BAG OF BONES

Bag of...Bones. Or fill in the word of your choice. AMC's Bag of Bones, which was a two-parter, aired last night and tonight.

I have to vent. I know there's some serious problems going on in the world. Famine, rampant disease, corrupt governments, Justin Bieber, riots, mass murders, war and terrorism. But Bag of Bones...ARGH

Some of you might know me as "that hockey guy." But I am weirder than just that. I am a tremendous Stephen King fan since I was a kid and read The Stand. I have all the books. Not just all, but multiple copies of all, in limited boxed sets, rare versions, foreign versions, signed versions, comic book versions, picture book versions. My book collection is insured. I paid an obnoxious sum of money once to see the Rock Bottom Remainders in a charity event just so I could meet him. I've stayed overnight at the real Shining hotel, took the "IT" bus tour in Bangor, Maine (fictionally known as "Derry"), and stayed up with a group one night getting drunk by the foot of the infamous Standpipe. Yes, that exists. I buy Dark Tower limited edition prints for the walls. My house is some weird crossbreed of NHL and bookcases full of King and my wife's animal print shit.

No, I'm not Annie Wilkes' male counterpart, lol. I'm a honest to goodness respectful reader. People who haven't read any of his work, who've just seen the movies, don't get it. I'm not going to defend his work in detail, but the guy makes you fall into it completely. The characters are detailed, deep and believable. The level of detail and realism in the backgrounds and lives of his people makes you absolutely positive you have met them. His subject matter is strange, yes. Here's a guy who churned out an occasional clunker like Dreamcatcher, yes, but he also created The Shawshank Redemption, and once you've read any of them, you never forget the characters and their stories.

Bag of Bones is my second-favorite King novel (only behind the Dark Tower series). The character of Mike Noonan was so extremely well-written that you felt his grief at losing his wife, his frustration at his writers' block, right along with him. Every aspect of the novel was eerie, sad, and frightening. I think I fell in love with Mattie Devore right along with him, and when she was killed, I cried (for real). "When she danced", that whole scene still has the power to make me tear up.

When I heard about the novel being turned into a mini-series, my stomach dropped, but once again I decided to give it a chance.

Mistake. Cheesy. Over- and under- dramatic in all the wrong places. Pierce Brosnan. Funny instead of frightening. Mattie Devore turned into a characterless stick figure. Max Devore and Rogette turned into cartoons. Vapid lines and senseless plot twists. What the HELL was that stupid bath scene with Mattie at the end? I just wasted 4 hours of my life.

I am Jack's wasted life.

By this time in my life, I should know damn well that daring to watch anything "Based on the Novel by Stephen King" means you have about a 90% chance of being disappointed, scornful, disgusted, or a combination of the three. But I can't make myself not watch and see, just in case it's another Stand By Me or Shawshank. Someone please remind me of this post when they decide to come out with the Dark Tower mini-series. Thank you, my vent is complete.

BEBE

My beautiful Bebe.

with her elf ears
I went looking for her one day in March, and there she was on a discreet board in a discreet corner of the grid. "Seeking my Dominant" she was, and just so happened I was seeking her, too.

standing with me at the rink
En sa beauté gît ma mort et ma vie.
égyptien violette
elle es prêt à se soumettre

I love this sweet girl. 

Best sub/lover/friend you could ask for. She is so stuck with me. You poor thing.

BEBE

EXIT

So, yesterday was both a really crappy SL day and, as it turns out, kind of a good one.

I usually spent most of the Sunday in SL catching up on league stuff from the week. Yesterday I log in and get (once again) multiple reports about the behavior of an ex-GOHA Player while I was offline Saturday.

So Sunday morning, here come the day's notecards. Again. Ex-GOHA Player refused to play the position the Blades captain directed, then started verbally harassing the captain, then refused to leave the ice when benched, and actually pushed the captain to the bench. Gerhard Hesse, the captain, is probably one of the nicest people I've met in SL. Ex-GOHA Player starts arguing with the ref, too. Ended up with a 5 minute penalty and then everything rolled over to the next day, and me. 

It always sucks to deal with discipline/behavior issues in SL--managers of any community/business will agree--but I'm the boss, it comes with the territory.  I had already had to give him game penalties, private talks, and conduct warnings. So yesterday morning I have to give him a one week suspension. 

Then the dude seriously tries to trade me off the team for "actions against him" and a forums post I made informing the league that the season would be shortened due to unanimous captain vote. 

What level of stupid do you have to be to make an enemy out of the person that runs a virtual activity you want to be a part of?   

I mean wow, the stench of Stupid.

Anyway, on the positive: The reason I say it turned out to be a good day was this: The level of instant support and agreement from not only the league in general, but particularly my team, was stunning. It really made me feel good. Ex-GOHA Player was a very strong player, and I had some fear the team would be pretty pissed. He also made it seem like other people on the team felt I wasn't having fun or contributing, that I wasn't a worthy player but just "getting a free ride to the cup like in S11". That wasn't no free ride, if someone told him that they are as full of shit as he is. Wonder where he got the idea S11 was a free ride..but that's off topic. Anyway, my team: Instead, they immediately reacted by retracting the trade offer. Ruffian Lane told the team last night we will change nothing but continue to play like we've been playing. The team was kind, made it clear how they really do feel about my skills and team participation. 

League members scoffed at Ex-GOHA Player's group notice and behavior and a lot of them cheered and drew sighs of relief that he's gone. I got private messages left and right of support. So the day ended with sort of a warm and fuzzy feeling after all. Really shows you the depth and community aspect of the league when getting rid of one bad apple, even if it's in a dramatic fashion, brings the rest of the community closer.

To me it's indicative of a strong community. Even when you got those folks who think they can walk all over anyone and everyone, and have no gratitude, sportsmanship, or maturity, there's the other REAL 99% who has all that and more.