WHAT IS THIS THING?

okay so i'm out for my walk today, and there's this old house i pass by on one of my routes. it looks abandoned, but very suspicious. i never paid attention before until today.

out front it had several newspapers stacked up and i noticed one that looked almost in perfect condition like it's been delivered recently. only problem is that it was the San Antonio Light. The Light hasn't been in existance since 1993. so i was curious about the house at that point.

so on my back i started paying more attention to the house. the windows are all covered with hanging sheets, and the one facing the street where i took these photos from has a reflective tint on it, so dark it's silver. the only window that is uncovered is blocked by what looks like thin strips of cardboard that folded over and tossed into a large pile.

what really caught my eye is that strange looking antenna in the photos. it looks like a boom mic or something similar. i've never seen one before and was wondering if anyone out there has, and knows what it is.

friends have said it's a radio scanner, a primitive television camera, and a ham radio antenna, anyone out there have ideas?

the Hollywoodization of Richard Stark's Parker

So Parker kinda sucked. Maybe I'm being biased, because i expected Donald Westlake. Instead I got Hollywood. Parker could have been any other action hero. What really sucked is they dedicated the film to Donald Westlake. I can't imagine him watching this and thinking this is representative of his work.
The best incarnations of Parker were Lee Marvin and Robert Duvall). Jason Statham has nothing on them. Oddly enough this is the first time the name Parker has been used for the character. Two of the others who played the role were Jim Brown and Mel Gibson

And that's just it, Parker is not a Parker film. that is to say, Jason Statham does not play the role of Parker, he's just another hollywood amalgam of a tough guy criminal. Even the character of Claire is all wrong. In the movie she begins as some weak, doe-eyed youngster but somehow toughens up near the end. Claire is a tough, willing, participant in Parker's life, and i can't imagine Parker hooking up with anyone as inconsistent as movie Claire.

I guess it's not a bad movie overall. But if you're a Parker fan, you'll be sorely disappointed, and maybe even heartbroken.

movie poster