The ramblings of a somewhat bawdy, opinionated, pop-culture-loving thirty-some-year-old woman who feels like sharing her random thoughts with the world.
Once again, I made my pilgrimage to Woodstock, IL for their annual Groundhog Day Festival (Quick recap - it's where the movie was filmed, they have the locations marked, a walking tour, a prognostication, etc.), and this year dragged the kid along. Yes, he ended up enjoying it.
We visited the filming sites, stepped in the puddle, visited the theater, drank to world peace (I had sweet vermouth - he had water), and took our pictures at Ned's corner.
Ned's corner, you ask? Watch and learn:
Being the social media guru (HA!) that I am, I posted the (completely unflattering) picture of me at the corner on Twitter and went about my merry way, completely forgetting about it until I got a notification saying that I had a response. What a rarity!
I took a look and found this:
@GoddessR_75 That corner looks fancier than I recall!
We recently attended our son's 8th grade band concert. I know, I know...middle school band - oh the horror! Fortunately, they've improved with age and practice. Anyway, we were looking forward to it because it was the first time their Jazz Ensemble performed and our kid happened to have a solo. I had a feeling my mom-pride would make me tear up a bit, but I wasn't expecting it to hit when it did. It wasn't his solo...it was when I heard this:
This gave me the chills. This somewhat not-quite-right rendition of the theme from Superman made my heart skip a beat and my eyes welled up. I'm so pathetic. In my mind's eye, I saw Christopher Reeve flying into frame and giving a little smile, and my son was providing the soundtrack.
Yep, that's me; that's how I roll. Oh, I did tear up a bit during his solo too, because the kid totally rocked it, but I'll also remember this concert because it was the one time my inner geek got the best of me in the strangest of places.
Ah, how I love this song / video. No, it's not artistry at its finest - by a long shot - but it takes me right back to the peak of the 80's. Kitschy soundtrack song, clips of one of my favorite movies of all time, Lionel Ritchie in amazingly huge shoulder pads, the light/fog tunnel, Baryshnikov & Helen Mirren....
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!
I just had to share it with my friends because I figured you could use the flashback as well. Say you, say me, y'all!
Oh, and for an added bonus, at no extra charge, I'll throw in this video of Fergie singing the same song to some creepy pedophile-esque clown on Kids, Incorporated.
Bad morning this morning. I woke up at 5:30 am and my brain got away from me. I do my best to keep a positive outlook on things, but sometimes the flames of worst-case scenario scorch me.
It's like...remember the movie SpaceCamp? You know, the one with Marty McFly's mom, Tish (who I believe was Ke$ha's fashion inspiration), Willie from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the gay nerd from Revenge of the Nerds, the guy who was the voice of Hercules, Tom Skerritt (because he was in everything) and Joaquin Phoenix back when he was still little Leaf? Anyway...remember when they were coming in for a landing and they had to be sure they kept the shuttle at the right angle for re-entry? 30 degrees, to be exact. If the pilot couldn't keep the nose up, they would burn up as they entered the Earth's atmosphere.
Sometimes I slip and I let my attitude drop a bit and the heat and flames of the atmosphere made of worst-case scenario thoughts eat away at the heat shield that is my normally positive way of looking at things and I break apart. I try to bring myself out of it, bring myself up, but it slips again. It's not always as easy as it looks.
Then all of the sudden, I break through the clouds and land safely in the sunlight. Just like in the movies. And hopefully that's the way life will always turn out, right?
Don't remember what I'm talking about? You'll find the video right here.
On yet another day when my Twitter feed was making me sad for humanity - the subject was either the terribly depressing and scary situation in Syria or the equally depressing and scary fact that people were devoting brain cells to a 20-year-old former Disney princess who will "rebel" to get as much attention as possible...like many others before her - I found one shining gem of a conversation:
Billy Zane swoops in with a line from Titanic for the win! But that's not quite the end...
He gives Val Kilmer a Memphis Belle reference?! Epic! My high school self is full of squee!
It's moments like this random conversation between two of my former crushes (and the breaking news) that keep me signed up with Twitter. Though most of it caters to those much younger than I am, Beliebers, people who like to #ReplaceASongNameWithTwerk, and beg celebrities for a retweet, it does give me a smile every now and then.
Ever since I heard this song for the first time at the beginning of the year, it gets stuck in my head and stays there for days upon end.
It's there again, so in an effort to release it from the clutches of my brain, I'm sharing it with the rest of you. As an added bonus (whether you care or not) I'm including the making of the song, from the movie Sound City (highly recommended, by the way). It's so cool to see how it all comes together.
Because I'm extremely frustrated, in need of an escape, have no money with which to do so, need a new job, wish the school year was over so I wouldn't have to force my kid to do homework without feeling the need to tie him to a chair to do so, yadda, yadda, yadda, I've found myself looking for items that I loved as a child. Here are some that I've found that will hopefully bring a smile to your face as well.
Doesn't this just reek of being a kid - and not a bad reek, more like a bread was baking in the oven, but it's been sitting on the counter for a while kind of reek.
I played with this thing a ton!
And I was a Barbie freak. I had this one - thought the astronaut by day/party girl by night outfit with shoulder-poufs the size of Alaska were something to aspire to. "We girls can do anything!"
Zug-zug
White Nights - I've watched this movie hundreds of times and never tire of it.
I was also a Michael Jackson fanatic back in the days of Thriller, but looking back, I think my favorite album of his was Off The Wall. It was him before he started going a little off-kilter.
Yup. Had it. Most of my "Ponies" were unicorns and pegasuses (or is it pegasi?) Hard to stick a sunbonnet on a unicorn.
And last but certainly not least.....
Our old pal, Grover. Who didn't love Grover? He was sweet, friendly, sometimes even Super. He was the epitome of childhood innocence, 20x better than Elmo,
and thankfully we never realized how similar his voice was to Yoda's.
Something I saw on the internet today that I had to share:
David Bowie's Package
This is a group game requiring at least two players, the more the merrier!
Anyone who has watched Labyrinth is aware that David Bowie (playing the Goblin King) is wearing tights that leave nothing to the imagination and frequently juggles crystal balls during this film.
Whenever you see a little too much of what Bowie's packing, shout "David Bowie's Package!" The last one to shout must drink.
Whenever Bowie starts juggling the crystal balls, shout "He's playing with his balls again!" The last one to shout must drink.
If you call "David Bowie's Package!" or "He's playing with his balls again!" incorrectly you must drink instead.
Optional extra rule: whenever a character who is not played by Bowie starts a song, shout "Stop that infernal racket!" The last person to do so must drink. This only counts if the first person to sing is not Bowie.
If you call "Stop that infernal racket!" and Bowie was the first one to start singing, you have displeased the Goblin King: drink until the song ends.
I think this is a great excuse to have a party, don't you?
The husband and I were going through a list of summer movie releases and trying to figure out which ones we were going to shell out $30 to see at the theater. We really only go out to movies when we know that only a big screen will do them justice.
We both said Iron Man 3 immediately and he chimed in with the new Star Trek movie, which I couldn't care less about, but that's him. He also mentioned that he wanted to see the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. I was completely let down by Superman Returns and have been completely leery of this new take on Supe as well.
Until last night.
The new trailer came out and instead of little vignettes, it showed actual action and emotion and, well, I'm a little more hopeful now.
Christopher Reeve will always be Superman to me. It's the era I was raised in. I had a secret crush on him for years when I was a kid. Henry Cavill?
Yeah, I think I can make a little room for him in my vision of the ideal Superman...as long as the rest of the movie doesn't disappoint.
Okay, so I missed it by a few days. Well, I missed posting about it anyway. My normal writing time has been taken up by work, so please don't hold it against me.
I have had a terrible case of cabin fever this winter. We've had no money to do anything fun and it's been really freaking cold, so I've been stuck in my apartment playing cards, glancing at Facebook, feeling my butt get bigger day by day. I finally had enough last week and was determined to do something fun over the weekend.
Then I remembered that Saturday was Groundhog Day. Sure, that doesn't sound like anything fun to celebrate...and normally it's not....but located only half an hour away from me is the town where most of the classic Bill Murray movie was filmed. You know...Groundhog Day. The town has embraced the movie with affection and has an annual festival showcasing the movie and the places where it was filmed and to top it off - most of it is completely free of charge! I'm there!
I consulted the Almighty Interwebs, consulted their website, and found that there was going to be a guided tour of the filming locations (again..free) on Saturday afternoon. I thought that would be just the right mix of cheese, fun, trivia and IT GOT ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! Okay, sure, so the high temp for the day was only supposed to be 16 degrees with a wind chill hovering right around 0, but I'm a Wisconsin chick - I come from the Frozen Tundra (so they say) - I could handle it.
Saturday morning, I got up, exercised, showered, had my one precious cup of coffee, threw on 3 layers of clothing - of course including my Groundhog Day t-shirt:
Okay, so nobody would probably even see the shirt because it was going to be constantly covered by more layers, but I knew I was celebrating in fine style. On went the scarf, the long winter coat, gloves and hat, and I was on my way!
Now, even though I only live 30 minutes away from this town and have been through it on my way to other places more times than I can count, I've never actually stopped there. The downtown area is built around a town square and this is where the bulk of the movie takes place.
The focal point of the Square is the Opera House. In the movie, this served as the hotel that Andie MacDowell's character stayed at and was also where Phil jumped out of the tower and met his demise. Well, his demise until the day started over anyway.
The Opera House = totally haunted
I went to the building and noticed this little sign in front of it, noting that in the movie, this was the Pennsylvanian Hotel:
And then as I looked around, I noticed that these little signs were dotting the square. It was time to investigate and give myself a little tour. Thanks to the signs and the handy-dandy map that I printed out which showed all of the locations that I could visit, I made my way around the square reliving scenes, and remembering classic lines thanks to the help of the other people who were visiting and reciting them to their friends.
I went to Gobbler's Knob...
And I saw the Tip Top Cafe
(which used to be an empty building and is now a taqueria)
And then I saw the famous corner where Phil meets Ned. See...they even have a plaque there!
Bing!
Do you not remember what I'm talking about? Let me refresh your memory.
So if this is the corner, then that must mean that right over here is......
That first step! The doooooozy spot! The Holy Land!
I hear angels.
I could have gone home right then completely satisfied, but I knew that the guided tour was coming up shortly, so I had a quick bite to eat at a nice friendly family restaurant on the square (the one place where I was able to take off my coat so that people could see my awesome shirt) and headed to the meeting spot for the tour.
And then the location manager for the movie, Bob Hudgins, showed up and we began the tour. Well, kind of. We stood at that spot and discussed how the movie came to be filmed there, he gave details and stories of filming and the weather and the snow...and we got colder and colder. When you're standing in one spot in the wind, there's nothing moving to keep you warm.
We stood there for about half an hour listening to him and then after questions were taken from the tour members, we moved on to the next spot. Another half hour passed at that spot before we moved on to the third. By the time we were an hour and a half into the tour and only midway through the third stop of the tour of twelve stops, I could no longer feel my feet...even with my two pairs of socks on. And that was when I decided to take my leave. I had seen what I wanted to see. Even though I would have loved to have heard more stories about the filming, because they were incredibly humorous and interesting, hypothermia is not worth entertainment.
Listening, learning about the puddle scene, and freeeezing.
I drive home, finally beginning to feel my toes once again around the halfway point, turned on our fireplace, bundled up under the world's most comfortable blanket, hot chocolate in hand, and switched on AMC for their Groundhog Day marathon. As it went from scene to scene, I completely annoyed educated my husband with all of the interesting facts I learned while I was there. I have a feeling he's thankful I didn't make it all of the way through the tour.
I think I might make this an annual thing! Well...when it's not so flipping cold. Anyone want to join me?
As I went out and found the perfect place to take a picture, I found a hill to perch on. I stepped up onto the dry, dusty hill and started thinking about all of the other people looking at the same sunset and all of the different places they're looking from. I thought about all of the places I could be other than at the edge of this small town in WI, where my friends and family are, where life has taken me, the great, the not so great, and the things I haven't been able to experience yet.
And then all of the sudden I could hear the music swelling behind me, feel the sun reflecting off of my skin, envision a second sun setting in front of me, and I realized...
You'll have to forgive my absence. I've tried writing quite a few posts over the past week, but they've gone nowhere. I had a great idea for one on Friday, but my snarky mood was quickly replaced by shock and sadness when a boy from a neighboring town, only a year older than my son, shot himself in an apparent suicide. Twelve years old and at such a point of despair? The other kids, his family, the poor brother who ran for their bus driver to help... Ugh, I have to stop.
Anyway, the bright spot of this dreary weekend was going to see The Avengers. I couldn't wait. I had to see it opening weekend. And I'm so glad I did. It's an amazing movie. Fun. Action-packed. Full of awesomeness. And Robert Downey Jr. And Thor. sigh
All I can say is, if you want an entertaining movie to watch - nothing too deep, no rom-com (blech), eye candy for all, laughs and things that make your jaw drop...go see this. Please. I'm begging you. I need more people to discuss it with. Let your inner geek out!
I was finally able to watch The Muppets last night. You know, the new(ish) movie starring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and the whole Muppet gang. I'd been waiting to see this ever since the first word of it was published. Conditions never really came together to make it happen until last night.
It was wonderful seeing new Muppet adventures. I loved the nostalgia. I loved seeing the Muppet Show recreated. I loved how happy it made me feel.
But at the same time, something was missing. It was like it was too much. It was more cheesy than heartfelt. Don't get me wrong - I could completely tell that the people who made this did it out of love. The happiness was just a little over the top. Something that you didn't see in the original movies.
Because we look back at the movies and shows that we watched for the first time as kids, we do so with the emotions that we felt back then. We were young and lived in our perfect(ish) childhood bubbles and they made us smile and laugh and think and it was pure. We didn't get the hidden meanings of the things that our parents did. We didn't understand all of the satire and commentary and double entendres that made our parents love the show just as much as we did. It was fun. Pure and simple. We liked the songs they sang, the jokes made us laugh, we knew some of the special guests that would be on the show or in the movies, and that was all we needed. We were happy and carefree and everything was perfect. Much like what the world was like in the new movie...singing and dancing and "Life's A Happy Song." Aha! That's where it came from.
Finally when I saw the cast come together to sing "Rainbow Connection" it came to me. The one thing that was missing. It was the one thing that could never possibly be added...
Jim Henson
The spark, the heart of it all was missing. It was still fun and entertaining and nostalgic, but without him at the helm...it seemed almost empty.
I doubt I'll ever be able to watch any new Muppet shows/movies without feeling like they're not quite right, but at the same time a new generation of kids will be able to watch them and have that same feeling of bliss and escape that we felt back in the day. They have a new voice...just like Kermit. They will be able to laugh and learn and feel like anything is possible too. And that is all a fan of Jim Henson could ever want.
Last night, we watched the movie Contagion. I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be a fun uplifting movie, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of paranoia that set in afterwards.
I've never been one to worry about getting sick (well, other than for a week before I go on any kind of vacation). I've always had a strong immune system, I rarely get sick, I eat undercooked foods quite often and never end up in the hospital, etc. But after watching this movie, I got up from my chair and washed my hands - for no reason.
The thought of going to work was especially difficult. People touch everything - time clocks, door handles, food - and never wash their hands. I've witnessed it first-hand. The chef walks into the cafeteria after coming in from his smoke break, sticks his nasty cigarette smoke laden fingers in one of the trays of food, and takes out a piece of something, puts it in his mouth, and proceeds to do it again! It's disgusting. I'm not even going to go into how dirty the bathrooms can be. I can just imagine how quickly a deadly virus would spread around this place. And my bottle of Germ-X is almost empty!
After walking into my office, making sure not to touch anything with my hands (which is a very difficult task when you have to pull 3 doors open to get in), I looked out of my window and saw this sitting on the table in the common area.
Can you hear the angels singing?
This was the answer to my germophobic prayers. A monstrous two-liter bottle of hand sanitizer. After noticing the look of pure bliss on my face and the fact that I was on my knees worshiping the giant bottle of clear cleaning goo, one of my co-workers told me she had found it sitting around her house and thought we might want it in this filthy place.
I wonder if she has a case of surgical masks kicking around her house as well.
Rob over at Topless Robot just posted this amazing trailer. What's so amazing about it? Well, it's the Russian trailer for the new Avengers. This means that Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. are speaking Russian!
Well, okay, they're not the ones speaking it, but it's the closest I'm gonna get.
I think I might be on to something here...find Italian and Russian dubbed versions of movies that star men I find attractive. Yes! I think this shall be a new hobby of mine.
Oh, how I love languages other than English. One of my goals on my bucket list is to learn Latin (and maybe Russian). As a small town girl, I don't get much exposure to other languages. We don't get many people here from other countries. There were the AFS students that we had in high school but they were only speaking English - how boring. We've always had quite a few Mexican immigrants who speak Spanish as a primary language, but um, no. And don't forget the standard staples of French and Spanish throughout middle and high school, but asking questions like "Where is the library?" and "Hello, my name is ____. What is your name?" get old very fast. The only French I really remember is how to say "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." I don't eat Big Macs - this will not be useful to me. Oh, I remember a few curse words that came in handy when my son was younger and I didn't want to swear around him as well, but that might be 4-5 words max.
Since I can't speak other languages (other than those few choice phrases and the songs that I sing in Latin in choir), I have learned to love listening to other people instead. Namely men. Namely extremely attractive men. Preferably speaking Italian or Russian.
Words like "mozzarella" and "linguine" do not work for me. I need sentences. Poetry. I want to hear the language flow from them like honey, and I want them to woo me with it. Yes - woo. And then they can have their way with me. That's all. It's not so difficult, is it? I would not get as...um...er...frisky as Jaime Lee Curtis did in A Fish Called Wanda, but I would certainly melt and lose any strength to say no. (And let me throw in a disclaimer here - my love of men speaking these languages is not due to this movie at all. In fact, I had completely forgotten about that trait of hers until I watched the movie again last year. My love of listening to the Italian language started in college, and Russian back when White Nights came out - blame Baryshnikov.)
Alas, I don't know any men who fit this bill.. How unfortunate for me (and how fortunate for my husband) that we don't have the money to travel. Maybe I'll have to invest in some Rosetta Stone software for him. I'm sure he's always wanted to know Italian, you know - since he doesn't have a single drop of Italian blood in him.
Last night, we watched a video that's going viral on the geek circuit of the speech from the end of The Great Dictator set to video from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I'm not a fan of the animated series, but it was pretty well done. Anyway, my son fell in love with the speech and decided he wanted to make a video of it put to scenes from the Halo video games. (My son lives in a world that revolves around video games, but if he uses it in creative ways as well, I don't mind it so much.) I loved the fact that he was inspired by those words written so long ago that still hold true today, so I told him the story behind it - that it was written for a movie that satirized the Nazis back in 1940, before the US even entered the war. That it was ahead of it's time, was sometimes considered the greatest speech ever written, and that it was done by Charlie Chaplin.
"Who's Charlie Chaplin?"
My heart sank. We tried reminding him of the guy with the funny mustache, hat and cane. Nope, wasn't ringing a bell.
In this moment, I knew that I had failed him as a mother.
I will be rectifying this, however, over the weekend when I make him sit and watch at least one Chaplin short. He'll hate it because he dislikes anything "old" and especially black and white (I can't wait to see what he thinks about having to actually READ words on the screen.), but he will watch it and my duty as a mother will be fulfilled.
Who's Charlie Chaplin? Sheesh!
For those of you who don't know what speech I'm talking about, here's a clip from the original movie. I highly recommend that you watch the full movie at some point in your lives...put it on your bucket list.
Honestly, I have never gotten into Thanksgiving. I'm not that big into turkey because we cook it when it's not a holiday as well, The sides aren't that exciting to me. I don't like stuffing, can take or leave cranberry sauce, was never one for yams, green bean casserole makes me wanna hurl, and I can only take small doses of pumpkin pie. Yes, I enjoy mashed potatoes and gravy and rolls and jello, but I can have those any time.
Would a hearty "Bah Humbug!" apply here?
It would be so much easier if we had a Thanksgiving Eve along with a Thanksgiving Day so that we can celebrate with both families without having to eat two separate dinners in one day, all the while hearing them either outright complain or subtly hint that they wish we could spend more time with them. It causes stress that none of us need.
If it were up to me, I'd have Thanksgiving Eve with one family, the day after Thanksgiving with the other family, no rush, no guilt, and sit at home with my own little family on Thanksgiving day/night, eating loads of appetizers, grilled beef tenderloin and crab legs (who needs turkey?), leisurely sipping whiskey, playing board games and Wii bowling. That sounds like a pleasant and relaxing Thanksgiving for everyone!
Alas, I guess it's all about tradition and spending time with family even if you do see them all the time. The family tradition that my husband, son and I have every year, amidst the running between meals, is watching Home for the Holidays. If you've never seen it, I highly recommend you find it and watch it this year. We like to laugh at the characters that remind us of members of our own families, and then we become thankful that things aren't quite as insane on our day as they are in the movie.
Ummm...she's old. Very old. Isn't she in her nineties? And why are you popping up on my breaking news feed?
Yes, I made the mistake of putting entertainment news headlines on my internet home page, but that's because I like reading about movies and music...not celebrities. There should be a difference.
I don't care if Susan Sarandon made a comment about Nazis. I don't care if Lindsay Lohan is going to jail, drinking again, or posing for Playboy. I didn't follow the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, I don't keep up with the Kardashians, and I really don't care what Donald Trump has to say about anything.
What is the fascination that the world has with celebrities' lives? Why does it matter who they marry or date or go to a party with and why should anything they say about anything other than their own area of expertise have any bearing on our day-to-day lives? I just don't get it!
Even if you're like me and don't watch E! or Bravo to know what's going on with these people 24/7, all you have to do is go to any supermarket checkout counter and you're bombarded with headlines about cheating spouses, tv stars' weight loss tricks, the latest celeb baby. Ugh! (I miss the days of the Weekly World News and Bat Boy. At least that was entertaining.)
I guess I'll have to remove the entertainment headlines from my homepage and just get my movie/tv/music news somewhere else. Well, for that matter I need a place where I can find news in general that isn't full on sensationalism , celebrity and spin. Any suggestions?
