WAY TO BE RACHEL! (and other random thoughts of basketball, pictures and Bon Jovi)

Some random thoughts I thought I'd mention...

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Due to a computer malfunction, I wasn't able to post the Golden Globe running diary like I always do.  So, I posted it today, with some links and such... you can either scroll down to read it (or if you read this column several months from when it was written, 1/23/11, then just click here to read it...)

THE LOVELY STEPH LEANN'S BAD MEDICINE
The Lovely Steph Leann and I are having dinner at CiCi’s Pizza. It’s a local pizza buffet, and you can even order the pizza you want at the buffet counter. They’ll bring you several slices of it, and its pretty awesome for a $7 meal. I tend to eat more than my $7 would normally buy.

Sitting on the couch, she decided she didn’t want a burger, or tacos, or a sub sandwich, and I didn’t have have a hankerin’ for Chicken Fillet, so I piped up with “CiCi’s Pizza?” It’s a question that I ask and get not just a no, but sometimes a “Aw, haylz to tha’ no”, when The Lovely Steph Leann is feeling especially gangsta, but this night, I got a “Yeah, that’s fine.”



I will take a “that’s fine” any day. So we went to CiCi’s. We are sitting there, she with her cheesesticks and me with my black olives, pepperoni and mushrooms, and she perks up suddenly. She looks towards the ceiling, as do I, and we both hear the same thing… “…and as my broken heart lies bleeding… you say true love is suicide… you say you cried a thousand rivers… and now you’re headed for the shore…”

We then get onto a lengthy conversation about Bon Jovi lyrics, and in that conversation, The Lovely Steph Leann actually gets giddy.  She starts giggling while remembering old Bon Jovi songs, and Jon Bon Jovi himself.  It would be the same for me if the Debbie Gibson "Foolish Beat" video or Alyssa Milano circa 1992 "Who's The Boss" just appeared.

So, later that night, we are both laying in bed about to fall asleep, and I randomly start singing "I'll Be There For You", which results in another long conversation about the differences in that song and "Never Say Goodbye", how Bon Jovi songs tend to reference the bottle as a solution to the pain, how all of his videos are just the band in concert with no story line, and an iPhone interweb search for lyrics to "Blaze of Glory".

Jon Bon Jovi was the stuff back in the late 80s and early 90s, and let me tell ya, every girl I knew loved Bon Jovi.  The band escaped what plagued New Kids on the Block, that being the sissy-boy image that forced all dudes to denounce any sense of enjoyment, whether you liked them or not.  Truthfully, I kinda like a few New Kids songs, including "Tonight", "Step by Steph" and "Please Don't Go Girl", but there's no way I'd say that around the likes of Daniel Stephenson, Shane Gillis or even Greg Avant... but seriously, it was senseless being an open Michael Bolton fan and verbally denouncing Joey, Jordan, Jonathan, Danny and Donnie.

Anyway, it was cool to like Bon Jovi.  "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Bad Medicine", "Livin' on a Prayer" and of course, my favorite, "Blaze of Glory" were songs on the soundtrack to my high school life.  Somewhere around the mid-90s, Bon Jovi kinda feel out of favor overall, his songs no longer hitting the charts on a regular basis, but they are still going strong.  Jon has short hair now, though. 

And The Lovely Steph Leann still gets giddy thinking about it.

SEARCHING FOR BIG BIRD
Another night, we were eating at Mt. Fuji with DeNick and DeLisa, and they had brought Baby George with them.  The food was pretty good and reasonably priced--we had coupons, which is why we went.  The Lovely Steph Leann and I are hibachi fans, but we chose to sit at the regular table, instead of one or the four or five grills they have set up.  The plan was actually to get some sushi, but we all ended up with entree platters. so the hibachi would have been better--though we weren't sure how Baby George would have handled the fire and the rice rice baby and the woo woo choo choo.

We are sitting there, catching up, having a good time, and DeLisa shares that she didn't know what channel Sesame Street came on... until a friend of hers was visiting, and using the remote, went straight to it on the TV.

DeLisa:  I had no idea where it was, and she found it!
Me: You know another way you could have found out?  Just call the cable company.
DeLisa:  Call the cable company?
Me:  Yeah.  Just call them and say, "Hey, can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"

Ba dum dum

OLD PHOTOS, NEW SOLUTIONS
When The Lovely Steph Leann and I went to Samson a few weeks ago, for Christmas Eve, I had already decided on a plan for something.  In my parents house were about nine photo albums, filled with pictures from the last, oh, I dunno, 30 years and more of my own life, plus the life of my cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, extended family, friends and the like.

Here's my mom and my late father, taken probably '81 or
'82... that shirt was my favorite shirt, and I wore it daily.

The problem?  Well, as its been documented on this here very site, I grew up in a smokers home, so all the albums are full of that stale cigarette smoke that they've been sitting in for two or three decades.  My master plan is to get all the albums, remove every single picture from those albums, air them out, scan them, burn all pictures onto a CD, then send that CD to all the cousins, so they will have all the photos. 

I started almost immediately when I got back.  I've probably scanned over a hundred pics so far, but there are several hundred more to go--each photograph is in an old photo album, where the plastic has to be peeled back, and the photo has to be carefully removed from the adhesive that has held it in place for all that time.   I'll tell you I've accidentally torn a few of them, but nothing disastrous. 

Another problem is in the scanning, as most of the pics were taken with 70s and 80s era cameras, which in my family meant nothing too expensive.  I have a dozen or more pics taken from a visit to the beach at Chesapeake Bay in Virginia taken with a disc camera.   Like, the the camera was a thin square, and the film was a disc that looked like a ViewMaster disc with the white cover removed.  And it had a little slot on the top where you bought and inserted a flash that could be used six times. 

Nowadays, we don't like the picture, one that we take and immediately look at to see its quality, we just delete and retake it.  Back then?  You used your flash only when needed, and wasting a photo was too expensive. 

WAY TO BE RACHEL
Melanie invited myself and The Lovely Steph Leann to watch her daughter, Special K, play some girls basketball.  The team are St. Rose Academy Knights, playing in a Catholic School League, and they were playing the St. Aloysius Somethingorothers...

The Lovely Steph Leann couldn't come, due to a Creative Memories event, but I was all about rooting on young Special K to victory.  The game was an away game for the Lady Knights, coached by Special K's father, Daddy Z himself, so we all rode out to Bessemer, Alabama, to the Catholic Church gym. 

One side of the gymnasium had two rows of chairs, where the teams were warming up, the other side had a small set of bleachers, about six rows, running down the side.  Melanie, Yours Truly, The Zach Attack and Jay-Z walked to the middle, where Knights fans bled into the other fans (and by fans I mean "parents" and random people like me who thought it would be fun to watch), and sat down.  Jay-Z, being of a young teen age, quickly split to go find friends much cooler than his mom and her friend. 

In a pic taken a few weeks before this particular game day, here's
Melanie smothering The Zack Attack and Special K with motherly
love and embarrassing affection.  Cause thats what cool moms do.

The girls who played are all 13 and under, so the game was a low scoring one.  The quarters are 7 minutes each, and by halftime, it was something like 8-0, with The Lady Knights burning it up.  Special K and her teammate, Chase Lake, were rock stars, running that ball through the crowds, getting the fast breaks, and making the plays. 

There was a girl named Rachel, however, on the other team that we all noticed.  Well, there were a couple that caught my attention, one of which I called Tank Girl, cause she was a beast.  Rachel was the other one.  The reason I noticed her?

WAY TO BE RACHEL!!!!!!

I looked at Melanie, she looked at me, we looked around, and there was a large father sitting up by the wall on the top row.  Clapping vigorously, he screamed, "WAY TO GO RACHEL!!"

We both looked back out at the girls teams, and Rachel was giving it her all. 

DON'T LET THEM COME INTO OUR HOUSE RACHEL!!!

Melanie looked at me then cracked up.  "Don't let them come into our house?" she mouthed to me.  "What does that even mean?"

What was even better was by 3rd quarter, The Lady Knights were up something like 10-2. In a game full of pre-teen offense and grade school defense, an 8 point deficit was a heckuva lot to overcome.  Melanie warned me that The Lady Knights always start fast, then have to hold off comebacks, but there wasn't to be much of a comeback today.

MAKE EM EARN IT RACHEL!!!

Which I found to be funny, because The Lady Knights were earning everything, and dominating.  I whispered to Melanie, "Don't eat the ball, Rachel", to which she almost lost it.

THROW IT TO RACHEL!!!!!

This was said several times when anyone other than Rachel had the ball.   Remember, we are in a small gym, so everything echoes in there.  His voice, while loud, was considerably amplified through the walls of the building.

WAY TO GO RACHEL!!!!!
YOU SHOW EM RACHEL!!!!!
EVERYONE ELSE ON THAT FLOOR SUCKS RACHEL, EXCEPT FOR YOU!!!  YOU RULE!!!

I made that last one up. 

Melanie had already warned me that were he to make a bad remark on Special K, she, Melanie, would in fact come unglued.  However, Melanie's glue stayed together, as Loud Father never did such a thing.  To his credit, he never disparaged any other player, he never mocked any other player or either team and he was never insulting to any girl on the floor, or their playing ability. 

I told her that Loud Father was the kind of guy who would be all up in the coaches face if dear Rachel, heading no doubt for the WNBA right out of 6th grade, was benched for any reason, even if it was for an injury.  When Rachel did in fact sit down, which wasn't long, I half expected Loud Father to still yell "THROW IT TO RACHEL!  SHE CAN DO MORE ON THE BENCH THAN YOU CAN ON THE FLOOR!!!" But he didn't, which was probably a good thing.

All in all, it was an enjoyable game, with The Lady Knights scoring the winning basket with less than a minute left, making it 12-4, and putting the game all but out of reach.  So, when the game was over, The Lady Knights victorious, Melanie and I met the others on the court, and I shouted, "WAY TO BE, SPECIAL K!" to which I got prodded by Melanie. 

"What?" I looked at her.  She smirked.  Then laughed.  Cause I'm awesome.

QUICK THOUGHTS
**Went to the Waffle House this morning for breakfast.  The one on 280 has a health rating score of something like, 85.  Normally, this would dissuade me from going to a particular restaurant, but Waffle House is in a class all its own.  Its my theory that at Waffle House, the higher the health score, the worse and more bland the food will be.  Waffle House health rating of 96?  Clean restaurant, sure, but its missing all the stuff that makes the food good.  Waffle House health rating of 85?  Now THAT is a restaurant with secret ingredients to make those hash browns perfect.  Sold.

**The Lovely Steph Leann and I enjoy watching television shows on DVD, mostly because we can knock out an entire season in a week or two... we just finished CSI: Crime Scene Investigation's tenth season--I think I've actually watched less than five episodes when they actually came on television.  Other shows we catch on DVD include Grey's Anatomy, and the last two seasons of LOST.  Now?  We are diving headfirst into Mad Men.  So far, its pretty awesome... especially the authenticity--like the pregnant woman smoking (everyone smokes on this show, probably like they did in real life) and the kids playing while wearing big plastic bags over their heads.

**Just finished Walt Disney's biography.  Going to try to work a review in soon... its a massive book that was massively entertaining.

**Yes, yes, I know its the middle to late part of January, and still not a 100 Coolest list.  I have it, but I just haven't written it out yet.  Its coming, I promise.  Soon.

**Speaking of Disney, I'm so flipping excited about going in February.  We leave for Walt Disney World on February 3rd, and don't return until February 13th... here is what we are doing while we are there:  The new Wild Africa Trek... Hoop-de-doo-Revue... La Nouba... the Epcot Segway Tour... eating at Kouzzina... eating at Rose & Crown... eating at Via Napoli... eating at Le Cellier... and, the reason we are going actually, an all day Disney World Trading Pin Event at Epcot on January 5th.  We've already got a lot of pins reserved for purchase, so we are pumped that we get exclusive merchandise. 

**Oh, and lest I forget, we are meeting some very dear friends while we are there, and going together to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventures. 

In 12 days!

The 68th Annual Golden Globes

This is a week late, but I did want to post it finally... our computer was down until mid-week, and because American Idol came on, I never got it up.  So, here is the running diary of the Golden Globes...

So, this is being typed on a Word Document, while nibbling on some Papa John’s. The lovely Steph Leann is on the other couch, also nibbling on pizza, and we are set to watch the whateverth annual Golden Globes Awards… 68th, as Ricky Gervais just said!

7p… Ricky Gervais is out, and onto his monologue, which is usually all about the celebrities, with zingers and jabs tossed freely. First up, Charlie Sheen, of course. And now its onto “The Tourist”, insulting it, as Johnny Depp looks on from the audience. Next to “Sex in the City 2”, and then to gay Scientologists (I can only assume he is jabbing Tom Cruise and John Travolta)… yeah!

705p… The first award, presented by Scarlett Johansson!  I’m not a ScarJo loyalist, but she looks great tonight. The award is Supporting Actor in a Movie. Noms including Chrisitan Bale, Edward Garfield, Geoffrey Rush, Mike Douglas and someon else I didn't catch before the winner was announced.

The winner is? Christian Bale for “The Fighter”… this is the first award out of many he’s going to get from now until Oscar season, when he wins the Supporting Oscar actor. Its weird hearing him talking in his regular British accent, cause I’m so used to hearing him be deep and throaty Bruce Wayne, and loud and obnoxious in The Fighter. It also stars Amy Adams, whom I’m in love with.

709p… Here’s LL Cool J and Julie Bowen for lead actress in a TV Drama. And the winner? Katie Segal for “Sons of Anarchy”. Never seen the show, but I’ve heard its intense, awesome and manly. Camera cuts to Ed O’Neill who is clapping and smiling for Katie’s win. Very cool.

716p… And now here’s Julianne Moore and Kevin Spacey… Julianne has a horrible dress, and likely no bra. Shame. Best TV Movie/Mini-Series. The Pacific is nominated and I’m guessing its going to win.. though “Temple Grandin” is also nominated. Tough. And the winner? “Carlos” wins, whatever the heck that is.

While the Hispanic director is talking in the broken English, I’ll point out that every year, the person who helps present the awards is called “Miss Golden Globe”, and it’s a chick who is the daughter of a prominent actor or actress. This year’s Miss Golden Globe is Gia Mantegna, who is the daughter of actor Joe Mantegna… she looks a lot like him, but she’s beautiful, so go figure.

720p… Ricky is back up. There is confusion on stage, as the Mexican crew scatters, unsure where to go from there. Ricky then says, “you know this next actor from such films as…” and he goes on to name some horrendous films like “Hudson Hawk” and “Mercury Rising”… Ricky says, “And here is Ashton Kutcher’s dad, Bruce Willis!”

Bruce walks out with a smirk, introducing a film nominated for Best Comedy or Musical, that being “Red”… which was a fun, fun movie.

722p… From “Country Strong”, which is a movie I have no desire to see, here are two people that I don’t care about… Best Supporting Actor in a Series/Mini-Series/Movie. I’m rooting for Scott Caan, but I’m thinking the Extremely Gay Chris Colfer from Glee will get it.

And the winner is? The Extremely Gay Chris Colfer. And to me, its because he’s as gay as a football bat. The Lovely Steph Leann defends him, saying, “Well, maybe, but its also because he’s so awesome!”. No, its because he’s a flamer. Matter of fact, I’m surprised he’s not kissing a guy right now.  Lea Michelle is crying, which is actually kinda sweet.  Not as sweet at Chris Colfer, mind you, but still...

My prediction? You’ll hear some magazine, website or the like tell us that Chris Colfer’s win was important for the gay community.

Here is Michelle, circa 1989, from "The Fabulous Baker
Boys"... by the way, an absolutely fabulous drama.

729p… Michelle Pfieffer comes out… let me tell ya, back in the day, she was The Stuff. Back in the late 80s, early 90s, she was everything that Angelina Jolie is today, and more. Michelle was amazing. She still looks great. She’s introducing the next Best Comedy Movie nominee, “Alice in Wonderland”.

731p… Eva Longoria, sans Parker, almost fell. She usually looks great, but tonight she looks especially classy. Its like he was saying “Hey Tony… check this out. You had this. But you lost it. Sucka.” Tony, you’re a friggin’ idiot.

The president of The Hollywood Foreign Press comes out, and his name is Philip Berk. I immediately think of the obnoxious guy I knew in college named Philip Burke. He was a Lambda Chi Alpha, and I think student body president at one time. But this guy is not that Philip Burke—though that would be funny.

733p… Kevin Bacon and Milla Jovavich is giving the award for Best Drama Series. Actors from Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Dexter and House are nominated as usual, along with Steve Buscemi from “Boardwalk Empire”… and Steve wins. I thought that show was great… but it’s a little too much. Too much sex, too much violence, the language is horrible, and I just couldn’t get into it. But it’s a well done show, and its cool to see That Guy Hall of Famer Steve Buscemi get himself an award. He says, “Im going to talk fast, before that sad music comes on!”

737p… And here’s are the Best Drama nominees… Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men, The Walking Dead… and the winner? Boardwalk Empire. I do eventually want to see Dexter, The Good Wife and The Walking Dead, which are all on the list to watch on DVD. And I’ve got Mad Men coming on Netflix.

Can’t believe they are doing the Best Drama already! And Mark Wahlberg is on stage? He is in this show? What did I miss?

743p… Andrew Garfield, himself a nominee for “The Social Network”, is out to introduce… well, “The Social Network”… he stumbled over the teleprompter, eliciting a few laughs. By the way, “The Social Network”? One of the five best movies of last year, I gotta say.

745p… Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Lopez are out to present Original Song, after some horribly written banter that they awkwardly read from the teleprompter. Burlesque is nominated twice—I’ve been hearing that is a awful movie. The song from Tangled is nominated, but doesn’t win. “You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me” from Burlesque wins, and The Lovely Steph Leann is disappointed it wasn’t “See The Light” from "Tangled".

749p… And Alec and J-Lo comes back up to give out Original Score. Danny Elfman’s “Alice in Wonderland” is nominated, and I thought that music was brilliant. Inception is also nominated, and that movie’s music is fantastic. The winner? Trent Reznor for “The Social Network”, and I can’t complain, because it did set a great tone for that film. Nine Inch Nails now has a Golden Globe.

755p… The young chick from "True Grit" comes out—she was amazing in that film—and Justin Bieber—I’ll refrain from the jokes—comes out with her to give out the award for Best Animated Film. I’m guessing "Toy Story 3" will take this, but I’m fearful that “How to Train Your Dragon” will be the dark horse. I wouldn’t have a problem with "Tangled" winning this, but I don’t know how "Toy Story 3" can’t win.

And the winner? "Toy Story 3", in one of the least shocking wins of the whole night. The director comes up, and takes the award, and turns to Hallie Steinfeld and The Beebs and says, “Were you two even born when the first one came out?” to which they both just smirk at him.

759p… Ricky says, “I love this guy, star of 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', 'Two Guys and Girl', 'Bowfinger'… I’m sorry, are these porn films?”  Then he makes the obligatory "RDJ spent time in prison" joke that always comes around when RDJ makes an appearance.

And of course, its Robert Downey Jr! He has gone from cool to jerk to cool again in his career. And he gives a hilarious monologue on the nominees about how, in his career, he’s gotten with everyone one of them… and when he gets to young Emma Stone, its fantastic. Award for Best Actress Comedy or Musical. I’m afraid Annette Bening or Julianne Moore will get it for The Kids are Alright, because that movie was horrific. Annette Bening gets it.

Chris Colfer is somewhere in the back shouting “Hooray For Gay!”

I haven't done a review yet, but "The
Fighter" was a great film.  Great story, great
acting, and Amy Adams, whom I'm in love
with.

809p… Sylvester Stallone comes out. Lets see how much we can understand. He’s here to introduce a film for Best Movie Drama, “The Fighter”, starring Golden Globe winner Christian Bale, Marky Mark sans Funky Bunch and Amy Adams, whom I’m in love with.

811p… Tilda Swinton comes out with Geoffrey Rush, and I gotta say, Tilda Swinton is one of the most unattractive chicks ever, with an eccentric fashion style. Eccentric means terrible. Heres the award for Best Actor in TV Movie/Mini-Series. Winner is Al Pacino for the Jack Kavorkian story, “You Don’t Know Jack”. Wanted to see it.  And Al talks.  And talks.  And talks.  Aaaand talks.

815p… My guess is the guy starting the Wrap Up Music is about to push the button, and someone who makes more than him says, “Dude! No! That’s AL PACINO! You don’t wrap up Al Pacino!” And they didn’t.

Up next, Actress for TV Movie/Mini-Series. Claire Danes wins for “Temple Grandin”, which she won the Emmy for as well. I’ve never seen the film, and really don’t expect to either—not that I don’t think its great, but it just doesn’t interest me—but its supposed to be an awesome film. Its right up The Lovely Steph Leann’s alley, so she can see it, and I’m sure she’ll tell me how great it is when she sees it on The Hallmark Channel or The Hallmark Movie Channel.

823p… Zac Efron is out now to introduce “The Kids are Alright” as a nominee for Best Comedy or Musical. I’m thinking this will win. Why? Because its gay.

825p… Ricky tells us that Tina Fey and Steve Carell are coming out, but not before dissing on Steve for leaving The Office after this season, “killing that cash cow for both of us!” The award is Best Screenplay. Tina: Here’s a movie that ruined our ability to interact with one another… Steve: I heard about that film on Facebook from a friend I’ve never met.

The winner? Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”. Its based on a book called “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich, who also wrote “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions”, which was made into the Kevin Spacey movie called "21".  Book is good, "21" was okay. I plan on downloading The Accidental Billionaires next month as my Audible.com selection.

829p… Chris Helmsworth, the new Thor, and Chris Evans, the new Captain America, are giving out the award for Best Actress in a TV Series, Mini or Movie.   Their banter is terrible.  Why am I not a writer at one of these shows?   Take me, Scotty Latta and Hurricane Rhett, and I guarantee the jokes would be funnier than anything you've ever heard in your life.  Ever.

And the old lady they cut to when announcing Julia Stiles for “Dexter” was NOT Julia Stiles. The winner, though, is Jane Lynch for Glee… she also won an Emmy for this last September.  And Lea Michelle is crying.  That's... well, it is kinda sweet again, I guess.  Not as sweet at Chris Colfer, but still...

836p… Ricky introduces Olivia Wilde and Robert Pattinson, saying, “Here to present an award that no one in America cares about, the Best Foreign Film!” He’s right. Denmark’s “In a Better World” wins, and I really could care less.

838p… Out comes the most attractive 93 year old in America—no, not Betty White—it’s Helen Mirren! She’s out to announce the nomination of “The King’s Speech”, starring the president of The Colin Firth Club, that being Colin Firth himself…

Okay, so what is The Colin Firth Club? We’ve discussed this before, but I feel like we’re getting new readers all the time (wishful hoping?) so I thought I’d explain again… It’s a small group of actors and musicians that The Lovely Steph Leann finds herself a little hot for. Whilst I have my Amy Adams, whom I’m in love with, The Goddess, Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Chenoweth, Martina McBride, Lesley Mann and Kate Winslet, she has The Colin Firth Club.

The Lovely Steph Leann would never cheat on me. If Jake Gyllenhaal ever propositioned my wife, I am positive she’d say, “Yeah, thanks, I’m honored, but no. I gotz a man.” Then he’d say, “What yo’ man got to do with me?” and she’d say, “I ain’t try to hear that, see!” I’m Positive (K)!

However comma

If Colin Firth propositioned The Lovely Steph Leann, I’m pretty sure she’d say no. She’d hesitate. She’d probably give it a few seconds, and maybe flush and stammer, but ultimately she’d say no. Other guys that would elicit this reaction include Hugh Jackman, Bradley Whitford (in West Wing days, not so sure now), Patrick Dempsey, Hugh Grant and Jon Bon Jovi. Thus, The Colin Firth Club.

840p… Vanessa Williams and Blair Underwood, two extremely attractive people no matter the color, are here to announce the award for Best Actress in a TV Series. The winner is Laura Linney for The Big C… what can top gaydom? Cancer! If there was movie with a gay guy with cancer, its sweeping these awards.

846p… Here comes Jane Fonda! Screen legend! Have you ever seen any of her movies? She doesn’t have much on her resume. Yet, she’s a screen legend. And she’s here to show off “Burlesque”, a nominee for Best Comedy or Musical.

847p… Two people I don’t know are announcing Best Actor in Comedy or Musical Series… the winner is Jim Parsons from “The Big Bang Theory”, which is a show that I’ve never seen, but I’m hearing that this show is getting better and better as the years go on.

850p… Jeremy Irons is giving out the Best Supporting Actress in a Movie, and sounds almost like a Jeremy Irons imitation, though he’s actually him. Amy Adams, whom I’m in love with, is nominated for The Fighter, but it goes to the other chick in the film, Melissa Leo. And really, she kinda deserves it, because her part was great.

Just saw a McDonald’s commercial that features a guy coming through the drive thru, whispering his order, and continuing to lap the building without stopping. The somewhat attractive and seemingly smart young chick behind the drive thru mic is confused. He whispers into the speaker again as he drives by slowly. The young chick glances in the backseat as he rides by and sees a baby. The third time he rolls around and whispers, she whispers back his order, and its all sweet and cute and such. Do do do da doooo… I’m lovin’ it.



There are a number of falsehoods in this commercial.


First, I’m sure there are pretty people that work at McDonald’s, somewhere, somehow, so that’s not an issue. But the fact that she’s understandable is unrealistic.


Secondly, no one whispers in that drive thru. Right off the bat, you get a really clear voice that says in a perky voice, “Hi, would you like to try (insert whatever they are promoting at the time)!?” You think, “Ah, someone understandable!” and you say, “No thank you, but I would like to get (insert what nutritional combination you actually do want)".  A pause.  Then you get some chick who can barely talk intelligently, and has a tendancy to start speaking before she hits the drive thru mic button, and then turns the mic off before she's done talking... you hear "...getta number four and what you want to dr..." in a loud voice.

What happened to the pleasant voice you heard first??  Ah... it was a recording.  It was a a tease, thinking you'll have an understandable drive thru experience.  Then you realize... this ain't Starbucks.

So that commercial is full of crap.   

858p… Matt Damon is out to give the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Robert DeNiro… gotta tell ya, Robert DeNiro IS a screen legend. Who cares about Jane Fonda? DeNiro has done some incredible films, but has also done some real, real crap.

My favorite Bobby DeNiro films include “Midnight Run”, #56 on The Dave100… “Heat”, #87 on The Dave100… “Goodfellas”… “Casino”… “Untouchables”... and yeah, he was pretty funny in “Analyze This”. And no, I didn’t like “Analyze That”, or any other feature where the characters are named “Focker”.

Like all actors, he’s made some turkeys, including “The Fan”, “The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle”, “A Shark Tale” and “Showtime”. And I tried to watch “Ronin” three different times… couldn’t get into it. The car chase was spectacular, as its been hyped to be, but the movie couldn’t keep me interested after that.

Robert DeNiro is an actor that everyone loves, and there’s a huge ovation that lasts for several minutes. He quips that “I’m glad this award was announced two months ago, well before you had time to review ‘Little Fockers’” which gets an uncomfortable laugh from the audience. He also says that “Awakenings” was one of his favorites. Anyway, I’m glad it went to Bobby DeNiro instead of someone I'm barely aware of.

913p… Megan Fox comes out, and I’m still unimpressed. Someone is who is completely overrated and overhyped is fittingly announcing an overrated and overhyped film, “The Tourist”.

914p… Annette Bening comes out to give the Best Director Award. As I thought, David Fincher for “The Social Network” takes the prize. Its kinda of surprising, though, that such a mainstream film has been taking so many awards and such. Fincher is also the director of The Dave100 film “Se7en”, as well as “Benjamin Button” and “Fight Club”.

917p… Jimmy Fallon and the smoldering January Jones come out to give out the award for Best TV Series Music or Comedy, in another bit of awkward banter. And The Lovely Steph Leann squeals in delight as Glee picks up the award for Best TV Comedy/Musical Series. At least the show has Jayma Mays, who I kinda think is pretty… not tonight, but usually.

923p… And here’s Alicia Keys to tell us about “Black Swan.” I am not sure if I want to see this movie or not… part of me does, but part of me figures it will be like “Brokeback Mountain”, that is, I should see it because of all the nominations, but once Oscar time rolls around and passes us by, I can skip it.

925p… Halle Berry comes out to give the Best Actor in Comedy or Musical Award, to which Johnny Depp is nominated twice. Paul Giamatti gets the award for “Barney’s Version”, a film that I know soooo little about.

932p… Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who might be the coolest cat in any movie in 2010, is out to tell us about “Inception”, which to me was the best movie of 2010. I loved every single thing about this movie. The fight scene in the hallway with JGL was amazing.

933p… Jeff Bridges, who Hollywood loves like crazy right now, comes out to give out the Best Actress in a Drama Movie. Right before they announce Natalie Portman’s name, I say it out loud. And then Jeff Bridges says, “Natalie Portman, Black Swan.”

937p… Wow, we haven’t seen Ricky Gervais in like, an hour. He spends 45 seconds introducing Tom Hanks, then says, “the other guy is… Tim Allen…” Here’s the award for Best Comedy or Musical… and The Kids are Alright is probably going to win.



Julianne Moore and her offending dress

The winner is? The Kids are Alright. Yep. Its Award Day To Be Gay.
The Lovely Steph Leann pipes up, “Her [Julianne Moore] dress is horrific! I cannot get over that!”

946p… Ricky comes out and introduced Sandra Bullock… with quite an intro. Funny stuff. Here is the award for Best Actor Movie Drama… The Lovely Steph Leann is rooting for her Colin Firth… and when he wins, she shouts “YEESS!!!!”, with her arm in the air.

So, I expect Colin Firth to win the Oscar, though a Jesse Eisenberg win for “The Social Network” wouldn’t shock me… though I’m guessing that Colin Firth will get the one award given to recognize The Kings Speech, so The Social Network can pick up everything else… and Jesse Eisenberg loses out.

953p… During the commercial break, I looked up at The Lovely Steph Leann and asked, “What’s left?” She thinks, and says, “Drama TV?” I replied, “Boardwalk Empire.” She says, “Wow, I guess that’s it then.”

954p… And cancer free Michael Douglas comes out for the Best Movie Award, and gets a standing ovation. He even says, “There has to be an easier way to get a standing ovation…”

The winner, en route to an Academy Award for Best Picture in February? “The Social Network”.

Gotta tell ya… though I hate that its taking away all the momentum that Inception was getting, if this wins the Oscar I won’t be bothered… it was a great film. It was an amazing film, from the acting to the story to the effects to the music… and its so much more than a movie about Facebook… its about friendship, its about loyalty, its about betrayal, its about business. Its great. I know that Amarylis By Morning (up from san antone) didn’t like it, but I’m hoping that she at least appreciated it.

So there’s your Golden Globes. Your Oscar nominations will be announced in a few weeks or so, and I’ll be right here, doing my annual running diary during the awards show!

Idol in Weezyana

Its time.  The reviews are beginning to come in, and guess what... its not a disaster.  Far from it, night one of American Idol was somewhat of a success--now, that's having the bar set pretty low, because when Simon the Cowell, Kara the New Hotness and Ellen the Lezzie all jumped ship, the expectation was that this show would be a sinking ship, maybe one more season, maybe even two, but Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez would totally suck it up, Randy the Dawg would finally expire and it would be over.  Idol would be dead.

But a funny thing happened last night... people actually kinda enjoyed it.  For one, I did... I was fairly surprised, as Steven Tyler was great, he was smart, and even had that twinge of "dirty ol' man" that always makes us laugh when its on TV and not right around us.  Randy the Dawg was better, not as "dawgy" and "yeah yeahy" and "yeah boyey" as normal, having lost some weight and actually slipped into a Simonesque kind of critique a few times.  And Jennifer Lopez, looking quite nice I will say, toed that fine line between Paula Abdul blubbery and sincere, genuine concern when telling contestants yes or, especially, no. 

Overall?  One episode down, and it worked.  So far.

THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL!!!!

Let's head down to The Crescent City, that being Nawlins, Weezy-Anna... here comes the judges, and let's get this show rolling.

Right off the bat, we get BackStory #1... there's no mention of the projects, cancer, death or child handicappedness, so its not a Sob Story.   Jordan Dorsey comes in, singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and man, its great.  He starts traditional, then starts the snapping fingers, giving it a little jazzy, bluesy feel, and this show is off and running!  Yeah!

J-Lo has goosebumps!  The judges all three shout YES in unison, and J-Dor is on his was to Holly the Wood.  Seriously, that guy is fantastic.

Back from break, we're back in Gator Country, known as Cajun Land, known as Louisiana.  Or Weezyanna.  And let's cut straight to a screeching, horrible audition, and another, and a white guy singing a soul song that should never happen again.  Oh, here's Kiana, who Randy the Dawg cuts off within five seconds, and then keeps singing... and starts crying.

Sarah Sellers comes in, and has lips that Steven Tyler actually relates to.  No, seriously, he says, "Where did you get those lips?"

"To Make You Feel My Love" is her song, and all I can compare it to is Billy Joel and later, Garth Brooks.  But Sarah puts a slight rasp on it, and it sounds good.  Not great, but good.   And Sarah heads to Hollywood.

And Cuban Casanova Jovany is up next, and looks like he's bringin' da flava... his words, not mine.  And he's threatening to take his shirt off for J-Lo, and is singing a Latin song.  No, I don't understand it... despite my own Latin Lover look, I don't know Hispanicola. 

Thats right!  Another season of Idol, another season
of random pictures of Pickles! 

Cuban Casanova Jovany now expresses his love for J-Lo, and how he's excited to be here in front of her.  She's cute, but she's no Pickles.  Aw, I miss Pickles.

Big Yes for Cuban Casanova Jovany, and here comes the abs.  And Randy the Dawg and Steven Tyler join him as they flash their abs for J-Lo.  Her clothes stay on. 

It appears that Randy the Dawg was born and raised in Batah Rooge, Weezyanna, and the next contestant brings in some Randy Jackson high school photos, with the 'fro and everything.  Here comes his old football coach, and its a good ol' reunion.

Jacquelyn Dupree is doing "I'll Stand By You", care of The Pretenders.  While her voice is good, its kinda boring.  So, while she sings, I'll tell you that The Lovely Steph Leann is not here tonight, she's down in Pensacola, so I'm Idol Alone this evening.  The blanket lay motionless, in a chaotic pile on the couch across the room of The Cabana.  Jacquelyn gets a YES from all three judges, heads to Hollywood, and I won't remember her in fifteen minutes.

Brett Loewenstern is from Boca Raton, Florida, and looks alot like Shaun White, the red haired Winter Olympian who does the snow sports.  At 16, Brett is lamenting about how he's a loner, and how no one likes him much, and how he's picked on.  "I want to give a message to kids who are picked on by bullies... be who you are, no matter what."  I am inspired. 

If this kid called me on the phone, I would spend the first five minutes of the conversation trying to determine if it was a dude or a chick calling me.  And he's going to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody"... good tone... good control... here comes the big note... can he do it?  Yes!  His singing is much deeper than his talking voice, so he really should sing everything at school--might help his picked-on-edness.  Three yes votes and he's on his way to Hollywood.

Commercial Break!

Back from Break!

David O'Franks, 24, IS the next American Idol, or so he says.  He's kinda... dopey looking, though he's got that ugly rock star who gets all the hot chicks kinda look about him.  Steven Tyler says that the kid has Mick Jaggar's mouth, which might be a blessing or a curse.

"Bad Romance" is his song... yes, Lady GaGa.  Not sure that a one time opportunity to sing in front of Aerosmith's front man, a former bassist for Journey and the hot chick from "Out of Sight" would be best fulfilled by a Lady GaGa tune.  And he gets punted.

Montage of bad auditions, with lots of screeching and a few bad costumes, and our first Aerosmith cover song--"Dream On".  Another guy hits a note that lasts about 30 seconds, and is only the best part of his horrible song.  Here comes a bad white rapper (redundant phrase) which makes J-Lo say, "...awkward..."

Commercial break!

Back from break!

Here's our first forgotten lyrics--"I Wanna Be a Billionaire"--and another bad costume.  And now comes Alex Retardo, which is a terrible last name.  He did go to Idol Camp and learned how to sing... well, maybe.

"Proud Mary" is his song.  And he needs to go back to Idol Camp, or ask for a refund... wow.  If I were Tina Turner, I would kill myself for hearing two straight nights of song desecration. 

This has also got to be the worst commercial for Idol Camp, EVER.  EVER. 

Jaycee Bedeaux was actually the winner of
Fox 44's Baton Rouge Idol

Jaycee Badeaux is 15, and he looks 12, and he looks like a marshmallow.  He thinks he's the next American Idol, and to hear him even say "Otis Redding" is funny, because he looks like he is too young to know "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" even exists... and wow, his voice is great.  Not perfect, not awesome, but he's like a fat Justin Bieber, only more fun. 

Prediction.  Put it in the hands of the audience, the viewing public, this kid makes it into the Top Seven, whether he deserves it or not.  J-Lo loves Chunky Bieber, Randy the Dawg loves him and Steven Tyler loves him... Chunky Bieber goes on to the Hollywood Round!

So, up next... a sob story... let's see if we can fill all the cliches:

Unsure of surviving... this is my dream... this is all I want... judges split on sending her or not... this could make or break the family... we can overcome...

Let's see...

Paris Tassin, 23, from Nawlins... young mom, pregnant at 18.  The baby might not survive (check!). Wouldn't be good if the baby was delivered... and Kiera the daughter is overcoming (check)....

Paris comes in, and is going to sing Carrie Underwood's "Temporary Home"... she does well until the notes get big, and she seems to struggle a bit.  J-Lo wipes away a tear.  Randy the Dawg is intrigued.  Steven Tyler is pleased.  Paris says, "I sing for my daughter... I love to sing... this is my dream" (check!!!)

All three judges say Yes enthusiastically, and all we needed was the split judges and the poor family, and this could have been a sob story complete sweep. 

So, Nawlins Auditions are done, with 37 hopefuls getting a Golden Ticket.  Next week, we'll take our Idol Train over to Milwaukee... and for the first time ever... someone "wants this so badly..."  

Idol Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

Since 2006, this very blog, Clouds in My Coffee, has been here telling you, showing you, giving you the up to the minute runs on American Idol.  And in 2011... we're back.  The Lovely Steph Leann is on the couch, blanket in hand.  Ready to cover up her face at a bad note's notice.  I'm here in the recliner, keyboard in hand... laptop open... and here we go...

Its been a turmoltuous off season for American Idol... Simon the Cowell--Gone.  Kara the New Hotness--Gone.  America's Favorite Lesbian Ellen DeG--Gone.   Paula the Flake--Gone.  But we're back, we're blogging, we're here, and 125,000 people had a dream... only one will be fulfilled... will there be fame and fortune, a'la Kelly Clarkson, or Carrie Underwood?  Or forgotten, like Lee DeWhatisname, or Whooooooben Studdard or Fantasia what what? 

Let's find out, shall we?

THIS IS AMERICAN IDOL

In case you've been under an Idol rock, or just not cared, you should know that new judges are here... and they are Jennifer Lopez, actress, singer, from the block... and Aerosmith's own frontman big lipped and newly botoxed Steven Tyler.

The opening montage shows us a human transformer, Steven Tyler dropping the F-bomb, some guy in a pimp suit and Randy the Dawg being a lot thinner.  And right off the bad, a blond chick who's horrible voice is only eclipsed by her greasy face. 

We also are told that the winner will get signed not by Clive Davis, but by Interscope Records, home of U2 and Dire Straits.

It's New Jersey, but don't hold that against Idol.  Ryan Seacrest, dating one Julianne Hough, comes out, and we finally see the judges come out to the new set.  Up first, Rachel Zevita, who auditioned in Season 6 (The Lovely Steph Leann:  I knew she looked familiar!... really, steph?), and J-Lo also says she remembers her.

She's doing "Hallelujah", and her voice is a little deeper than my tastes run on a chick, but she hits a good high note at the end.  J-Lo doesn't think it was great, "but I know you can sing..."

Steven Tyler throws out what seems like his 40th catch phrase of the five minute show so far... "Let her in the door, water that flower and let it grow..."  The Lovely Steph Leann says, "He might be the new Paula!"  Rachel goes through.

Next is Caleb Hawley, ready to sing... and right out'ta gate, C-Haw brings it, busting out some Ray Charles, sans the blind piano playing lean that haunted Ray, and haunts Stevie Wonder and Ronnie Milsap.  Steven Tyler claps along, beats the desk, and C-Haw even recovers from a bad note run... not bad.  He gets three Yes votes, and is on his way.

Our first 15 year old comes up... Kenzie Palmer is... well, good.  She's great, actually.  My guess is with The Beebs making being young a good thing, Idol decided 16 was too old a minimum, and 15 is good for an age.  Steven Tyler says he wasn't feeling "that pizazz", and Randy the Dawg agrees, while J-Lo is all about some Kenzie Palmer.   She goes through.

Here's a montage of people who get through, one after another... BUT... unto every Idol judge a little Achille must fall.  She's from the Ivory Coast, and she barely can speak English, must less sing Madonna.  The Lovely Steph Leann grimaces, her fact contorts and she whispers, "...oh Lord... please... stop her, someone..."  I think that's a great idea.

Add caption

Steven Tyler says No, Randy the Dawg says No, but J-Lo really struggles, saying No finally. 

Idol Jersey continues, as the crowd is showing in their horrible outfits, their bad shoes, their terrible hair, and a Snooki-wannabe with a bikini top and stars on her joojoos.  She's giving us a lesson in hair and fluff.  And not good fluff, like Paula Abdul's fluff.  Her goal:  To make J-Lo cry.

Tiffany comes in, jacket covering up the peep show, and she herself starts to cry seeing J-Lo at the table... saying that seeing "Selena" made her want to be a singer.  And as she begins to sing, she shows the judges what's behind the curtain.  She's not that bad, she didn't need the stars to come out... however, the note at the end kinda kills it.  Randy asks about the juju stars. 

Tiffany then busts out with some Celine (is it sad that I knew that song from the words "...the whispers of the morning..."?  The answer is Yes) and she really brings it.  I'm glad, too, because J-Lo might have spontaneously combusted in saying No to this chick.   The Lovely Steph Leann says, "That had disaster written all over it... how did this happen?"

Honestly... so did Idol Season 10, but so far, its kinda entertaining.

And here comes the Horror Show Montage... they show us one No after another... Randy the Dawg does the random sharp looks to the left, then up, then to the right, then down.  My ears are bleeding. 

Steven Tyler is pretty good at the No vote, but J-Lo is really hurting... until she gets to Sweet Mama who just burst everyone's eardrums...

Robby Rosen comes up. 
The Lovely Steph Leann:  Cute kid.  Big nose.
Me:  Seriously.  If our TV was in 3D, that nose would be at the front door

So then, its Sob Story #1... Robby had a childhood condition that inhibited his ability to walk... but he's here, he's healthy and he's going to sing.  He's been watching Idol since he was 7... and he's seen every season.  He's 16.  I'm old.  He's singing "Yesterday".  He's also toothy... there are about 34 teeth from the right side of his lips to the left. 

Oh, he sang really well.  He goes to Hollywood.

Much love for J-Lo... some love for Randy the Dawg... but the ladies love lurve luv Steven Tyler... and one Asian chick says in broken English, "I cannot wait to meet Ellen... what?  she's gone?"

For all the dorky cuteness Robby Rosen was, this kid now is the opposite--dorky and dorkier. Wow.   And I hate that he's an Eagle Scout, cause it makes me look bad for being one.  Yes, I'm an Eagle Scout.  Not kidding.

Chris Col... Chris Coler... Chris Colie...ee.. eee sucks.  He starts singing, "My Way" with "Now... the end is near..." and Randy the Dawg says, "Yes, it is."

The Lovely Steph Leann is wincing.   AND SHE PULLS UP THE BLANKET OVER THE FACE!!!  WE  HAVE OUR FIRST BLANKET FACE OF THE YEAR!!!

The kid actually asks Steven Tyler, "So... it didn't work for you?"

Back from break, its one audition after another... bad... bad... bad... Steven Tyler says no... Randy the Dawg says no... and J-Lo finally starts saying No with more conviction.

And here's the guy that I could have been had I not been so freakin' awesome.  Michael Perotto busts out with "Proud Mary", the version from Ike and Tina Turner.  Let's say this... if you are this white, don't ever, ever, ever, EVER take on Ike and Tina Turner.  Do yourself a favor and at least butcher a reachable version, like Creedence Clearwater Revival... wait, you know, just don't even try that.  Let it go.

Perotto is now singing something else, and it really just gets worse.  Its bad.  Its bad.  Its really bad. 

Let's cut to a shot of the porta-potty, where Ashley Sullivan comes out, and she's... well, she's painful to look at.  Like, she's not ugly... don't get me wrong, she's by no means attractive AT ALL, but she's not fugly... but she's so... awkward... and dorky... and... what's the word... the word... she's... ANNOYING!.  That's it.  She's annoying.

"Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie... and fortunately, she's terrible.  She's animated, she's loud and her voice is not bad, but she's totally a Broadway chick... though if I see "Ashley Sullivan" on a Playbill, I dunno that I'm seeing that show.

And she's crying.  She's bawling because she's begging for Hollywood.  Randy the Dawg just says No.  Steven Tyler says Yes.  J-Lo gives up a Yes... and Annoying Ashley is going to Hollywood.

This is the part where we'd continue the Idol discussion, tell you about the little girl with the big voice named Victoria, who was annoying, but likeable, and we'd tell you about Kosovo Melinda, and Travis Orlando, who's family lived in a shelter and this could be his big break...

...but see, here's what happened... blogger is connected to one email address, but I logged out of that email address to do some work on eBay and on PayPal, because The Lovely Steph Leann and I are going to The Most Magical Place on Earth in a few weeks, and we ordered some Disney pins to trade, and so when I logged out, it logged me out of blogger, but I didn't know it, so I kept typing and bloggin and typing and blogging and such, and then I went to upload some pics and it didn't upload and I thought "wow, this is strange" but then I realized I was in the wrong email address and when I logged into the correct email address it took me back to the part where I logged out to begin with...

...but this is episode 1, so I'm not going to rewatch it all... I'll just tell ya that Idol is in New Orleans, and we'll see ya tomorrow night!

The Productive Kicks (and other dangers of homeownership)

Coming to you live and direct from Starbucks on Hwy 280 & Hwy 119... because?  Because my modem, the one we paid for when we first got AT&T DSL service, decided, "Eh, bunk this.  I'm done."  And now we have nothing but a little green flashing light that is barely flashing green.  Naturally, because this is how it always works, its out of warranty, so we have to pay a cost to have it replaced.  Not only is it $40, which I guess for a modem isn't bad, but we also have to pay $14.95 shipping for 3-5 days ground service.  This, my fellow readers, is what is known in common circles as "a racket". 

This is not the actual offending modem, but one like it, so
you get the idea.

If you've ever seen this kind of modem, its about the size of an index card, about as thick as two stacked iPhones, and weighs less than a roll of quarters.  I actually told the lady, "Seriously, $14.95?  Can you not just shove it into a padded envelope and mail it for like, $6 or something?"  Of course she said she could do no such thing, and so, no modem until next Wednesday... hopefully, its next Wednesday because... next Wednesday?  That's right...

THAT

IS

AMERICAN IDOL

For what its worth, I've already asked The Lovely Steph Leann if she is in for Idol, and she says she is.  So I guess I am to.  I think we've already discussed this in a previous post, so we'll get to Idol next week.

So, our toilet is jacked up too.  Upstairs in our master bathroom.  The darn thing has been leaking water down the pipes for two months, and in typical d$-N-The Lovely Steph Leann fashion, we finally got around to doing something about it... well, sort of.  I bought a $10 part at Wal-Mart and figured I would just replace the whole mechanism in the tank.  Easy enough, right?  On the box, it says in bright, bold letters, "EASY TO INSTALL!" and when you flip the box over, it goes even further by saying "INSTALLS IN MINUTES!!"

Not many words are more false than "EASY TO INSTALL" and "INSTALLS IN MINUTES" aside from something like "OBAMA CARES FOR YOU", but hey, I am a homeowner.  This is what homeowners do, right?  They fix their own small problems.  So I bought the part... and that was Phase I.  The part sat in our master bathroom for about, I dunno, two months, collecting dust in the unopened box until I got the gumption for Phase II. 

Phase II always comes in when I get my "productive kicks".  This constitutes an afternoon, or an evening, sometimes even a whole day, when my whole mindset is focused on getting things done that should have been done long, long ago.  Sometimes, I'll pull apart and put back together, reorganized, entire rooms of the house... I'll sort through CDs and books and shed myself of unused or unwanted items... I'll clean the entire kitchen, getting all dishes from around the house into the dishwasher, and if said kick lasts long enough, I'll get them out and put them away, all so The Lovely Steph Leann can come home to a dirty-dish-free environment. 

I have to be careful, though... sometimes I'll get knee deep into a project and then fall out of my productive binge just as easily as I got into it.  And thats dangerous, because if I've got a mess around me, with intentions of reorganizing, sorting or disposing, and suddenly I lose all ambition, then I've got to put everything back, and it all goes back haphazardly and usually with no sort of sense.

Last week, I got into a Productive Kick. 

Okay, I know this started with the toilet, and now I'm going to talk about baseboards, but I promise you, we'll tie this into toilets, so bare with me, okay?

When we moved into The Cabana, we had plans for the upstairs.  The whole house had been painted with a drab, generic taupe color (The Lovely Steph Leann will read this and correct me, I'm sure, but it was a basic greyish, brownish, whitish, blahish color) and we wanted to paint each room of the house at some point.  Before we even moved in, our brother in law Randy painted our bedroom, which still looks great almost three years later. 

The middle bedroom was to be a guest room, but we were going to keep some books in there, our CDs, a desk, and a futon we purchased for guests to sleep on.  Eventually, when Campbell Isaiah and/or Lorelei Addison make their appearance, that room will become a nursery.  And The Lovely Steph Leann had plans for that back bedroom... it was to become her Creative Memories crop room

SIDEBAR... The Lovely Steph Leann is an extremely talented photograph rescue specialist, as well as a memory sustainer operationalist.  That's fancy words for saying she is a Creative Memories consultant, which means she deals in scrapbooking--wait, wait, don't go away... scrapbooking is far and beyond pasting pictures into a book with little pieces of construction paper... it, like the rest of the free world, has gone digital.  So not only can she help you salvage all those pictures and precious memories you have lying in a box in a drawer by converting them to digital, she has also started a service where she takes your pictures, thusly taking the work off of your hands, and will make books for you.  Imagine a yearbook, full color, except every picture has one of your memories, your family members, your friends, your kids, et al in it (instead Brandy, the head cheerleader and not so coincindentally the yearbook editor which explains why she is on 14 different pages out of a 50 page book)... anyway, her site is here, but you can also find me and ask for her info for a price quote and such.  She's awesome.

So, the back room was/is going to be her crop room.  She went to IKEA with her cousin, spent way too much money there--its like, when you walk up to the doors, they ask you how much you expect to spend, and when you tell them, they add 35% and tell you that is the new number you will spend... and they are right.

She came back from IKEA with a bunch of home items, including a desk that will be assembled for her crop room.  Now, in the corner of that room is a large "bonus room"... when we moved in, it was nothing but rafters, studs and insulation, but we paid them an extra $50 to pipe a vent in that area, and Big Daddy Ron came over and we (and by we, I mean he) put up sheetrock, put a door and door frame to block off the heating unit, added a ceiling and covered up the rafters and had it painted. 

After the room was finished, we had it carpeted and then I painted baseboards, to which we (and by we, I mean he) installed them in the bonus room. 

Its important to note, however, that from the time we had the room finished to the time that the baseboards were installed should have taken about a month.  Maybe two.  Four if we are really lazy.  It actually took about two years.  Cause we just never got around to doing it.  The baseboards actually sat in our living room floor, stretching into the kitchen, for about a month or so, because I just never got around to getting them into the garage and painting them... trust me, The Lovely Steph Leann was on me just about every day for it, as well she should have been.

Alright, so we got them painted, got them installed, and they needed to be touched up.  When the touch up occurs, then we can put that desk together, and then that room, which is still filled with boxes and stuff--no other way to describe it than "stuff"--will be on the road to being completed.

Now, back to the toilet... well, not quite, but we're getting there.  After about two months, I finally decided it was time to not only get the toilet fixed, but also get those baseboards touched up.  With The Lovely Steph Leann downstairs watching HGTV (for some reason, she's been obsessed with HGTV... really, most of the shows on that channel could be called "Renovations You'll Never Do On Houses You'll Never Afford... So Come and See the New Deck, Loser") I went to the laundry room, pulled down the two cans of paint that were previously used to do the baseboards--each can looks exactly alike, so its the same paint, right?--and then disappeared into the back bedroom, and on into the bonus room.  I had purchased a paint brush and some painters tape a few months back, and now that I think about it, probably at the same time I purchased the toilet unit, and so I went to work.

I laid old sheets carefully down on the carpet, the new carpet which still smelled like just that, and still had that springy step of not being used much, and then used the wide blue painters tape to tape off the wall and the carpet.  About four or five inches out on the carpet, about three inches up the wall, all the way around, the ten feet of one wall, the foot or so on each side of the door, then another twelve or thirteen feet on the long wall, then the side wall for another five feet, then back around the closet door again. 

I shook the can briskly, hearing the slosh of paint inside, and was so happy.  This was going to be quick and painless, I'd knock this out in about twenty minutes, and since my Productive Kicks usually last a few hours, who knows what I could get done, right?  Right!

(play cool working music) With a screw driver, I pulled the cap off, then used a plastic piece of a broken clothes hanger to stir the can up.  And then, I dipped the small brush in and began to paint the boards.  Left, right, left, right, dip.  Left, left, right right, dip.  Left, right, left, rig (cue screeching sound of record needle being ripped off of an LP).  I stared at the baseboard.  The baseboard all the way around the wall was a creamy, dark white color.  The color that I had now splashed on about 14 inches of this baseboard was a lighter white.  And very noticable.  I looked at the can, and inside the can, then looked at the other can.  Just alike.  I opened up the other can, and saw that the other color was darker.  Creamier.  Kind of a... well, a creamy, dark white color. 

Now, one could assume that this 2nd color is the right one, that I should immediately begin to use this other color to cover up the white that I've descrated the baseboard with... but, as with many things in the past, I figured it was time to ask the boss.  This ruined my plan of being able to come downstairs and say, "Hey, dear, guess what, the baseboards are all done!  Let's put that desk together!"  Instead, I came downstairs and softly said, "Hey... uh... what color are the baseboards upstairs, in the back closet room?"  She looked up and thought for a minute, "Um... I think its... Signature Creamy, I believe."  Then she eyed me.  "Are you... doing the baseboards?"  I nodded, and she smiled, "Thanks!" and then went back to the HGTV show she was involved in.  So much for surprise.

Back upstairs, I looked at both cans.  One said "Signature Creamy", in tiny letters on a small sticker that I didn't see.  One said something else.  And, because I've used 3,000 words telling this story, you can guess which color was on the baseboards and which color should have been.  So, I used the new color, and really, got the boards done in about twenty minutes.  Mostly, it was just covering up the nails and screws that had been used to put the baseboards in place, and it was done.

Okay, to the toilets... Well, we don't want to let a Productive Kick go to waste, so I immediately head to our bathroom.  I grab the box, which had somehow made it way into our closet and was leaning up against our laundry basket, and take it into the bathroom.  I pull down some unused, old towels and spread them out on the floor around the toilet bowl, and then flush the water out of the toilet, turning the water off before it could fill up again.  I take the top off of the tank and set it carefully aside, and then use old towels to sponge up the remaining few inches of water in the tank.  Need it dry for my toilet transplant, which really should take, what, twenty minutes again?  Maybe thirty?  Thats one hour of a Productive Kick, and who knows what else I could get done?  Scour the garage?  Scrub down our porch?  Build a deck?  Yeah!  I'm rolling!

I open the box and pull the piece out.  And those words "EASY TO INSTALL" and "INSTALLS IN MINUTES!" are atop the instructions, and as I scan the diagram, it doesn't seem that hard, right?  Right.  I pull out the comparable piece in the tank, and am all set to put in the new piece... this is going to be great!  I mean, painted baseboards, get the toilet to work, The Lovely Steph Leann is going to fall into the arms of her wonderful handy man and all will be right with the world, right?  Right!

Wrong!

Yeah, there's a piece that won't come out of the bottom of the tank.  After banging it a few times, trying my best to unscrew it with several forms of plier apparatuses, pushing and pulling with my own bare fingers, I gave up.  My Productive Kick was fading, and really, I just wanted to go get some tacos. 

Well, a week later, our toilet still doesn't work.  We got Big Daddy Ron involved, and he had a hard time with it too.  As he tried to remove the piece I couldn't get out, he asked me if I had a crescent wrench.  I laughed and said, "Uh... no."

"Man, you gotta get some tools," he replied.
"Dude, if I can't fix it with a regular pair of pliers, a screw driver or duct tape, then I can't fix it and a set of a dozen crescent wrenches isn't going to help me in the least..."  I replied back.

We (and by we, I mean he) concluded it was a faulty seal, one that is in the other piece that I didn't try to replace nor bought a part for, and he got it from Home Depot later.  With the seal replaced, the water still leaked.  And it leaks now. 

Luckily, we have a bathroom down the hall which The Lovely Steph Leann and I are using.  Its not as comfortable, but it will do. 

I guess this falls under "The Problems of the Blessed", cause we have two more working bathrooms, the money to call a plumber (we just want to avoid it if at all possible), baseboards that are done in a room that will be a large closet that will be full of stuff we really should get rid of, and The Lovely Steph Leann still loves me no matter what color I paint wrong, nor how I mess up while repairing the toilet. 

Its just inconvenient, ya know?  Such is life.  I'll just sit back and wait for another Productive Kick and maybe I'll just build a new house.

Milking It

Boy, is it cold outside... (how cold is it?!)... its so cold... that I wanna make like, fifty global warming jokes right now! 

It is quite cold, though.  And we've had FOUR straight days of snow... thats one-two-three-four, and I don't know that I've seen that here, or at least have been through it.  I'm sure you people reading in Detroit and Denver and Boston and Cleveland are saying, "Psshaw!  That's nothing!  You and your inch of snow..." but its not even the snow so much as it is the ice.

I'm sure that people in New York laugh as us, but you have to understand, its not just the snow, and its not just the ice, its also the bad, bad drivers.  People around here barely know how to drive on pleasant, partly sunny and breezy 73 degree days in late April... stick them behind the wheel of a two ton vehicle, toss some ice on the road, knock the thermometer down to below freezing and the a dash of over-correcting, a hint of nervous twitching and some inexperience in the conditions, and you got a mess.... a cold, rainy, icy mess.  Yes, NYC drivers are terrible too, but they have experience at being terrible, which makes them pretty good at it.

I almost slipped three times getting out here.   Usually,
this road, at this time, has hundreds of cars on it.

When I got to Starbucks on Monday morning--we opened late, due to it being so icy and barren--the main highway, that being Highway 280, was empty.  I stood in the middle of the north bound lane and snapped a photo at 910 in the morning, a Monday morning, and saw nothing.  Nothing but grey skies, a slow moving car, a stalled truck on the side of the road, and dirty ice, sleet and snow spread all over the lanes, over the median, and gloom and cold. 

We get deliveries of milk, pastries and essentials (vanilla syrup, espresso beans, etc) a couple of times per week, and when I got in that morning, the milk and supplies had been delivered.  The boys who deliver the milk aren't the brightest in the business, I dare say... our big fridge in the back has three doors.  2% milk goes in the fridge door on the left, nonfat goes in the middle, and the rest--whole milk, half-n-half, heavy whipping cream, orange juice--go in the door on the right.  Open up that fridge at any time, and its pretty easy to see how it goes.

Yet, our milk guys like to put milk everywhere.  Open up the left door, where the 2% milk should go, and you see two shelves of 2%, a shelf of non fat, there will be a shelf of half 2% and half nonfat, and even half-n-half, all shoved disorganized and scattered.  Each shelf will hold 20 gallons of milk, but if you just toss them on there higgledy-piggledy, you're lucky to get 15 or 16.  Not that I'm expecting these milk boys to organize every single thing as they deliver, its not their job to do so... but seriously.  It almost seems like they try and goof it all up on purpose.  I've spent many a early morning moving milk around, wiping up leaky dairy on the bottom of the fridge, a dozen jugs of heavy cream strewn about the floor, moving gallons of milk from the top of one shelf to the bottom of another, from the middle of one shelf to the top of another, and so on.  But I'm not bitter.

Where was I?

Ah yes, milk deliveries.  Well, they delivered Monday morning.  We went through Monday, and survived, we got through Tuesday and survived, and come Wednesday morning... the delivery had no come.  We were alright, mind you, we had a good forty gallons or so of 2%, but by early afternoon, we were down to 13.  You might think "Wow, you went through 27 gallons of milk in one day?" and to that I answer, "Psshaw... we go through 27 gallons of milk before 10am sometimes." 

At Starbucks.  She looks great.  I don't.  As usual.

So, Melanie, or MZ as I have called her on this page previously, is not only one of my best friends, she's also my manager.  So Best Friend Manager Melanie tells me around 1 to head to Wal-Mart and get some milk, perhaps 20 gallons.  

Wal-Mart is our milk destination of choice when we run out, as we've made several trips there over Christmas to buy it.  It was never a case of Best Friend Manager Melanie not ordering enough, it was a case of, our fridges not being big enough to hold all of the milk we needed.  We'd have 100 to 120 gallons of 2% milk easily on Friday morning, and need milk again by Sunday evening.  To Wal-Mart we'd go.

Melanie had to get milk once, and it happened to be a on rainy, dirty, cold Decmeber day when bad weather was approaching, one of those James Spann Takes Your TV Over kind of patterns (sort of like we've had the last few days).  So here she is with two shopping carts full of milk, trying to get from the back of Wal-Mart to the front of the store, probably 40 or 50 gallons.  And she hears nothing but snide remarks from people, like "That's a lot of milk!" and "Got some kinda party, dontcha?"  One kid even said, "You should have just bought a cow."  She glared at him.  Melanie, love her, but her glare is pretty daunting.  As her subordinate, I know this glare well.

Where was I?

Ah, yes, milk. I had my own milk experience a few weeks ago, once again close to bad weather.   As I stand by the milk case and put in 33 gallons of milk into my cart, none other than Cindy Jo walks over and makes the obligatory, "You gonna leave some for anyone else?" comment.  I told her what I was doing, and Marky Mark Warner then walks over, and says, "You gonna leave some for anyone else?" 

And as I pushed the cart through to the register, and of course, had to stand in a line for a few minutes, I heard several comments... I mean, I guess its natural, because you don't see people with 33 gallons of milk in their shopping cart, but for me, its not out of the ordinary.  I told the lady in front of me in line that "my wife is obsessed with making sure she doesn't get osteoporosis, so she drinks a heckuva lot of milk" and I told the chick at the register that we were having "one crazy PG party for Christmas!"

This is what a shopping cart filled with 33 gallons of
milk looks like

So, my whole point of bringing this up was that I had to go to Wal-Mart today for milk.  As I walked into the grocery side, I randomly passed two moms, with their carts parked right in the middle of the main aisle.  The carts were angled, with their front corners touched.  A mom stood on the handle end of each cart, just chatting away, and as I passed them, I heard one mom say, "Where are you staying?" and I heard the other mom say, "We are staying at The Contemporary." 

Must be nice.

Anyway, got to the back of the store, and waited as this older lady just stood in front of the milk door.  I assume she was deciding on what she wanted, either 2% (on the left) or whole milk (on the right), but my problem was that I had left the store to come get milk, and really needed to get back.  I noticed the older lady had a huge bottle of wine sitting in the middle of her cart, and all I could think was, "This is the last person that needs alcohol..."  But, who am I to judge, right?  Right.

She finally moved after a minute or two, and I rolled my cart up, opened the door and hauled out 20 gallons of milk.  Unlike the previous milk expidition, I heard nary a comment from anyone... after the last four days of snow, ice and cold weather, I guess people thought I was just getting ready for the next round.  The moms were still parked in the dead center of the aisle, and as I passed by, I heard the first mom say, "Well, we had a great time when we were there." and the other mom said, "Its Disney, so you know they will..."

What they will do, I never found out because I was in a hurry.  Got to the register, waiting in line, and was almost out, almost got away without anyone saying anything... and up walks Big Phil Glassco, father of Rebecca Glassco Figart, and a former stallwart of Valleydale Baptist Church... and Big Phil Glassco says, "Man, you got some milk there, dontcha?"  I just smile, shake his hand and say, "Hey, we got caught off guard a few days ago... never again!"

The milk was delivered via Red Robin, and I came home not too long after that... and bundled up, because its cold.  Its cold now.  And at The Cabana, at this very moment, we have no milk here, and I'd love some.  Ironic.

The Disney Canon Challenge

What better way to kick off the year than to discuss Disney films? Yeah!

 Oh, don't worry, I'm finishing up my list of The 100 Coolest Things of 2010 and hopefully will be posted starting next week. Every time I think I'm done, something else comes to mind... earlier, while doing laundry, I remembered The Courtyard Hounds album, and thought "well, now I have to figure out how that fits in there...". And of course, American Idol starts next week, with new hosts J-Lo and Steven Tyler, and so what was once a train wreck with just Paula Abdul, which turned into a lesbianista trainwreck with Ellen DeG has now turned into a trainwreck of heavy duty proportions, all the way around. Sweet emotions indeed.

 So, anyhow...

 Sidebar... "anyhow" is a strange word. "Anyway" sounds right, and "anyhoo" is one of those strange slang words that I have, in recent years, tried to avoid using, much like "peeps", "da bomb", "besties" which I only use in mocking statements. "Anyhow" is in fact a word, though, because I just looked it up.

...I'm listening to the 33 hour and 20 some odd minute biography of Walt Disney. Its a chore. Don't get me wrong, its an amazing book, but its also really, really detailed, full of names, dates and specifics that only a true, true fan (like me) would appreciate. I won't get into the book now, I'll wait until I finish it, so I can review it properly (right now, it looks like a winner and an early shoo-in for a Top 25 ranking in The 100 Coolest Things of 2011, due January 2012), but I will tell you why I'm mentioning it.

I'm almost 20 hours into the biography, and along the way, I've read/heard the stories of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Fantasia", "Dumbo", "Pinocchio" and so on, the troubles of each prior to release and the successes and failures of each after their releases, and just yesterday, I had an urgency to watch "Snow White". Its been probably two decades since I've seen it in its entirety, at least at one sitting, but I never remembered it being a favorite. Though it hasn't necessarily been 20 years since I've seen the other films I mentioned, it has been a while for each one, at least four or five years.

In addition, I've never seen some of the "packaged" films like "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Make Mine Music", and only bits and pieces of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad". So, this afternoon, I came downstairs to find The Lovely Steph Leann laying comfy on the couch--she's been sick for three days, with a sore throat, allergies, stopped up ears and sinuses and a general pulsing of her head, bless her heart--and simply said, "I think we should take on a challenge this year, in 2011."

I said, "We should watch the entire canon of Disney animated films. Regular animation and live action combination. You and me, this year."

She looked at me, stared off into space thoughtfully and looked back at me and said, "Sure". She shrugged, and turned back to the show on HGTV she was watching.

Sidebar... so, I think every show on HGTV could be called "Here's a Renovation You Cannot Afford on a House That You Could Never Afford, But Check Out This New Deck... Loser".

Here's the challenge... As far as Disney animation goes, there are 50 animation and 9 animation/live action combination films that have been theatrically released, and one coming up this July. The task is to, from now until the end of December, watch all 59 films in question. Truthfully, as big of a Disney fan as I am, I am kind of ashamed as to how many I've not seen, or cannot remember, but its time to catch up. Also, the ones I've already seen, like the film that ranks 20th on The Dave100, "Beauty & the Beast", and #86, "Hercules", will have to be re-watched this year as well.

Do the math, and you see 50 + 9 + 1 = 60... but "Song of the South" is the one that will be remiss. Its not available for purchase, for rental or really easily accessible. And from reports, they aren't going to release it anytime soon, though its not a completely out of the question topic.

On November 15th, 2010, Disney creative director Dave Bossert stated in an interview, “I can say there’s been a lot of internal discussion about 'Song of the South'. And at some point we’re going to do something about it. I don’t know when, but we will. We know we want people to see 'Song of the South' because we realize it’s a big piece of company history, and we want to do it the right way."

So here is a list of films that we have to watch this year, broken up into a few categories (note: some films were released at the end of one year in limited markets, one to have a wide release in next... the wide release year is what is listed)

Its also worth nothing that the first six films listed under the first category I've given were called "package films". The Disney Animated Studios had a string of box office disappointments like "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia", and was heavily in debt. They signed a horrible contract with the US Government to make educational and propaganda films during WWII, and each one continued to add to their debt. The package films were quick-drawn animation, small cartoons and featurettes shoved together to make full length features to get released to theaters quickly.

 Films That I Have Never Seen (and look forward to watching):

• Saludos Amigos (1943)... this and the sequel, "Three Caballeros" were made after Walt Disney spent time in Latin America. Because Brazil and Nazi Germany had close ties, Disney was sent as a goodwill ambassador because of the popularity of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
• Three Caballeros (1945)
• Make Mine Music (1946)... There are six segments in this movie, some of which were unfinished or unused pieces that was to be added on to "Fantasia", but was inevitably not used for that because of budget problems during the war. Features "Casey at the Bat" and "Peter & the Wolf"
• Fun and Fancy Free (1947)... contains "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk"
• Melody Time (1948)... contains seven animated segments, including "The Legend of Johnny Appleseed" and "Pecos Bill"
• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)... contains "The Wind in the Willows" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
• Lady and the Tramp (1955)
• The Rescuers (1977)
• The Black Cauldron (1985)
• The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1989)
• The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
• Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Films I Have Never Seen (and don't really want to, but will for the purpose of this task)

• Dinosaur (2000)... Did you know that the Animal Kingdom ride Dinosaur was originally called "Countdown to Extinction", and it was a direct result of this movie? The movie didn't fare well at the box office, but its the first animated film to be done entirely in CGI--so its a milestone. 
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
• Treasure Planet (2002)
• Brother Bear (2003)... I hate to say it, but there is nothing appealing about this movie to me.  I might change my mind after I see it, but out of all 59 movies, its the one I'm least looking forward to.

Films I Have Seen (and look forward to watching again, because its been a long, long time)

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
• Pinocchio (1940)
• Fantasia (1940)
• Dumbo (1941)
• Bambi (1942)
• Cinderella (1950)
• Sleeping Beauty (1959)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
• The Sword in the Stone (1963)
• The Jungle Book (1967)
• The Aristocats (1970)
• Robin Hood (1973)
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
• Mulan (1998)
• Tarzan (1999)
• Fantasia 2000 (2000)

Films I Have Seen (but don't look forward to seeing again... but will)

• The Fox and the Hound (1981)... I think I sorta liked it when I saw it 10 years ago, but I dunno if I want to see it again.
• Oliver and Company (1988)... Saw this movie during the final days of The Happiest Place in the Mall.  Wow, is it dated.  And terrible. 
• Pocahontas (1995)... Also a terrible movie.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)... Also a terrible movie.
• Home on the Range (2004)... Also a terrible movie.
• Chicken Little (2005)... A movie that isn't bad, but history has not looked fondly upon this film. 

Films I Have Seen Recently (and look forward to watching again)

• Alice in Wonderland (1951)... this movie is really, really weird.
• Peter Pan (1953)... I dozed halfway through it. 
• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Aladdin (1992)
• The Lion King (1994)
• Hercules (1997)
• Lilo & Stitch (2002)... Can you believe Stitch is less than 10 years old? 
• Bolt (2008)... The hamster Rhino will go down as one of my all time favorite Disney characters.
• The Princess & the Frog (2009)
• Tangled (2010)

Upcoming this July? The new film "Winnie the Pooh".

Says Wikipedia:   Based upon the characters of the children's books Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne and Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, Winnie the Pooh will feature five previously unadapted stories from the original books. It will be produced in the same style as previous Disney-produced Winnie the Pooh featurettes such as Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. Although this will be the second Winnie-the-Pooh feature made by Walt Disney Animation Studios, it will be the first one to not be a collection of previously-released shorts like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Disney exec (and Pixar pioneer) John Lasseter has said (paraphrasing) that Pooh, Tigger and the gang are characters that have been pigeonholed to toddlers characters, and we want to do a movie that gives Pooh back to all of us.

And I'm excited.

Also, looking at the live action/animated combination films, I mentioned not being able to see "Song of the South", but I've also never seen "The Reluctant Dragon" (1941), "So Dear To My Heart" (1949) and remarkably, "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). I have not only never seen "Victory Through the Air" (1943), I'd never even heard of it until about four hours ago, when the biography was discussing The Disney Animation Studio's struggles with the US Government, and how they released propaganda films one after the other, much to Walt's dismay. It was deemed too offensive to Germans and Japanese (this was WWII, remember), but was finally released on home video in 2004, so hopefully I can find it, at least on Netflix.

I've seen "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Mary Poppins", and can't wait to see them again, and I love love love "Enchanted", the 63rd ranked film on The Dave100, starring Amy Adams (whom I'm in love with), so I can watch it anytime. As far as "Pete's Dragon" goes? Man, I hated that movie when I saw it. But, I'm sure we'll see it again... though I might stab a candle in my own ear during "Candle On the Water".

Now, there are a number of Disney films that aren't included on this list, like "DuckTales the Movie: The Treasure of the Lost Lamp" (1990), "A Goofy Movie" (1995) and "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" (2005), but those aren't listed in the official "Disney Animated Film Canon", mostly because they are actually from "DisneyToon Studios", movies that are a spin-off from afternoon cartoons and so on.

So... this weekend, I plan to start with "Saludos Amigos", "Three Caballeros" and "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad"... Fifty nine Disney films in one year?  Absolutely.