Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren't Pillows Edition)


Certainly one of my top 3 favorite comedies of all time. I just learned a good friend of mine hasn't seen it. I've fallen down on my job as a friend.

100 Greatest Songs Ever - The Final 10!

What'd I Say - Ray Charles
Who Wants to Live Forever - Queen
Why - Annie Lennox
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones
Your Song - Elton John

I had three spots left in my list. So here are the final three!

Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
Fools - Van Halen
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 9

Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
Take a Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
The Beautiful Ones - Prince
The Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band
The End - The Doors
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
The Show Must Go On - Queen
True Colors - Cindy Lauper
What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 8

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Iz
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
Stayin' Alive - The Beegees
Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra
Superstitious - Stevie Wonder
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Sweet Dreams - The Eurythmics
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 7

Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Porcelain - Moby
Purple Rain - Prince
Radar Love - Golden Earring
Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Sex Machine - James Brown
Shaft - Isaac Hayes
Sign 'O the Times - Prince
Simply Beautiful - Queen Latifah and Al Green
Slip Sliding Away - Paul Simon

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 6

Linus and Lucy - The Vince Guiraldi Trio
Little Red Corvette - Prince
Live and Let Die - Wings
Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer
Mannish Boy - Muddy Waters
Moondance - Van Morrison
Mr. Bojangles - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor
Operator - Jim Croce
Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 5

In the Air Tonight - Phil Collins
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
It's Not Unusual - Tom Jones
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me - Billy Joel
Jungle Boogie - Kool & the Gang
Justify My Love - Madonna
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
La Grange - ZZ Top
Lady Marmalade - LaBelle
Left To My Own Devices - Pet Shop Boys

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 4

Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
Hot for Teacher - Van Halen
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On - Robert Palmer
I Feel Love - Donna Summer
I Try - Macy Gray
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
Idiot Boyfriend - Jimmy Fallon
If I Was Your Girlfriend - Prince
Imagine - John Lennon

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 3

Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
Everybody Wants Some - Van Halen
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Feels So Good - Chuck Mangione
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
Free Falling - Tom Petty
Funky Town - Lipps Inc.
Gett Off - Prince
Green Onions - Booker T. & The MG's
Heroes - David Bowie

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 2

Caravan - The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
China Girl - David Bowie
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band
Crying - Roy Orbison
Disco Inferno - The Tramps
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult (More Cow Bell!)
Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
Erotic City - Prince
Every Breath You Take - The Police

100 Greatest Songs Ever - Part 1

This was a fun project. Over the course of the last two months I'v put together a list of my 100 favorite songs. The only stipulation is that the songs must be at least 5 years old. They gotta stand the test of time after all! As 100 songs is rather a lot, I'll post them in 10 song chunks.

Let's get to it...in alphabetical order:

A Day in the Life - The Beatles
A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen
Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing - Chris Isaak
Bang a Gong - T Rex
Barracuda - Heart
Beautiful Day - U2
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

How many people did you have to ask?

Far and away the most effective marriage equality ad I've seen. Give it a watch, and think about it.

Swimming Pool Renovation!

We bought our new home in October last year. One of the benefits of the home was that the previous owner had already done a great deal of renovations. New kitchen, great new guest bathroom, etc...The swimming pool, though had not been worked on in quite some time. They kept it working and clean, but it hadn't been resurfaced in nearly 30 years, had no heater, and was leaking. Since winter was coming, and it'd be far too cold to swim without a heater, we let the pool go until now. It got ugly, but spring is here (and with it our income tax refunds!) and the time has come to get the pool renovated! Resurfaced (PebbleTek), replacing the non-working light, adding a heater, new tile. Pretty much a new pool!I'll keep adding photos as the process continues!

Just click on "View All Images" to see the progress!

Our Garden

Scrabble Dictionary

I just had my first "fight" with a good friend of mine.  She's upset.  I'm upset.  Sucks.  It was over Scrabble.  I was mean.  She was (in my opinion) overly competitive.  

Thinking it over (and it literarly just happened moments ago) it comes down to the mindset of winning taking precedent over anything else.  When I grew up we played Scrabble, and if someone put a word down on the board 9 times out of 10, he or she could tell you it's meaning.  If they had a grin on their face, you knew they didn't know the meaning, and likely no one else at the table did either.  I sounded like a word.  Doesn't that count?

In those cases we'd grab the dictionary.  A REAL dictionary.  This was before the days of Scrabble "dictionaries".  If it wasn't in Merriam-Webster, it wasn't a word.  The real fun was when you tried pulling a fast one with a word you didn't know, and it turned out that it was a word!  Not only did you score some points, but you learned a new word.   The challenge of Scrabble was to see who had the best vocabulary, and skill at unscrambling words from all those letters.  The person who was best at that won.  The entire concept of a Scrabble "dictionary" is so wrong to me I don't even think in those terms.  The idea behind a Scrabble "dictionary" is to allow as many questionable words be allowed in play.  But the rub is, there's no back up...a Scrabble "dictionary" has no definitions.  It's like the word of God...you just have to accept it without question.  This idea goes against everything I believe in...not just in games, but in life in general.  As was pointed out, I could very well have asked to play with a "real" dictionary when play began, but the "style" of play which would require the use of a Scrabble "dictionary" is so foreign to me, I honestly didn't even think to argue about it.  

These days it's all about winning.  Now, regardless of what game you're playing, it's not about who's best at that particular game, it's about who's best at winning.  Now 9 times out of 10 a person playing Scrabble has no idea if the letters they've put down are a word.  They just lay 'em down, and grab the Scrabble "dictionary" if anyone complains.  Even if your "word" is in the so-called "dictionary", you still have no idea what the hell it means.  What happened to plain old curiosity?  The desire to win prevails above all else...even a basic thirst for knowledge?

What happened?  I know I sound like an grumpy old fart, but what the hell has happened?  This isn't a phenomenon limited to Scrabble!  Businesses are started with the sole intention of making money...not a product.  Not offering a service.  Simply making money.  It's this exact mentality that has created the worst economic situation in the past 100 years!    

When did winning become the means, rather then the ends?  If the only part of the game that is fun is the winning, why bother playing?  Just declare yourself the winner from the start and save everyone else the pain of "playing".  

So...there you have it.  All of that frustration was layed out in a not so friendly manner towards a friend.  Not cool.  I'm sorry...hopefully you'll have at least some idea where I was coming from now.  

Barak and Chickens Win in California

As much as I'd love to celebrate this morning.  I cannot.  

For those of you who are married...think about waking up this morning next to your spouse.  Your clock radio announces the victory of Barak Obama over John McCain, a high-speed rail system has been approved, a cruelty to animals bill passed overwhelmingly, and you and your spouse are no longer legally married.  Your marriage is null and void.  That's right, the people of California (or more acurately UTAH) have decided that you and your spouse don't have the right to be married.  

That happened to friends of mine this morning.  

That's correct - it turns out that the rights of chickens is more important than the rights of Gay and Lesbians in California.  

That's fucked up.

Outsourced Oranges?

I just grabbed an orange from our breakroom and noticed it came from Australia.  Australia?  Really?  I live in Southern California, one of the largest Orange growing regions on Earth.  Why the hell am I eating an orange from Australia?  Even our poor oranges are getting outsourced?  Geesh...things are dire.  

The Last Nail?

Last Friday night I dragged myself out to go to the movies with friends.  I'd been sick all day, and didn't really feel like going out, but at the same time I do love going to the movies and I figured I could feel lousy at home, or I could feel lousy at a theatre and escape a little bit.  

As I'm sure anyone reading this already knows more and more people are staying at home to get their movie entertainment.  It explains the latest attempt at 3D.  The studios are trying whatever they can go get people off their couches.  Being in the industry myself and being a life-long movie buff, I've always enjoyed going out - but I'm becoming increasingly in the minority.  With long lines, expensive ticket prices and the utter rape you receive at the concession stand, it's no wonder people are staying home more and more.  BUT...a lot of us do still venture out.  The Dark Knight raked in over $500 million alone.  That's a lot of tickets.  Why?  It a combination of escaping our own dull lives and sharing that experience with friends and strangers in a large dark room.  It's just fun.  But it's becoming less and less fun all the time.  

This past Friday I did something I've only done one other time.  I left my seat and asked to speak with the theatre manager.  The last time I did this was at least a dozen years ago and it was to ask for the volume to be turned up.  This time it was for something far more serious.  Advertising.  I understand the need of the theater owners to sell ad spots prior to the films.  I get it.  It's a TOUGH business to make money in.  (Unless you're the studio or producer)  Theatre owners have it tough.  I personally try to visit theaters that don't abuse that policy though.  (Yeah, I'm talking to you AMC).  15-20 minutes of adverts (not including trailers) is just crazy.  But even THAT never got me to complain.  

This past Friday I was exposed to nothing less than government propaganda.  Plain and simple.  a three and a half minute music video featuring Kidd Rock and NASCAR.  Now before you start posting replies to this blog and flaming me for hating America and/or not supporting our troops, sit down, shut up and listen.  

I am totally OK with the military buying ad time.  In fact some of the ads for the Marines are kind of cool.  (at least they feature some hot guys on occasion).  This music video wasn't a recruitment ad for the National Guard.  It was plain and simply promoting the war in Iraq.  Countless times the words "Never Accept Defeat" flashed across the screen  while images of our soldiers playing with kids rolled.  

The ad riled up the sold out show immediately.  Some booed, others began chanting "Obama!  Obama!", while others simply screamed "Shut up!".  I myself kept quiet, but could feel the disbelief turning to anger.  How dare they?  A propaganda film?  Really?  Once the crowd started yelling at eachother I'd had enough.  I dragged my sick ass out to enjoy a film...not this b.s.  

So I find myself standing in front of the theater manager expressing my displeasure with the ad and I get a rote "the national guard is one of our advertisers, much like Coca-Cola or anyone else." response.  

Coca-Cola isn't promoting a war.

I think my days of visiting the cinema are coming to an end soon.  

Maine

I just spent a week in Maine and New Hampshire and it seems that every time I go back, I get a greater appreciation for nature and history - two things sorely lacking in Los Angeles. I snapped some photos and figured I'd share a few of them here.

The Visitor

I'll keep this short.

I saw "The Visitor", starring Richard Jenkins (one of those guys you've seen in a ton of stuff, but would likely never know his name).

The bottom line is, it's one of the finest movies I've seen in a long, long time. Yeah, I know I just raved about "The Dark Knight", but that was a big budget pop corn flick. The kind of movie you'll want to see over and over again. "The Visitor" is a small indie film that you'll see once, and keep thinking about over and over again.

I hate reviews that are full of spoilers, so I'll try to avoid ruining anything, but the basic premise is Richard Jenkins plays a Connecticut college professor widower. He seems to be sleepwalking through his life, not really putting much of an effort into anything he does, from his teaching to his piano lessons. His job forces him to attend a conference in NYC. While there he meets a young couple who reawaken him. I don't want to say any more than that regarding the story.

The movie is the second film directed by Thomas McCarthy, who's first flick was the superb "The Station Agent". (If you've not seen this wonderful film, rent it right now!) His work on this film is likely even better. In less capable hands this film could have been a real predictable yawner, but in McCarthy's hands it's so real, and so honest it really grips you. I caught myself on more than one occasion questioning the actions of the lead character only to realize I was expecting the typical Hollywood response from him, when what I was being given was so much more real than that.

It's also a refreshing change of pace to have a filmaker trust the intellegence of the moviegoer and not cram things down your throat. Every time you might expect hamhanded exposition, it's not there. The intellegent and subtle script has everything you need in it to tell the story and leading to one of the finest endings I've seen in a long, long time. It's the perfect ending to a perfect movie.

Two thumbs WAY up.