Build Date: Fri Aug 7 00:40:19 2026 UTC
All the cool kids play D&D. Don't they?
-- Siduri
Cocaine: One Man's Seduction
2000-12-03 19:26:48
My local video store buys a lot of offbeat, quirky films. I love watching offbeat, quirky films, so I rent a lot of movies there. My wife recently found a real gem though, a 1983 made-for-TV movie that was recently re-released on videotape called Cocaine: One Man's Seduction.
The reason I liked this movie so much is that it stars Dennis Weaver, who starred in TV's McCloud, Gunsmoke, and Lonesome Dove, and classic movies such as Duel and Touch of Evil. You may be more familiar with Dennis Weaver, dressed in western clothes and riding a horse, as the TV spokesperson for Great Western Bank.
I also liked the fact that although it trys to teach us a moral lesson (drugs are bad), it just can't help but be unintentionally funny in all sorts of ways.
Dennis Weaver has always played upright, uptight, and morally straight characters. Seeing him play this role as an over-the-hill real estate salesman trying to regain his edge by using larger and larger quantities of cocaine was, in a word, surreal.
Not only did Dennis Weaver's character develop a coke habit, but what's really amazing for a made-for-TV movie, is that he did so in a completely believable way. Dennis' portrayal was so realistic that I was utterly convinced that he'd done quite a bit of "research" when preparing to play the part.
From the bursts of manic energy, to the sudden urge to rearrange all of the glasses in the kitchen cabinet "in a more efficient way," to the way he desperately scraped out the last remnants of coke from the baggie he'd just finished, Dennis played the part of a coke fiend like he was born for that role.
If you can find this film at your local video store, rent it.
T O P S T O R I E S
John Dvorak has passed. I’m of mixed emotions. First off I’m more positive about his contribution to the overall technology journalism of the early PC days through the 90s, despite how many things he got wrong. He was a firebrand and commanded attention. (More...)
America's National Recording Registry Inducts Culturally Significant Artist - Weezer!
America's Library of Congress calls them "defining sounds of history and culture" and "audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage." Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Weezer! (More...)
The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
NASA's Mars missions keep blowing up and crashing, but dammit, when you reach for the stars you have to expect a few minor setbacks. Drink a toast to the men and women of NASA! Toast them with a Lost Probe mixed up with your own two (or three) hands! (More...)
On the Implementation of a Grocery Bag And Overforestation Initiative
Patient Joab and his evil cohort, Patient Steve, develop a proposal for the plastic-v.-paper problem that EVERYONE can be happy with. An EXCLUSIVE from Spock Mountain Research Labs! (More...)
What do Computers and Skateboards have in Common?
They both sprang from the mind of John Mauchly that's what. (More...)
Johnny Royale loves his Trackman ultra pointer thingy. It's coolio! Read all about it! (More...)
A Day in the Life of a Beverotologist
It was starting to look like a very boring Saturday, trapped as I was in the suburban wastelands of the outer Bay Area, so I called my Able Assistant (AA) and proposed that we perform some Spocktail field tests. For some time I've been working on creating the quintessential cinematic beverage and even tho' SMRL does most of its testing during nocturnal hours, this seemed an opportune time to roll up the sleeves of our labcoats and get some science done. While the beverotology creation tested this day (The Neurotoxin) must be deemed a success, this article focuses more the journey of the experimenters, rather then the science of beverotology. (More...)
Ratsnatcher gets HOT HOT HOT in this classic road tale that looks at the steamy underworld of Bay Area Linux advocacy. Loosen your collar for this one! (More...)
