My Hobo Knife

As many of you know, I have spent the majority of ought-seven living in Austin, but really living in Dallas. For five out of seven months this year I have basically lived like a vagabond, pulling clothes from suitcases and riding the rails when it took my fancy. That was all about to change, as Monday (the Lovely Sherpa was to follow this weekend) was going to be the day I moved into my lovely new home located not too far from BTS' old stomping grounds (Go Golden Eagles?). However, I got, as they say, “Federicoed.” The property management folks decided the day after the lease went into my name would be the perfect time to start major foundation work on the house. So, the place is torn to shit, the move has been pushed back to the end of July, and I have returned to living the hobo dream, hiding away vittles whenever I can and feasting on cold canned beans as I make my way to the Big Rock Candy Mountain, my “seein' hound” Zeek my only companion. OK, so actually my old college roommates have allowed me to become their roommate again even though they're now married and have a baby. That being said, my living arrangements have made it difficult for me to give Left Behind III: World at War the time it deserves. For like a delectable meal of sweet meats, a film such as that is meant to be savored. I'm aiming to really focus up on it post-Potter 7, so probably some time next week. However, I didn't want this to turn into a GIK apology post and then fade away as has happened all year. Buck Williams will wait, and we can still get down to Grieco:

I was thinking about Grieco last night as I fell asleep in a bed that's not my own. I wondered if in the world of B movies/TV if it's better to be a faded star (like Kelly McGillis starring in tonight's SciFi extravaganza Super Gator; co-starring Brad Johnson of Left Behind fame) or one of the guys who never quite made it. Turning to '80s rock cliché as I am wont to do, I decided it's better to have lost in love than never to have loved at all and all that. I feel for those, or at least am more amused by those, who are not as famous as they think they are or thought they would be. Here are some of my favorites:

Vin Diesel: I know. He's made a ton of money and some kickass pictures (Pitch Black, xXx), but he thought he was going to be Schwarzenegger big. He thought he would dominate the box office for a decade and then run the largest state in the union. He even basically remade Kindergarten Cop with The Pacifier. But, alas, Ludacris probably won't be dropping any lines from The Pacifier into his songs any time soon.

Casper Van Dien: Van Dien is Van Damme to Vin Diesel's Arnold. With Starship Troopers (bold) and Sleepy Hollow (goth), you know he thought he would ride that vacant smirk to super stardom. Could he have imagined he would end up billed as “Capser” in the bio section on a dvd for a little Christian propaganda sci-fi movie I like to call Omega Code?

Daryl Hannah: This is a strange one. Some would call her a faded star, and I would not argue with that. But I see Ms. Hannah's career as one that never quite reached the point it was supposed to reach. After Splash and Roxanne it seemed like she was poised to be Meg Ryan before Meg Ryan or something along those lines. I know she's worked a lot, but somehow her being in Hard Cash makes perfect sense.


I know there are far more out there, so let me know who else has had the dream in their sights and then had to settle for a lesser dream. A hobo dream if you will.