Overheard at Table 1: Mitt and the Dog

Billy: Heard that Mitt put his dog on top of his car.

Joe: Yeah, heard that.

Jim: But he said it was because he had five kids and the wife.

Bob: Getting all them babies birthed down from them birthing clouds, right?

Billy: Mormon cloud babies. That's an album by S and M, I think.

Joe: The women are mad about that dog.

Jim: And them animal rights folks, too.

Bob: Well, yeah, I mean, who wouldn't be? Strapping a dog in a carrier on the top of a car. I mean, the poor animal has seventy, eight miles an hour winds swapping it in the face for a thousand miles . . .

Billy: Well, Mitt did come out and say that it was a windproof container.

Joe: Windproof? Or airtight?

Jim: Which'd be even worse.

Bob: Well, you know . . . when all is said and done - he DID say it was tied down tightly.

Billy: That's just the guy in ya talkin', that is.

Joe: Yup, s'pose so.

Jim: Like you never done it or thought about it.

Bob: Wonder what he used for tie downs.

Overheard at Booth 4: Real Steel

Have you seen Real Steel?

Nope. Isn't that some sort of Rockem Sockem Robot movie?

I thought it was, but we rented it because the kid wanted to. Turned out to be freakin fantastic!

Rockem Sockem Robot fantastic?

But it's not robot punching, it's a redemption movie. It's all about this old boxer, and in the future boxing is done with giant robots, and this guy is a real loser, and he has never seen his kid, but the mom dies and he's got to spend time with the kid, and basically it's all about how the 'child is father to the man' and how he turns out to be a hero to the kid after all.

Sounds like it might be pretty cool.

What I thought was really the best part is that in this movie, you don't even really know it's in the future, until they start dropping hints as to the timeline, and a few things are futuristic - the robots of course, and the solar panels on top of the truck, and the wind turbines on the back roads, but the tech doesn't really overpower the movie - not like in something like AI or Minority Report, which was all so futuristic you KNOW you're in a sci-fi movie, no - this one just seems to be a movie that knows exactly what it wants to be: a movie about a dad making good on being a father to his kid. The robots, the sci-fi, all that is really secondary so the story of their relationship.

So it's really a love story.

Yeah, I guess you could say that it is.

But it does have some cool Robots smashing the crap outta other robots, right?

Oh yeah, definitely! That's the coolest part!

Overheard at Table 2: Super 8

Excellent movie! Think of ET on steroids. In fact, the coolest part about this movie is that it was set in about the same year that ET was filmed, so you can just imagine that this alien carnage is going on right at the same time that the cute little bugger is trying to 'phooooneee hooomee'!

Of course, it does kind of go along with the usual plot of 'humans bad to alien - bad bad government military pukes' but this has enough of a heart, with the jr high kids with their movie making and one kid always setting stuff on fire and another always puking whenever anything happens, so it also has that Goonies or Stand By Me feel.

So, basically, this is what happens when two rich movie making guys decide to toss off that movie they dreamed of making when they were kids. It's like Paul McCartney just recording some acoustic tunes in his back yard one afternoon - it kind of has that feel when you think about what monsters of cinema Abrams and Speilberg are: their knockoff is a hundred times slicker than what most independents can muster, which is kind of sad in a way, because you wish that there could be more movie making geniuses out there, but at least you know with Speilberg you're always gonna get yer coupla-bucks worth, definitely.

Overheard at Table 3: Inspirational Quotes

"inspirational quotes . . .

make me friggin' ill.

Hate 'em.

They just make me feel worse . . . look, how can I chase my dreams when I don't even know what my dreams are? How can I just go live and be the best me when I don't even know who I wanna be?

And what's all this 'just take on the day!' I don't want to 'take on the day' ! The 'day' takes me on every day and beats the snot out of me! The only thing I want to take is a nap!

Let's face it: if my dreams were so wonderful and if I were made to fly, then a gentle breeze from a beautiful sunset would have carried me out to that turqouise beach long before now . . . so, you can take all those pithy little phrases and roll them up into the world's biggest ball of hot air and set the darn thing on fire and watch it light up the night

- How's THAT for inspiration!"

Overheard at Booth 4: Father and Son

Look, son, I know it hurts really bad now, but don't worry, really - I mean, sure she broke your heart, but that type of girl, someday, she's gonna be pushing 40, and her husband is gonna leave her with the kids and the debts and leaky dishwasher.

Yeah, but you don't understand, Dad - I wanted to be that guy!

Overheard at Table 3: Dar Williams The Christians and the Pagans

I know it's already February but I'm still thinking of the perfect Christmas album mix, and I definitely want to include Dar Williams' "The Christians and the Pagans"


ARTIST: Dar Williams
TITLE: The Christians and the Pagans
Lyrics and Chords


Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday
Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay"
And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree
He watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three
He told his niece, "It's Christmas eve, I know our life is not your style"
She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you and it's been awhile"

/ G C Am D / / Em C Am D / / G C Am D / /

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses

/ G C Em D / / Em C Am D / Em C Am D G - /

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch
Till Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"
His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the kitchen
And it was Jane who spoke, she said, "It's true, your cousin's not a Christian"
"But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
And where does magic come from, I think magic's in the learning
Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, don't bother"
Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked like Tim and like her father
He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year
He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here"
He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve saying
"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and
Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold

Overheard at Table Two: Mitt Romney Doesn't Care

- didja hear? Mitt's not overly concerned about the poor.

- gee. really?

- yeah. Says they've got a safety net if they need one.

- I'd heard that. So I went and asked this poor guy I know to see. Turns out he died of exposure last night under the 3rd Street Bridge.

- bad stroke of luck, that.

- you know it.