look right?  Does it feel heavy and important, considering the message within?  Good.

Tear it up.  Use a document shredder if you have to.  Or maybe your company has one of those lock boxes in which to put documents awaiting shredding. 

Don’t let anyone know what you just did.  Go back to your desk.  Resume your normal routine.  Everything is fine.  All is calm.  All is bright.

Repeat as necessary.