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I just read Steve Powers's review of Kingdom Of Heaven: 4-Disc Director's Cut DVD and, humbled as I am by such a bodaciously awsome review, I think I'll put off my review of The Complete Mr. Arkadin: Criterion so's I can polish it up a bit (although I'll have to go a long way to beat Steve's KoH review - if ya don't believe me, check it out with the link above). In the meantime, lemme tell ya 'bout a kickin' CD I picked up.

I was out with Becky last night getting some grub and we ended up at Cracker Barrel. For those of you not familiar with this chain, the menu is good down-home cookin' with the plus of a general store/gift shop in the front selling all manner of gifts and munchies (some of which are recreations of treats of the past - Mary Janes, anyone?).

After some really good chicken and rice, we preused the general store and I found a really good CD by Bill Kircher. The title: Dieselbilly Road Trip. Bill was a singer and lead guitarist for Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen (that's his axe on Hot Rod Lincoln). He's a Master of The Telecaster and boy howdy does this disc tell ya. From flat-out rockabilly to country and beyond, the guy's got some serious chops. Here's the layout:

1. Hollywood City
2. Pittsburgh Stealers
3. Is Anybody Goin' To An Antone
4. California Cotton Fields
5. Streets Of Baltimore
6. The Promised Land
7. Buckaroo
8. Detroit Diesel
9. Midnight In Memphis
10. Sleepwalk
11. Eight More Miles To Louisville
12. Guitar Boogie Shuffle

From the first track I was captivated and by the time Sleepwalk hit the speakers (hands down my favorite slow instrumental) I was a Believer. This disc becomes part of my permanent collection of Drivin' CD's. It's great for toolin' down the highway.

Okay, I'd tell ya all to go out and get this great disc but here's the catch: it's part of a special series produced by Cracker Barrel and you can only find it in their stores - I checked their website and they don't sell it online. So if you have a CB in yer area, go pick this bad boy up. If not, try going to Amazon and finding Bill Kirchen's other albums (he's done about seven of his own, not to mention the ones he did with Commander Cody). You won't regret it.

LATEST DEVELOPMENT: For those of you wihtout a local CB you can order the CD from Kirchen's website. Just click on the "Order Stuff" button and yer on the road!

Loritab Monday

Got just a few things on my mind so it's a grab-bag today.

To quote Dr. Smith, oh the pain. Yesterday at work, while trying to do two things at once (board-op a Sooner baseball game while trying to burn a couple of talk shows onto CD) I trip over a chair and manage to twist my right foot. I've done this before but it doesn't make it hurt any less. So it's a couple of days hobbling around and taking painkillers while trying to stay off it. A challenge when yer home alone.

Saturday I was also running board on Sooner baseball and women's softball games and I run across one of those "you can't make this stuff up"-type of names. Now the Lady Sooners were playing Kansas and the Kansas shortstop's name is (I kid you not) Destiny Frankenstein. Surely that's a stage name. Not that I don't believe that there isn't folks with the last name Frankenstein in this world, but I'm having a hard time believing that this poor girl's parents would make it even harder for her to get through childhood by christening her "Destiny."

Besides, I couldn't shake the image of a female Boris Karloff in a girl's softball uniform shouting "HEY BATTERBATTERBATTER!"

Also, I'm no sports fan but the girls lost to Kansas, not to mention the Sooner Men getting a royal ass-kicking by OSU in all three of the Bedlam games (two of which were played at the Brick - almost in OU's backyard). Boy that was ugly.

My mind is also turning back to my novel. Trevis, a good net friend, read it and loves it but thinks it's kinda short (as a Word document it comes up to about 104 pages). He suggested that I add about 50-150 more pages to it. I'm kind of hesitant, not because I think it's perfect, but I'm afraid of messing up the pace with a lot of padding. So if anyone wants to look at it and give me their opinion, email me at smokestackjones@gmail.com.

With luck, next entry will be my treatise on Mr. Arkadin. Gotta do something while waiting for my foot to stop swelling...

Rooty-Hooty-Pile-O-Doody

Hoot
Flapjerks
Plot - Produced by Jimmy Buffett (who also has a role in it), the story goes-a some-a-thing like-a this: Kid Roy Eberhardt and his family moves to Florida where he gets involved with a bunch of local kids who are trying to prevent the really stupid guy from O Brother Where Art Thou? from building a tropical IHOP in the middle of the wilderness, thus keeping the indigineus burrowing owls from ordering a short stack with a side of sausage while waiting for de volcano to blow, mon.
The Studio Sez - Packed with surprising plot twists, quirky characters and offbeat humor, HOOT is a classic story that's fun for all ages.
The Critics Sez - "Hoot" has its heart in the right place, but I have been unable to locate its brain. Here is a movie about three kids who begin by disliking or fearing one another, and end up as urban guerrillas sabotaging the construction of a pancake house that will destroy a nesting ground for burrowing owls. -Roger Ebert
Smokestack Sez - Let's see, Misfit Kid Who Moves To New Town? Check. Other Misfit Kids Who become His Best Friends? Check. Evil Adult Protagonist? Check. Clueless Law Enforcement? Check. Doesn't The Hallmark Channel have the corner on this kind of stuff? C.mon, Jimmy! You can do better than this!

Jerko de Offo

Happy Cinco De Mayo, folks. Aside from the fact that I'm still kinda ticked off over the illegals trying to blackmail us U.S. citizens last Monday into keeping the borders open, letting them stay and get benefits, I'll still give 'em their due for this holiday. Even though nobody gets the day off for it, it's compensated by the fact that it's another excuse to get plastered at a bar somewhere with a lot of others doing the same thing. Sort of like an extra St. Patrick's Day with a pinata. So do what this Gringo do: raise a bottle of Corona, eat a chimichanga and think of the Frito Bandito. Arriba.

Anyway, I wanted to expand on the manifesto for Smokestack's Grindhouse. The Reviews of Films I Haven't Seen is just one facet of the feature. Due to my lack of attention span I'll also talk about Movies I Have Seen, DVD releases I've gotten and are looking forward to and other stuff like that. I just want to make sure that the RoFIHS will be front-and-center amongst all that stuff.