I'm so mad that I'm angry

This is not an April Fool's joke.

I've mentioned before that I have a love of Taking of Pelham 123. The original has a great story, low key but tense action, very clever dialogue and an amazing cast of actors. The biggest names though are Walter Malthau and Robert Shaw. It also has Ben Stiller's dad. If you haven't seen it, put it on your netflix and watch it already. Or Robert Shaw will make you regret it.

And tonight what do I see? They're remaking it. And what makes this worse? Robert Shaw is being replaced by John Freaking Travolta. It's not his fault but this just sucks so much ass. You know they're going to replace the low key tension and clever NYC style cynicism and humor with lame action cliches and high impact action. Because who needs clever writing when you can have explosions and car chases?

Get that action beat in, it's been almost ten minutes since something went boom!

So a big old screw you to Hollywood for remaking a movie that so did not need to be remade. Why make something new when you can just redo a movie from the 70s only in a worse version? Fuckers. Think this would happen if Robert Shaw was still alive? Let him tell it in his own words what would happen,

"Now, then, ladies and gentlemen, do you see this gun? It fires 750 rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition per minute. In other words, if all of you simultaneously were to rush me, not a single one of you would get any closer than you are right now. I do hope I've made myself understood."

And that's real.

What's the deal with flying?

I'm not talking about the delays or the upcharges or the overcrowding. Everyone hates that.

When I was a teenager I loved to fly. It was amazing. Get in a big metal tube and two to four hours later you were somewhere else. Along the way you got a view of another world up there. The clouds, the ground so far away. Crazy adventure. And then came cheap flights on discount airlines and it was even reasonably priced.

I can remember once flying somewhere and there were maybe 20 people on the flight. The flight attendants spent most of the trip in the back hanging out and talking to me about tattoos. I had about 10 rows to myself because everyone else crammed the front so they could get off quickly. But the flight was so empty that everyone got out quickly.

Now I dread it. Odds are good that I'll get motion sickness during takeoff and landing. Nothing like getting to your destination feeling ill. And with most flights having multiple connections anymore I'm likely to get multiple doses of nausea. Nice. I've tried eating and not eating before flying to try to deal. The only thing I've learned is that if I eat at least that way my stomach churn doesn't have heartburn too. But it does increase the feeling that I have something worth throwing up.

Beyond that I get sinus issues from all the pressure changes. Lucky me. I think I got it from my dad, he's got sinus problems. Something for me to look forward to as I age..

It's to the point now that just a whiff of that recycled airplane air leads to dread. I pray the little air jet will help. Part of me hopes that we deplane somewhere cold so the cool air is soothing for a little while. Last time I flew I went to Colorado which resulted in altitude sickness combined with the flight sickness. It took me a week to recover after I got back home.

Though if I being perfectly honest. The flight back from the job interview where I got my current teaching position was great. Maybe I was just to happy to notice anything else. Plus I had a really big seat right by the front door. So there is something to be said for getting out first.

Bittersweet

I just sold my 1966 Honda CB 160 motorcycle. I am happy because we could use the money and the bike was slowly rusting due to the high humidity of the South. In Chicago I could keep it indoors protected. Not so much here.

I'm sad because this was a really cool bike. So much style. Most likely the most stylish bike I'll ever own. But I've learned I really shouldn't own vintage. I'm not a mechanic and old bikes need either skill and desire or extra cash to keep them running. Cash? No. Skills? No. Desire? I'm pretty lazy. I had the CB since the fall of 2004 and it was running properly for about 6 months of that time. Thanks to cold weather and other factors I've ridden it just over a dozen times. One of my greatest follies for sure.

I think this makes the eighth bike I've sold. They sort of blur together a little after a while. Might be the ninth. This is all since the summer of 99 or 2000.

I first got into riding for two reasons. One was I was living in Chicago but going to school in Evanston and that was a 30 to 45 minute bike ride one way. Sure I was in great shape but riding a bicycle in Chicago winters was getting old. Time to upgrade to something with an engine. But I didn't want the hassle of owning a car. I tried to find a moped (this was just before the recent rediscovery of mopeds by hipsters) but instead found a 50 cc scooter that fit the bill. And a thirty minute bike ride became a 15 minute scooter ride.

The second is because they're cool as hell. How can anyone look at all the different styles of motorcycles and motorscooters and not see something that makes their heart race a little. Part of my problem is that I buy one and love it but very quickly rationalize all the little ways it doesn't quite fit every possible riding situation I might find myself in. So obviously I need to buy another one (the other option is to take a bike and then modify it in some way. If I still had that first bike I would have but a kit on it by now and turned it into something dangerous and stupidly fast. And fun).

And that's the other thing I keep telling myself. Selling this bike just means that there is one less objection that Wife can raise when I finish paying off the move down and decide it is one again time to go shopping again. After all, we currently don't have a bike that is comfortable for us to ride two up on. It would be downright insensitive of me not to have a bike I can take her for a spin on.