The Hot Club

We were watching the San Francisco vs. Seattle game. Wild Bill Hiccup noticed that ex-Patriot Tully Banta-Cain was playing linebacker for the 49ers. Wild Bill remembered that it was Banta-Cain who lost his Super Bowl ring in a bathroom at the Providence Place Mall. Tully was lucky because a Rhode Islander (we're not all crooks) returned it to him.

Planet Terror was once again playing on the DVD. "Eben's copy is getting a lot of use", I said. Kate corrected me. It was her copy. This movie is an instant classic. When it was over, I clapped. That's what we used to do at the movies when we liked the feature.

We were treated to chocolate peanut balls made by Kate and pasta e fagioli (aka pasta fazool) by the Lovely Lisa. The fazool had a nice spiciness to it. That reminded me of the old joke - What's the fastest car in the world? Answer - the Fazool. Why? Because no one has ever passed a Fazool.

Obasie was back and I gave him a copy of the Zine since he was in it. He pointed out to me that his name has no 'e' in it so it's Obasi. So let's see - Brock is Broc, Eban is Eben and now Obasie is Obasi. After a fashion, I get these things right.

Contraire said that when he wants to free himself from a conversation, he calls on the Jack of Fire who is his 'Buffer'. Then Contraire said, "But sometimes I need a buffer from the Buffer."

Puckhead tried to give me a scoop (I already knew) - the Hot Club men's room has a new sink. Said Pucky, "The restoration process has begun. 10 years in the making."

Wise said that when he saw the new sink, "I almost cried."

Jokin' Joe said a friend told him, "My wife is dead. She's still above ground, but she's dead."

Stats of the week: Citizen Caroline told Mr. D. and me that 90% of small businesses fail in the first year. 80% fail in the second year.

Mr. D. said that only 10% of travelers go on cruises. However of those that do go on a cruise, only 5% don't go back for another cruise.

Another reason to go to the Hot Club: They have ESPNU so you get all the NCAA basketball games including PC's recent ones in Puerto Rico.

MOVIE REVIEW - SAW IV (2007)

Through the miracle of creative writing, flashbacks and time shifts, Jigsaw, aka John Kramer, is back. And with him is his ex-wife Jill (Betsy Russell) whom I haven't seen in a movie in many years. Russell was once a nubile young beauty in such fare as Private School, Avenging Angel and Cheerleader Camp. She serves as a valuable story lynch pin.

The viewer is caught up in two jigsaw puzzles - one is whether 2 cops, including Mark Wahlberg of Saw II and III, can escape the diabolical destructive devices of Jigsaw. The second involves who has become Jigsaw's new assistant.

The storyline cuts back and forth between present and past as the jigsaw puzzles come to completion. The finale ties up the loose ends but did raise questions in my mind about the present versus the past.

If you liked the previous Saw movies, then you will enjoy this effort, which is actually better than Saw III, which didn't play by its own rules in a way.

Darren Lynn Bousman is back as director. His story writers are Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan who keep your interest with all the fast cutting (to hide some deficiencies?).

IMDb's review includes the following trivia:
Saw IV is the first movie in the ‘Saw’ series not to be written by ‘Saw’ co-creator, Leigh Whannell.

Saw was made for approximately $1 million, Saw II cost $4 million and the figure for Saw III, according to producer Mark Burg, has risen to $10 million. Saw III was greenlighted the morning after Saw II opened to massive box-office returns, the producer confirms, "and when they ordered Saw III, they also ordered and greenlit Saw IV."

The Hot Club

Obasie visited the HC and I was quizzing him about horror movies as someone told me he was an aficionado. Obasie had just seen Slither with Michael Rooker (of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer fame). Obasie said the writer of Slither oddly also wrote the scripts for the two Scooby Doo movies.

Obasie said he also liked Troma's Tromeo and Juliet, which he found to be well written. He recalled his brother Bernard's 11th birthday party. He was about 6. They showed Aliens and The Fly (Cronenberg's version). Obasie said that hooked him on horror.

So I directed Obasie to the 10 movies that I suggested for a Halloween horror treat.

Contraire stopped by and seeing Beau asked him, "Are you working?" Beau said he was and Contraire responded, "Are you an imposter?"

Contraire was talking about his trips to Italy. He visited the Vatican in 1975 and then 25 years later in 2000. He said the Holy Doors at St. Peter's were opened only every 50 years but he saw them open in 1975 and then they shortened it to 25 years so they were open again when he visited in 2000. Contraire said that when the Holy Doors are open, every one who walks through them has all their sins absolved. I said, "No wonder you went."

Mr. D., a noted Yankee fan (like Broc and Eben), has hinted he may root for the Dodgers.

Mike K stopped by sans the woman he was entertaining at the HC recently. When I asked him about her, Mike said, "Women are like buses - another new one comes along every five minutes." "And we want to hop on the bus", said I.

Britt agreed that Patti is the Grand Dame of the Hot Club. Britt said she's 4th oldest.

An irregular regular who wears glasses said he was bi-polar. I told him he was bi-focal.

We were talking about the Patriots and the Super Bowl. I recalled going to the first Patriots Super Bowl in 1986 vs. the Bears with Jim Findesen (RIP Jim). We took a charter flight filled with Patriots' fans into New Orleans. As we landed, a flight attendant with a mike told all of us: "Go Pates". That got quite a laugh. Pats not Pates.

Mr. D. says he knows a woman who engaged in 8-minute dating. Mr. D. said that led to 1 minute of sexual congress. And a case of herpes - for life.