Wednesday, January 31, 2018

TCM Backlot

So whenever I'm not home, there is a 97% chance that the television is on Turner Classic Movies.  Jennifer has it on for background noise, as well as for her love of classic movies.

A few months ago she joined the TCM Backlot which gives its members some fan club perks.

Then she looked into creating a local chapter.  There needed to be 10 members to get one formed.  She did a search, made a webpage (yes, it's one of the many things she does) for the TCM Backlot San Francisco Chapter, and also made a Twitter account.

She even got me to join, because it's no fun to go alone, and you have to be a member to get the free tickets.

And then, we got offered a block of tickets from TCM for the Noir City 16 at the Castro Theatre.  The tickets were for two movies ("This Gun for Hire" and "Quiet Please, Murder!") as well as an opportunity to meet Eddie Muller, the host of Noir Alley on TCM.

When we got there, we had a reserved section for our group, and then upstairs were a few tables with things for sale.  TCM had one as well, where they were giving away the Noir Alley - Batman comic they had partnered with DC to make with Eddie Muller as a character who teams up to help Batman.

Now, I've got a copy signed by Eddie Muller.

Let's Share

So, it's been a while; let's catch up.

A few weeks before Christmas, I ended up with 2 broken spokes on my rear wheel.  I finally got off my btt and went to REI to get a replacement wheel.  They confirmed that the wheel was out of round.  Their assessment was the it had been damaged and fixed to look okay, but the damage was more than just adjusting tension on the spokes could fix.  I ended up getting a medium tune-up with a new rear wheel, installation of my new Tannus tire, and new brake pads.

Now that everything was running smoothly, I found a well reviewed rack, and got matching panniers.  Now, I'm no longer dealing with a backpack or Chrome bag.  It transfers the weight to the bike and takes it off my back.  It also keeps the back of my shirt from smelling worse than my shoes when I worked at KFC in high school.  The bags even have water resistant covers that store on their underside.

The holidays were filled with a major reorganization project where we cleaned our every OSH in the Bay Area out of 64-liter Really Useful Boxes.  We hit OSH over Office Max because they were on sale.  Now all of my comics are in these amazing boxes and stacked safely.  And storage is just amazing to maneuver in.

For Christmas Eve, we went to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra.  The show was incredible, and we just had a wonderful time.  He did a great mix of his Christmas arrangements, BSO songs, and a couple old Stray Cats' songs.

For New Year's Eve, we saw Paula Poundstone.  She was a bunch of fun.  We decided not to linger after the show, and got out of the City and back home in time to watch the fireworks from the comfort of our bed.

So, then January has been a busy time of getting back to work, and still doing things.