FILM REVIEW: Slacker (1991, Austin, and I)

Did you miss me? Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all. After writing over 660 blog posts in six years, it was time for a break, so I took it. I’m not sorry I did. Some might say that makes me a slacker, defined in the pejorative sense: “A person regarded as one of a large group or generation of young people (especially in the early to mid 1990s) characterized by apathy, aimlessness, and lack of ambition” (Wikipedia). I may be guilty as charged, or at least I resemble that remark. But director Richard Linklater had a more positive meaning in mind when he made his influential, independent, experimental yet really interesting and fun film, Slacker:

“Slackers might look like the left-behinds of society, but they are actually one step ahead, rejecting most of society and the social hierarchy before it rejects them. The dictionary defines slackers as people who evade duties and responsibilities. A more modern notion would be people who are ultimately being responsible to themselves and not wasting their time in a realm of activity that has nothing to do with who they are or what they might be ultimately striving for.”[24]

READ MORE

I’ll Tell Ya What I’m Watchin’ on My Telly (Part 4)

It’s been a hot minute, which translates from slang into English as meaning a good long while, since I wrote about my television viewing. Originally it began last spring because, well, the pandemic. After a few installments, I felt like I should focus on my main issues and on more important topics, like Black Lives Matter. Every day I’m out there biking, walking, and in here reading, writing and doing yoga. But when I can, which is most days, I do like to enjoy some of what my grandmother used to call “your programs” to my brother and me. Write what you know, you know? So here we go with a trio of shows from HBO, which used to have this as their tag line: “It’s not television, it’s HBO.” Now it comes with new and improved HBO Max. I’ve also included one from NBC for good measure. Pop the corn and hand me the remote, will ya?

Continue reading

Book Review: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope

Naked in a hot tub with an author is not a situation I find myself in often. In this case, it was a quite a while ago when I spent a summer at a yoga center. I didn’t know it at the time, but the writer in question was about to publish a book he must have been working on during my summer there. I’m not in the book, and the whirlpool nudity isn’t germane to the review, but I thought it might be a fun way to grab your attention. Anyway, I finally got around to re-starting and finishing his work. Yoga is an ancient tradition spanning thousands of years, and I eventually got into a daily practice, so while I doubt the author remembers me or will ever see this review, if he does, I trust he will forgive me for the tardy book report.

Continue reading

A Dude Abikes Likes: ABUS Ultra 410 + Loop Cable Bicycle Lock

I’ve mentioned bike products that I use and like before, but today you’re in luck: I’m starting a new feature here on A Dude Abikes: A Dude Abikes Likes. (Trademark pending.) Pretty catchy, right? Today I picked a lock… up, from the Bicycle Sport Shop Guadalupe location (formerly Ozone Bikes). It’s made by ABUS, Security Tech Germany, and if you have something you need to secure, this is a very good one. (NOTE: This is not a sponsored post. But hey, ABUS, if you like my post, email A Dude, and we’ll talk!) Please click on through to read my mini-review.

Continue reading

BOOK REVIEW #1: Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley – An Easy Rawlins Mystery

The idea of reviewing books about bicycling has been in the back of my brain for a bunch of blogs.  But I have Milly Schmidt from Australia (The Cat’s Write) and Shalini from India (Books, Reviews et al. by Shalini) to thank for reminding me that writing in different genres is perfectly acceptable (despite what some pro bloggers may say) and that reviewing books is a good thing to do for aspiring writers.  I’ve just finished award-winning Walter’s Mosley’s Charcoal Joe:  An Easy Rawlins Mystery, so don’t be blue.   Without further ado, here is A Dude Abikes’ review.  For you.  It’s true!  And brand new. Continue reading