Saturday Night

   So, I'm in my room typing away and watching tv. On most nights, I'll would be out and about with friends, but that was no longer a possibility since one of my friends, and frequent designated driver, is out of town for basic training and the others are out of sync. Or maybe I'm just out of sync with them for reasons I would not discuss; but I'm not too bummed out about it. Anyways I'm enjoying myself, and contemplating on what dvd to review next. On the other hand I'm watching a HBO special with Janeane Garofalo discussing the con and pro of summer blockbusters and gay culture. She is totally on point and I would clap for some of her insights, especially on Chasing Amy, if I wasn't holding this laptop in my other hand.

Plus I still have to fold and put up clothes that I've washed earlier just to relax in bed with a cup my Tropicana by my next and this laptop next to me in this dark room with the tv illuminating it, ya'know, because I want to set the mood. Another thing I'm comtemplating on but not completely stressing out is what would my next topic be on my v-log on youtube. I've made a sparse number of vid in between two months and I still feel that I need to be in a environment would I'm content in and work up the courage to speak on what I want to say on my videos. But the time will come where I would break out of this shell and develop the proper voice for it as well as the composure. Trust me, in real life I have something of a pseudo-Southern twang or just a lazy-ass voice. So I'll be heading out and until then, take care.

I'm Back, but I'm Slipping

 If there was an award for "The World's Laziest Blogger", I would probably be the shameful recipient because I have spent a week long absence from Ren's Blogs. My reason? About a full week ago I was suffering from abdominal pain for the second time. This time it was a result from a bad gas reflux. As I previously mentioned, I cheated on my supposed diet and before you know it, it all came back like a raging bitch. I spent a Saturday at the hospital, the whole Saturday at that, and I wanted it all to go away. After my long, greuling wait in the waiting room, I was called and I was treated by the best. The doctors perscribed me with some Maalox and after a few doses, and prolonged stomach pains, it work but my stomach was sore as hell; almost as if I was punching myself. Ok, I was punching myself during my gas reflux, but it was getting to me and I couldn't take it anymore. I thought about pulling a Artie Lange and contemplating on stabbing myself in that region. Ooook........that was too tasteless. I'm still eating junk but it's how I eat it that keeps landing me in this position. I ususally intake a lot of grease from foods, fast foods in particular, and that's always a factor in my abdominal problems. Maybe I should just use some moderation in my diet or just eat fresh completely. So that's all; I'm fine now, but I still feel bed-riddin from my troubles, therefore I'm getting lazy again, so lazy, that I couldn't work out some paragraphs. Laters, good people.

Let's Go Out to the Movies :-D

Hey, folks; Ren's here. I'm back at my favorite spot again which is the Culver Center on Washington and Overland in Culver City, Ca., so no image is needed. Just had Subway, which was what I've been craving for for the past few weeks and I saw as one way to stay true to my diet, and that's by eating fresh.

Anyways I'm here typing this shit to y'all, about to go get a refill, and head out to walk a few blocks down to go see Horrible Bosses. I've been waiting to see this movie for a while and I'm going to Pacific Theaters to give Warner Bros/New Line my 10 bucks, which is better than giving Paramount my money for that piece of shit known as Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Trust me; I ain't gonna bother putting an image up for that either. So anyways, the next showing is 3:55pm and it's 3:09 right now so I better get my ass to walking. I'll probably drop by later on with a review of the movie along with any other theatrical experiences. "Til then, laters. :-)

Feeling Better

 So after headaches and stomach burn, I'm feeling pretty damn good right now, but I'm still in bed; voluntarily though. I just took the second pill for the day to ease the lining of my stomach, even if I am feeling better. So far I broke my promise on cutting back on my dietary vices. I've drunk a couple of sodas and had some degree of sugar. So much for staying committed to my health. Anyways I'm feeling a cool breeze through my window and I'm watching the last of Half Baked. It beats watching another episode of dumbass Family Guy on Adult Swim. This is just a brief blog for y'all and I'll come back with a more lengthy one. Damn, didn't I say that last time. Yeah, I'm a totally committed person like I said before. So I'll catch y'all laters. :-)

A Day at the Hospital.

Hey, folks. Ren's back after a few days being absent. The reason why is beccause of the ulcer pains that I was dealing with for the past two days. So I wised up and finally went to the hospital. Trust me, having stomach burn and sitting in the waiting room for two and a half hours is not a good combo. So I didn't bring my laptop with me (bad enough I have stomach pains, I don't want a somewhat heavy backpack containing my electronics weighing me down) nor my mp3 player for some insane reason. I love music, and I've should have known to bring it when I was sitting in the waiting room as well as taking the bus home. So I killed some time by talking to a kindly old gentleman who was waiting on his wife. We chit chat about the evil and ills of addiction, films (my forte of course) and the good ol' days. I was called in by the doctor and wished the man in the waiting room well. I got my ulcer medicine and a "cocktail" which is pretty much a cup full of a tooth paste like substance that I drowned to relieve my stomach, which also resulted in a numb tongue. Plus, I pissed in a cup and no one wanted it. So I'm planning to cut back on my vices,. which is spicy foods and soda. BTW, did I mentioned that the doctor who gave me the cocktail is named Amy Adams?

                                                  
 So I'm feeling good and I'm watching Chris Rock: Never Scared, getting my laugh on. So now I should stop blabbing and relax. 'Til then, laters. :-D

Writing with a Headache

Hey, folks. Ren's back. It's 1:48 AM and I'm watching In Living Color in my bed. Sound's cool, right? Well, it's not if you're lying there with a big fuckin' headache to deal with, under a semi-cool room temperature, especially since coming off of 4th of July, which I didn't enjoy and did not wanted to be bothered with anyone who was there for today's.....I mean yesterday's cook-out. I even took this pic to show y'all my inner pain.

Yeah, I'm not trying to look sexy or anything with the wife-beater on. Or am I? Anyways, I trying to keep myself cool and remain in this room alone watching these shows while having a good time laughing. I know this ain't nothing worthy to post about, but I clearly stated in the headline for Ren's Blogs that I specialize in cultural references, film talk and day to day Bulls**t. (or bullshit if you want me to spell that out for you), so....this is the bullshit part. Well, maybe that and the "Ditch Aaron" post, which is enough to devoid anyone of intelligence, but not as much than Aaron himself. LOL. So, right now ILC is talking up much of my typing time and I guess it's time for my to split. I'll be back soon with a more lengthy post. So 'til then, laters. :-)


BTW, that was my "headache-had-went-away smile".

Out of the Bin: The Richard Pryor Show

 Hey, folks. This is a post I will refer to as "Out of the Bin", where I discuss DVDs straight out of...well, my own DVD bin. I do these reviews because I'm that fucking bored and the same time I want to be a show off as well. I promise the readers this a few days ago that I would review a DVD and I have it right now. First off let me talk about one man; a hysterical personally who influenced countless other comedians and continues to leave his mark as a king of comedy to this day with his profanity-ridden observations and social commentary. This man in question is Richard Pryor.

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (goddamn that's long!!) had branched out as a seminal comedian throughout the 60s and 70s with his brand of stand-up acts and series of albums such as "Live & Smokin'" and "Is It Something I Said", leading to film roles and writing gigs for television, such as Sanford and Son. It all paid off with a television special on NBC that became such a critical and ratings success that the network offered Pryor a chance to host and star in his own sketch comedy show. Thus giving us The Richard Pryor Show.

The show suffered a lot from through it's short run: it ran against Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley, two of ABC's top-rated sitcoms, a lot of executive meddling and time slot issues that provoked Pryor to quit before production began, and of course the restriction of Pryor's "Motherfucker"-heavy blue humor, which was a pending destruction of this series. Pryor acknowledges this in an cold opening that was cut from the air, featuring the comedian, in a close up, talking about how he would never give anything up for his humor to be displayed properly, leading the camera to pull back to reveal his nude, dickless body, as a way of showing how the network "emasculated" him in terms of toning his humor down. The close-up of Pryor's akward face has provided the show's title card above.

The restrictions reared it's ugly head and did no justice to some of the skits, in particular, one where Pryor, as Santa Clause, saying some raw things regarding Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, which was repeatedly blocked out with the word "censored" against a black background and completed with the audio "bleep". With no deleted material involving this skit surfacing, we, the viewers, are pretty much left to use our imaginations. (I assumed he said Rudolph was a crackhead, as he finished that statement off with "Why do you think he's nose is so red?" ) While the rating were poor, Pryor decides to put the show to rest after finishing only four episodes rather than 10 as he was obligated to do according to his contract. The show was released on DVD for the first time in 2004, which I have on me right now.

The show at best was decent, if pretty uneven in concept, as we get occasional dramatic skits and extended musical acts to act along the existing comedic material; the results kinda come off as jarringly mismatched rather than unpredictable than what Pryor and co intended it to be. For instance there's one skit starting off with Richard doing a hilarious Little Richard impression, which is randomly interrupted by a white noise that fades in on a woman sitting in a chair, telling a story about her first lesbian experience, which is, of course, ridden with the censored bars at each mention of the event. Then it resumes to Pryor's Little Richard performace. That came completely out of nowhere and added absolutely nothing. Another odd, but notheless powerful, skit involves richard going into a gun store to purchase a gun, only to hear several guns talking to Rich in need of being bought. The collection of voices drove Richard out because of the evil and ills of possessing gun control. What made it powerful is the one gun telling Rich, with an innocent, child-like voice, that it didn't mean to hurt people. Like the bit with the woman telling her story, it seriously lacked a laugh track, but for more important reasons. It was a funny concept that took a dramatic turn; representing the social commentary Pryor was also known for, although it was a stark constrast to his stand-up act about how he shot up his car while drunk.

Of course, some good laughs abound as well; with Pryor portraying a cowboy who gets shot repeatelly in the gunfight while struggling to pull his pistol out, a samurai spouting out side-slitting Japanese gibberish, and Santa in the aforementioned censored skit. The first episode has a funny one involving a bar similar to the Cantena (I think that's how you spell it) from Star Wars, complete with the creatures and everything. All Rich does is interact with them like regular people in a way, saying to one big alien that he "looked like a nigga from Detroit I knew". Then some comedy could fall into "Your Milage May Vary" territory (that's TV Tropes talk). Like one skit where Pryor portrays a death metal rocker.

He starts growling, chanting and kissing on a groupie. He exclaims, mid lyric, "I'm gonna kill all of you", then proceeds to pull out a machine gun and slaughters his audience. It's funny if you're into that type of dark humor and disturbing with the silent overview of the corpses. All Rich, as the rocker, says after all of this is "Far out". Indeed. In-fucking-deed.

The DVD is a must have regardless of the restrictions and some of the half-brained skits. The three disc set come with all four episodes and the tv special that inspired them. Along with it is a bonus script containing unfilmed skits, deleted scenes, an extended roast, the alternate series opening, Q&As and a monologue with Pryor as his popular alter-ego Mudbone that cannot be missed. If you come across it on Amazon or ebay, give a shot if you're interested.. Overall it's a 7.2/10.

I'll have more DVD reviews in the future. 'Til then, laters. :-D




The Richard Pryor Show is courtesy of Burt Sugarman INC, Indigo Productions, and Image Entertainment DVD.