Suicide isn’t a laughing matter. Neither is depression.
Have we lost the ability to see that line between genuinely mourning the loss of someone and using it to gain attention for ourselves?
Where to begin? The media are too obvious, they’re a well-oiled exploitation machine.
Social media is too often the Land of Shallow, where pictures, platitudes, Slacktivism, jokes, and memes are welcome, but anything of substance is frequently ignored or seen as annoying.
Yet it’s the memorials that confuse me the most.
What does wasting money on flowers, balloons, teddy bears and candles do?
Does it bring those lost back?
Does it stop the next accident, murder, or suicide?
No. It just mildews.
What a terrible waste.
Maybe it’s a form of pain behaviour. People need to show how much they care, show that they’re in pain.
Take the money you would spend on items for a memorial and donate it to those in need.
Help someone who suffers from mental illness get help or support.
Help someone undergoing cancer or other treatments with extra expenses.
Help society’s most vulnerable get enough food, shelter, dental care, eye glasses, medicine.
Do something useful. Wouldn’t that show you care? Ease your pain?
Robin Williams chose to leave this world. I expect this loss is felt deeply by his family and friends, and to a lesser degree, by his fans.
If you’re actually upset about this, help someone who is struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and other forms of mental illness.
Be kind.
Maybe we wouldn’t need Suicide Hotlines or Kids Helplines or so many other band-aids if people would stop making so many hurts.
Be there to listen to someone (hint, turn off your cellphone while listening; seeing your head bent over your phone as you absently say uh-huh at maybe the right spots will probably just remind them of how messed up the world is).
Take the time to be in the moment.
I’ve been a fan of Robin Williamssince I saw him as Mork (first on Happy Days then on Mork and Mindy).
I liked most of his work, funny or serious or seriously funny.
I was even one of the 10 (that number is an estimate, it might have been an even dozen) people watching The Crazy Ones, before it was cancelled.
It’s a distressing incongruity that many comedians use humour as a mask, a shield, a façade…That while they are making us laugh, making us forget our worries, making us remember that life is worth living they are haunted by inner demons.
Robin Williams was a frenzied mastermind of comedy, or sometimes a serene, gentle man, or an alien, a genie, batty bat, toymaker, spinach-eating strongman, hologram, penguin, robot, a scientist, DJ, doctor, wax figure, dreamer, camper, dad, soldier, psychologist, or whatever he needed to be; he was an actor, an entertainer.
We watch people on screens and think we know them. We don’t.
We don’t know what is in their heart, in their minds.
We don’t know what haunts them, or drives them, sometimes they don’t even know themselves.
It is sad when talent is lost, but instead of fake monuments that will die, or mold, or rot, why not do something that will help people, not just give you a chance to be on TV, something to talk about or post on social media.
I know it’s not popular, but do something real (not reality TV real but real real) and meaningful.
I loved Saturday morning cartoons and other programs as a child…yeah, that’s it, only as a child.
I even willingly (more or less) went to bed Friday nights so I could get up early to watch cartoons like: Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour,
Scooby-Doo,Yogi Bear (hey Boo-Boo!), Space Ghost, Jabberjaw, The Banana Splits,The Pink Panther Show, The Jetsons,The Flintstones,
Josie and the Pussycats (ok, they went to outer space; smart, getting a bigger audience share), Shazam!, Superfriends, Batman, Superman,Grape Ape, Fantastic Four, variousCaptain Caveman, Harlem Globetrotters, Schoolhouse Rock, The Addams Family (the ill-fated cartoon version), Return of the Planet of the Apes, Land of the Lost, The New Shmoo, The New Adventures of Gilligan,
Godzilla (withGodzooky), Spiderman, Smurfs, Ewoks, Star Trek (sigh, yes, boldly going into cartoons), Cucumber Club (I was a member), Blackstar, Inch High Private Eye, Fat Albert, Speed Racer, Hilarious House of Frightenstein, Tom and Jerry, The Banana Splits, Underdog, H.R. Puff’n’Stuff, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Droopy Dog,
Mighty Mouse, Hong Kong Phooey (before political correctness),
and probably more that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Just so you understand how sad this is, I can still sing all the words to all these theme songs.
A graphic novel like Rocky and Bullwinkletakes me back to a simpler time. I know how old that makes me sound, but there it is.
Even as I read Rocky and Bullwinkle #1: The Psychic Sidekick by Roger Langridge(IDW Publishing/Diamond Book Distributors), I marvelled at the blatant anti-Soviet/Russian sentiment and thought, hmmm, I see why it’s making a comeback. Amuse children and adults, but wait, there’s more, also a propaganda tool! While not quite as funny as I remembered, but both R&B and Dudley Do-Right are still amusing in a cheesy way. Sometimes when they recycle these oldies but goodies they ruin them by modernizing or making them too politically correct, but no squirrel and moose are just as old school silly, yahoo!
So when did Saturday morning cartoons die and why? VCRs then other recording devices, cable, internet, video games, etc. were the beginning.
Animation changed, more as a business, with little art involved.
Needing children to be ‘busy’ every minute of their day was a big factor. Pushing for more ‘quality’ family time that involved paid activities, traveling, etc. another.
When I was young, quality time with my parents came later in the day, after they had slept in – their reward for a long work week.
My brother and I foraged for food, cereal or toast, leftover soup or spaghetti, if you were lucky, cold pizza from the night before. There were simple rules to Saturday morning: try to be quiet (I’m sure my brother and I were awesome at this rule) and don’t make a mess (if you do, clean it up). I think it taught my brother and I independence, and we enjoyed the time together.
There have been other changes in society. The divorce rate has increased significantly since then and now many children live between homes.
More recreational sports now. Anything else?
There are still many cartoons, but available anytime…
I kind of miss the days when you saw The Grinch and Charlie Brown’s Christmas once a year at Christmas, and cartoons only on Saturday morning.
Life should have seemed limited, but instead we just felt lucky to see them, not entitled.
Since then I’ve made a lot of mistakes, did I say a lot I meant a ton, or perhaps a tad more; probably said a lot of things people don’t agree with; and had some wanting-to-pull-my-hair-out moments, no worries, it’s still there, more or less.
I’ve learned a lot. Had some revelations about people I thought would be supportive, turns they weren’t, and still aren’t.
I’ll take it as a life lesson.
Plenty more people have been extremely supportive.
Thank you to family and friends, those who have pressed like, or shared, or reblogged, or followed, or subscribed, tweeted and retweeted, given me awards, or a combination. It means more than you’ll ever know, really.
I have ‘virtually’ met some awesome people who are kind, supportive, funny, helpful, generous, hopeful, caring, and have mind-blowing things to say and they share it. Thank you.
This year has opened up new portals for me.
I’m reading books I might never have read, learned things I didn’t know my brain could learn, but most of all it’s given me hope that maybe I can be more, it’s given me a glimpse of me, a me that I sometimes fear is gone forever.
So please join me for this virtual celebration of my 1st Blogaversary or Blogversary or maybe it’s a blogbirthday!
Drop by and say hi, read some of my older posts, apparently there are like 450 of them, hey, I did warn you with the tagline, Vague Meanderings of the Broke and Obscure.
Have a slice of virtual cake, wear a silly hat and join me for another year of who knows what!!!
All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome by Kathy Hoopmann(Jessica Kingsley Publishers) explains Asperger’s Syndrome perfectly. And it has adorable pictures of cats being adorable.
This delightful and deceptively minimal book is the first book you should read if someone you love is diagnosed withAsperger’s Syndrome (also called Aspergers Syndrome, or Asperger Syndrome,or Asperger’s, or Aspergers).
The only downside? Like Sheldon Cooper (played so brilliantly by Jim Parsons) on The Big Bang Theory, it makes it sound much cuter than it usually is; for those who have it and those who love them. Or Sherlock Holmes (take your pick, the most recent, Benedict Cumberbatch andJonny Lee Miller) which makes it seem exciting…Or all the other examples of Aspergian or High-Functioning Autism on TV, in movies or books.
The truth, it’s difficult, frustrating, wonderful, sad, amazing, and confusing…for all concerned.
There are many great books I would recommend, but these are quite helpful, informative and above all, accessible.
Borrow them from a friend, library, or Autism association; or purchase them in store or online.
The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome – Dr. Tony Attwood;Inside Asperger’s Looking Out – Kathy Hoopmann; An Asperger Dictionary of Everyday Expressions – Ian Stuart-Hamilton; Kids in the Syndrome Mix – Martin L Kutscher, MD;The Oasis Guide to Asperger Syndrome – Patricia Romanowski Bashe & Barbara L. Kirby (Harmony Books);The Autism Discussion Page on the Core Challenges of Autism – Bill Nason(Jessica Kingsley Publishers)The Everything Parent’s Guide to Children with Asperger’s Syndrome – William Stillman (Adams Media) The Asperger’s Answer Book – Susan Ashley, Ph.D. (Sourcebooks, Inc.) Empowered Autism Parenting – William Stillman (Jossey-Bass) The Fabric of Autism – Judith Bluestone (Sapphire Enterprises, LLC) How To Teach Life Skills to Kids with Autism or Asperger’s – Jennifer McIlwee Myers (Future Horizons) Quirky, Yes Hopeless, No – Cynthia La Brie Norall, Ph.D w/ Beth Wagner Brust (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Thank goodness for Jessica Kingsley Publishers, I don’t know what I would have done without them.
If your child, spouse, friend, or yourself is diagnosed – don’t panic!
Media, doom and gloomers, people holding mock funerals for their children when they’re diagnosed, etc., even those who wish to help can intentionally or unintentionally scare you.
Don’t get caught up in the conflict people, people that love to make everything a drama.
Don’t hyper-focus on people ‘understanding’, including your family or friends, how could they understand? Just hope they’re supportive.
Focus on helping the person you love.
They’re still the same person, you just have a diagnosis that will aid you and others, to help them.
Helping the person you love find the skills and resources is taxing enough without adding fuss.
It’s also important to remember Autism isn’t a straight road, there are many, many twists and turns, ups and downs.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”~Confusius
My son has Asperger’s and several medical conditions, but is doing better than anyone would have predicted.
Yet when a setback comes along, a medical procedure; other anxiety-provoking situations, people, challenges; illness, or something that is overwhelming I have to remember, it may seem like one step forward, two back, but he still took that one step forward.
But it’s still been a long few days.
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”~Mary Anne Radmacher
Why so fascinated with bringing back dinosaurs?
Size? Curiosity? That they lived before the dawn of humans?
Or merely human nature, we want to do something, if we can.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is a big, stinky, carnivorous cautionary tale for abuse of technology and he makes no bones about it (yeah, I went for the cheap paleontology joke; sorry, it was the only thing I could dig up).
We need more cautionary tales.
We find we can manipulate genes, so as humans we think, then we should.
Clone…then we should.
Build bombs…we should.
Grow viruses…should.
Smartphones, Wi-Fi, internet…should, should, should!!!
Shouldn’t we find out the consequences first?
Everything has consequences.
Everything.
I’ve heard the argument that God gave us the ability to do these things so we should. a) that’s presuming there’s a God; b) we also have to ability to kill people, should we? c) justifying much?
In less than 25 years we’ve become internet junkies. We overshare worldwide. No worries about pulsating signals everywhere. More children plugged in like adorable little zombies. We’re more distracted, obsessed, exhausted, overwhelmed, and less connected than ever….
I began reading Jurassic Park and Philosophy (edited by Nicholas Michaud and Jessica Watkins) thinking I knew what they’re going to say. To some extent I did; philosophers examining JP in detail, scrutinizing all connotations and consequences as well as providing provocative insights regarding: genetic engineering, cloning, technology, human nature, ethics, religion, drama, humour, and even dinosaurs. Also gave me a creepy ah-ha moment – we’re the dinosaurs, a species striding boldly, masters of the planet, all the while becoming extinct.
Yes, another tremendous book in the Popular Culture and Philosophyseries from Open Court. I’m so hooked, I can’t wait for the next fix.
Hammond, essentially a snake oil salesman, only cared about money, power, and his legacy, he couldn’t see he put his real legacy in danger by bringing his grandchildren to the park to figure out if it was safe, after someone was killed by a cloned dinosaur. Humans are so proud we can do, we forget to show respect for the real power, nature.
John Hammond:All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked. Ian Malcolm:Yeah, but John, if the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.
Any thoughts on the reboot of the Jurassic Park series?
Jurassic World is now a state-of-the-art dino theme park on Isla Nublar. 22 years after the events of the original Jurassic Park all is well; what a relief. But wait, frustrated with declining attendance, an exciting new attraction is opened, gee, I wonder what could go wrong?
The cast looks interesting, Chris Pratt, Jake Johnson, Vincent D’Onofrio, BD Wong, Irrfan Khan, Judy Greer, Bryce Dallas Howard, but I’ll miss Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern,andSam Neill.
Written by Colin Trevorrow (also directing) and Derek Connolly,both fromSafety Not Guaranteed https://yadadarcyyada.com/?s=safety+not+guaranteed, I’m hopeful this will be action-packed and funny. Also that it’ll continue to offer strong female characters, like Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Lex (Ariana Richards), and well, the dinosaurs were all female, right?
Ian Malcolm:God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs. Ellie Sattler:Dinosaurs eat man … woman inherits the earth.
I’m celebrating 50,000+ views on my blog (Thank you! Thank you!) and the 50th anniversary (published 1964) of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, published 1964.
Loved with this book, then I saw the movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – my mind was forever altered.
A factory full of chocolate? It was one thing to read about it, another to see a river of chocolate…
I still love the 1971 Gene Wilderversion best (directed by David L. Wolper), maybe because it’s steeped in childhood memories or because for me, it’s Gene Wilder’s definitive performance.
This is where I fell in love. Gene Wilder and chocolate. Sign me up!
Wilder is the ultimate Willy Wonka. He didn’t go over-the-top weird, instead opting for a subtle, damaged man-child who was trapped in his own reclusion, a Howard Hughes-like creative genius who couldn’t cope in a reality that wasn’t of his own making. Wilder’s transcendent blend of cordiality, callousness, awe, and animosity make you think he is Wonka, he just is.
Jack Albertson was delightful as Grandpa Joe,who apparently couldn’t get out of bed to get a job, but could dance a jig and spend the day at a chocolate factory.
Charlie Bucket is the only child Dahland Wonka even remotely like due to his meek and accommodating nature, but Charlie wasn’t as obedient as he seemed, he spent money on a chocolate bar that he wasn’t supposed to; so even in the most co-operative child Dahl found a fault.
The 1971 version was renamed Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to cross-promote UK’s The Willy Wonka Candy Company who had bought the rights from Roald Dahl.
I never understood why Roald Dahl was classed as a children’s author, he clearly disliked children, at times rather intensely. His stories and books reflect this.
What he hated more than children were their parents, specifically parents who didn’t raise their children properly, at least from his point of view.
Imagine what Roald Dahlwould think of children and their parents now?
The Friday Project/ Harper Collins
I recently read A Brief History of Chocolate(Steve Berry and Phil Norman) which I must warn you will not only vastly entertain and inform, but make you crave chocolate.
Despite best intentions this book lacked something, what was it? Oh yes, chocolate. They should sell each copy with a chocolate bar or coupon for a free chocolate bar. There, a marketing idea, no charge…although I’d take a thank you in chocolate bars.
I also loved the darker, creepier Tim Burton vision of Willy Wonka.
Johnny Depp played him weird and it worked. Also damaged, but in a deranged-metrosexual-game-show-host-who-moonlights-as-a-rock-star-on-acid-way.
Veruca Salt was a bad egg or nut in all versions, but really, her parents spoiled her. Also, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teevee, and Violet Beauregarde. All annoying children, but allowed, even encouraged to be so by their parents.
The first time I walked into the Hersheychocolate factory in Smith Falls, Ontario the smell was divine, like melted chocolate floating through clouds of more chocolate just before it rained chocolate.
I’ll never forget the look on my son’s face, the pure wonder as he watched row after row after row of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cupsracing happily along the conveyor belt.
I’m sure I had a similar look as I saw the giant vat of chocolate I wanted to swim in, not figuratively, literally.
No Oompa-Loompas, no chocolate waterfall, trees made of taffy, Everlasting Gobstoppers, no fizzy lifting drinks, or Wonka though, but lots of chocolate for sale and sample.
Alas Hersheyclosed the factory after 45 years, losing a great tourist attraction, and hundred of jobs. Several other large employers closed, shipping more Canadian jobs overseas, leaving 40% of the town unemployed.
Now a flame has been lit as Smith Fallsrallies; the factory at 1 Hershey Drive now produces medical marijuana, which, in a great cosmic irony would have made more people buy chocolate.
There are still times, when I open a chocolate bar wrapper and think I see a flash of gold.
Toned down for American primetime, All in the Family still managed to rock TV land.
Based on the controversial BBC series, Till Death Us Do Part(created by Johnny Speight) and warmed up with The Honeymooners and The Flintstones, nothing had prepared us for Archie Bunker (played by the apparently sweet Carroll O’Connor).
Archie was a complicated guy.
Clearly bigoted and uncouth, he was also honest and hard-working, often expressing opinions people were thinking, but couldn’t go against the politically correct times to say.
He was also an excellent way to hold a mirror up to bigotry and prejudice without shoving it down people’s throats.
This show rammed through contentious and taboo subjects, including but not limited to: racism, homosexuality, rape, miscarriage, abortion, women’s liberation, menopause, breast cancer, impotence, the Vietnam War and more.
Archiewas a scared man. His comfy chair world had been turned on its head.
He knew his place and everyone else knew their place. Until they didn’t. Archie didn’t understand why everything he felt was right in the world, especially his world, had to change.
His long-suffering wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) was patient in ways no one, including their daughter, Gloria (Sally Struthers) could understand. Despite their many issues, it was clear they all loved each other deeply.
Gloria’s hippie husband, Mike/Meathead (Rob Reiner)highlighted the clash between The Greatest Generation (Archie as a WWII vet) and Baby Boomers, the struggle between the old guard and young people who wanted to change the world…Archie’s snug little world.
And then there were the spinoffs. The Jeffersons movin’ on up to the East Side. Edith’s cousin, Maude (the incomparable Bea Arthur) visiting then getting a hilarious spinoff. And Good Times was a dy-no-mite spinoff from Maude. And more…
Taped in multi-camera format in front of a live studio audience, All in the Family never failed to break new ground.
I loved that they never used canned laughter. I’d prefer not to hear any laughter, but if I must, let it be genuine.
Family Guy pays tribute to All in the Family with its opening sequence of Lois and Peter playing the piano, and various other similarities…then again, the whole show is a pop culture fart. Of course, they’ve taken it much further, boldly going where even TV censors, after dying of exhaustion, knew they could go.
American Dad!(created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman) is an absurd animated emulation, though since the All in the Family players were more caricatures than characters, it makes sense. And they added Roger and Klaus; who can complain?
All in the Family and its official and unofficial offspring influence so many; although, looking around the world today, I think a lot of the messages are being missed, or misinterpreted.
Everywhere I turn people are talking about the Supermoon.
Have we run out of superheroes? Dawn of the Planet of the Apes not as exciting as expected?
Bored with soccer?
The heat finally getting to us?
Is the moon this close to Earth really affecting our brains?
I have no answers; just curious.
Thinking of this Supermoon and all the fuss I thought I’d finally watch Gravity, it seemed somehow fitting.
Someone should have warned me I needed anti-nausea pills.
I felt like I was spinning…and it wasn’t just George Clooney, handsome devil.
While I enjoyed Gravity, I had a few issues, with the movie, although real gravity and I have had many issues over the years, and now it’s involving my face…
1.Sandra Bullock should not look this good, even with help.
2. I wanted to hear the end of George Clooney’s story about Mardi Gras1987, really, I just want to hear George Clooney talk, I mean, as hot movie boyfriends go we’ve had a great relationship, sure, we’ve had our imaginary ups and downs…
But I digress…
3. It made me dizzy. And a little nauseated. But I guess in a good way.
4. It made me think (gasp) of how you can be just as alone surrounded by a hundred, a thousand, a million, a billion people as you can in the cold silence of space. It was like Castaway, in space, but shorter, and no Wilson.
5. Watching Gravity I couldn’t help but think, if this space station slows to less than 17,500 miles per hour it will blow up (clearly I have seen Speed too many times).
Here are some tips for getting through #Supermoon2014:
Stay calm. It’s still the moon, just closer in its elliptical orbit than usual. It’s not going to fall on us or significantly change the tides…well, unless some aliens do something, but then have no fear, The Doctor (DoctorWho) will save us.
Don’t go near any werewolves, I have no scientific evidence to back this up but I’m guessing Supermoons make werewolves hungrier.
If you’re going to dance naked, pay tribute or alternately worship the Supermoon, remember, everyone has a camera with them at all times.
There will be 2 more Supermoons this summer, August 10 and September 9, so if you miss out you can see it later.
The moon is slowly moving away from the Earth which is sad, I know we’ve had our differences, but I’d hoped we could work things out.
So, enjoy the gorgeous supermoons (5 in total in 2014); Earth won’t be destroyed, unless it turns out that it’s not the moon but the Death Star.
“I suppose I’ll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies.” ~Lemony Snicket
I’m Canadian, so we’re kind of neighbours. Hey neighbour (yes, here in Canada we have ‘u’ in weird places…don’t ask unless you really want to know).
Here are just a few random things I love about America: The Walking Dead, Captain America, X-Files, Heroes,Family Guy, Star Wars…
Deadwood, Community, Revolution, 3rd Rock From The Sun, escalators, The Addams Family, Mad Men, The Munsters, Spiderman, Batman, part of Superman (get your minds out of the gutter), X-Men, Star Trek, Six Million Dollar Man, Alice Cooper,Supernatural, Soap, Green Day, The Ramones, Hell On Wheels,The Misfits, The Carol Burnett Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Elvis, ER, Get Smart, Firefly,The Avengers (not the British one), Sonic Youth, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Violent Femmes, Animaniacs, The Brady Bunch, Nirvana, American Gothic, Smallville, Angel,cash registers, KISS, Battlestar Galactica, Boston Legal…
Breaking Bad, Maude,Columbo, Scooby-Doo, Quincy, House, sunglasses, Murder She Wrote, R.E.M, V, potato chips, Under The Dome,Metallica, Pushing Daisies, 8-track tapes, Guns’n’Roses, Love Boat, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, Family Ties, Six Feet Under, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, MacGyver,Aerosmith, The Beverly Hillbillies, Twin Peaks,Parks & Recreation,Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Law & Order (you may have gotten carried away there, let it go), Jimi Hendrix, the transistor, Bruce Springsteen, clothes hangers, ARPANET, Jeopardy!, crayons (most of the colours, some are getting freaky)….
Magnum P.I., SNL, Heart, the Cyclotron Atom-Smasher, Hogan’s Heroes,30 Rock,cotton candy, airplanes, airbags, The Simpsons, Sons of Anarchy, GPS, New York Dolls, Night Court, Faith No More, Wonder Woman, Farscape,Jeff Goldblum, The Waltons, The Big Bang Theory,Hawaii Five-O,John Malkovich,The Lone Ranger, Bill Murray….
Monk, Rockford Files,Yogi Bear,Devo,Johnny Depp,The Doors, Late Night With John Oliver, Seinfeld, Vikings,Pinky and the Brain, Cosmos, The Partridge Family, Police Squad!, All in the Family, Psych,The Twilight Zone,Happy Days, electric guitar, Gang Green, The Colbert Report…
The Muppets, Steve Martin,Sesame Street, John Cusack, Frasier,Terra Nova, The Daily Show, 21 Jump Street, Roswell, Cheers,Spongebob Squarepants, flashlights, skyscrapers, Mork & Mindy, George Clooney,
Falling Skies,Dexter,Garfield, I Dream of Jeannie, Bonanza, George Carlin, Homeland, M*A*S*H, Mystery Science Theater 3000, I Love Lucy, The Flintsones,Patti Smith, Land of the Lost, Veep, The Wizard of Oz, Mallethead,Charlie Brown, American Dad!,South Park,Peanuts, Game of Thrones, Beastie Boys, nylon, Lie To Me, Talking Heads…and way way too many great movies, writers, artists, entertainers, athletes, scientists, and others making things better or at least interesting to name…
Ok, you had some international help with some of these, including Canada, but you’re doin’ stuff and I think that’s great…
I could go on and on, but you get the point. Feel free to tell me if I forgot anything, I got tired.
Parts of America are also stunningly beautiful…and many of the people are amazing.
You’ve also done some very, very naughty things, America, which we won’t dwell on today because you’re celebrating Independence Day, and perhaps watching Independence Daybetween BBQing, fireworks, being patriotic, watching DeadWhite andBlue the latest AMCThe Walking Dead marathon, spending time with family and friends, and drinking (and hopefully not driving).
Like any neighbour there are things we like and don’t like about each other, but mostly we get along quite well.
The first thing most people think of when thinking About Planet of the Apes is Charlton Heston’s celebrated overacting as Taylorsaying, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”, but after reading this entertaining and thought-provoking book, Planet of the Apes and Philosophy: Great Apes Think Alike (edited by John Huss),part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series from Open Court, I realize that either I don’t think enough about Planet of the Apes…or these philosophers think about it way too much.
While I enjoyed all these cool essays on how Planet of the Apes pertains to: war, peace, love, hate, prejudice, revolution, evolution, genetic engineering, time/space paradoxes, insanity, identity, the environment, our inability to learn from the past, not looking toward the future, what made me think most was about our ability as humans to speak.
Humans talk. We talk a lot. We talk about important things. And a lot about trivial things.
We tell truths, lies, we tell people what they want to hear and sometimes we tell them only what we think they need to know.
We laugh, we scream, we whisper, we sing, we hum. We’re low talkers, high talkers, close talkers, mumblers…
We feel our being able to speak separates us from animals, somehow makes us a superior species.
Yeah, so superior.
This book is an absorbing and straightforward work that lets us explore many ethical, political, scientific, cultural, creative, and emotional issues in the fun and safe environment of the Planet of the Apes franchise.
It makes one think, is our new frenzied behaviour because we jumped into technology that instead of amplifying our voices in fact mutes them? The information age was supposed to enlighten, it was supposed to be the great equalizer. Yet we are bombarded by that information, it comes at us in waves, in 140 characters, in memes, emails, texts, posts, pictures, videos, social media…and there’s no need for that information to be correct, just out there.
Whatever it is, we can’t seem to stop…the movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the latest in the franchise (the 8th plus 2 TV series) will be hitting theaters July 11, 2014.
Maybe we should try to work out our problems here on Earth without struggling too hard to solve the mysteries of mankind and the universe, after all, we might not like the answers.
“You know what they say, ‘Human see, human do.'” ~Julius
“…the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it…You, who are reading me now, are a different breed…I hope a better one…. Tell me, though, does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother…keep his neighbor’s children starving?” ~Taylor
I would be hard-pressed to believe anyone who had seen this movie didn’t like this movie. I know, it’s seen as chick flick material, but I think it can’t be reduced to justanything. It is so much more. It has comedy. Drama. Love. Romance. Bad men. Good men. Giants. Revenge. Fire swamps. Death. Swordplay. Beauty. Villains. Bravery. Cowardice. Pain. Dreams. Hope.
Some Inconceivable Princess Bride info…
Billy Crystal ad-libbed a lot of his lines. Anyone surprised?
Apparently Cary Elwes thought Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts/The Man In Blackshould have a mustache, to look more Errol Flynn-swashbuckling piratey guy. Not sure that really worked.
The Cliffs of Insanity are really the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland and matte paintings.
The Princess Bride has spawned parodies, parties, costumes, and of course, it’s inconceivable that people wouldn’t love to quote it.
William Goldman, the author of The Princess Bride also wrote screenplays for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All The President’s Men, A Bridge Too Far, Misery, Marathon Man (his own novel), and many more.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman is supposed to be an abridged version of the book, The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern.S. Morgenstern is really a pseudonym as well as a tricky narrative device that Goldman used to layer his novel. Confused yet?
The Princess Bride is a classic representation of Bildungsroman, a literary genre that concentrates on the ethical and psychological development of youth as they make the transition to adulthood. The term was created by J.K.S. Morgenstern (hmmm, sounds similar to S. Morgenstern). Here’s a few coming-of-age books, movies, and TV shows.
Stand By Me, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Mean Girls, Superbad, Varsity Blues, Easy A, Napoleon Dynamite, The 400 Blows, Somersault, Garden State, Clerks, Running With Scissors, The Graduate, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Harry Potter, Slumdog Millionaire, Youth In Revolt, Rebel Without A Cause, Pretty In Pink, Twilight, War Games, Wuthering Heights, Precious, The Breakfast Club, Juno, Boy, Winter’s Bone, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Hamlet, Prozac Nation, Now and Then, Boys Don’t Cry, Freaks and Geeks, The Spectacular Now, Trainspotting, American Graffiti, Moonrise Kingdom, Say Anything, Romeo andJuliet, My So-Called Life, Blue Lagoon…
Can you think of any others?
Remember the ROUS (Rodents of Unusual Size)? Actually people in costumes, with Rob Reiner doing the noises.
Look closely, above the sick Grandson’s (Fred Savage) bed is the hat Rob Reiner wore in This Is Spinal Tap; Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)did The Princess Bride score and insisted on the subtle nod.
That was actually Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin fencing, both left and right-handed. The only stuntmen used were for the flips. Just in case you needed to be reminded how cool they are.
I’m frugal watching commentaries, they can detract from the entertainment of the movie; exceptionally so here.
Despite many gaffs, mistakes, continuity errors, and plot holes in this movie this is a beloved classic that’s been thrilling audiences for 27 years.
I can watch this movie from start to end or start watching it at any point. It’s that awesome.
I think in this film, ‘As You Wish’ simply means ‘I love you’.
The world has a short memory and an even shorter attention span.
June 6, 1944, 70 years ago the Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. It was supposed to be June 5, 1944, but weather delayed it.
Every year we remember those who fought for us. There’s pomp and ceremony and we say we care.
But what about the rest of the year?
Should veterans have to fight for food, shelter, care, and support?
Should we still keep fighting, in wars, in our own countries, among ourselves?
More than 40% don’t vote in North America. We’re so used to our freedoms we take them for granted. We will stay in line for a sale or tickets or waiting for a new product, but don’t take 5 minutes to vote. I know, I voted this morning, it took under 5 minutes; people wait in line at drive-thrus longer than that to get coffee or a burger. I really don’t get it.
Into The Jaws of Death, Robert F. Sargent
Many died that day and for the months after as they fought to take back German-occupied Western Europe and tried and succeeded in turning the tides of the war.
Many call them heroes, but I think most of them didn’t think of themselves that way, they were doing their duty, carrying out orders.
Like police officers and firefighters, soldiers serve their country and its citizens by putting their lives on the line. We see it as brave, they see it as a job, that someone must protect, serve, save, and defend.
Maybe that’s what makes them truly heroes, that they don’t do it to be heroes.
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Overlord(with the naval aspect codenamed Operation Neptune) is still the largest seaborne invasion in history. Many movies, books, TV shows, songs, etc. have come from that day. Obviously many aren’t factual, after all, history is written by the winners, but still interesting.
It wasn’t until 1997 that the undersea documentation of the D-Day assault were looked at in a historically significant way, sadly, by then, there was erosion and reclamation by the sea. First underwater archaeological study and surveys in 2000.
They found some interesting information and artefacts as well as some discrepancies.
To this day, small pieces of history haunt the shores and seas of Normandy, a bizarre reminder that history should be remembered, all those who fought, honoured.
I was thinking, if they tried to do something like this today social media would probably tell the German forces every move, how many troops, ships, planes…there would be pictures of parachutes and tweets and pix of where they were landing, people updating their Facebook status and Vine vids…Instagrammers would briefly interrupt posting pix of food to tell where and how many allied forces were and what they were wearing. And many, many memes.
We still don’t know the exact number that died during the Allied invasion. 14 years agoCarol Tuckwiller, a former librarian was assigned the significant mission of identifying every Allied soldier who died on June 6, 1944.
She spent over six years searching through records and evidence, contacting sources, etc., eventually giving up not because all soldiers were accounted for, but she ran out of credible information.
So 70 years later and out of more than 150,000 warriors who went in that day, no one knows for sure how many died. But her work brought many names of fallen soldiers into the historical records and onto plaques and made us realize there were more lives lost than we had understood.
Despite the glossy ceremonies under sun upon sand we must always remember the price of war and the higher price of oppression.
Lives lost, futures stolen, dignity torn asunder, money and power the tyrannical rulers…we could be talking about 70 years ago or any day in various parts of the world, sadly, too little has changed.
Politicians make hypocritical speeches about how much our veterans mean to us while many veterans struggle just to get by in their day-to-day lives.
Those who once stormed the beaches to fight the enemy and liberate oppressed people now have to storm their own governments for the care and attention they should receive with thanks for their valiant service.
Some of the best images of the D-Day invasion are from Canadian war artist, Orville Fisher (the 3 paintings pictured above, please check out his other work, truly, truly amazing).
I doubt the significance of the weathered faces and stiff bodies of the remaining veterans is lost on them or us; make no mistake, most will not be here to celebrate 75 years after D-Day.
We must then remember for them.
To celebrate getting over 40,000 views on my blog I decided to say Happy 40th Anniversary to Blazing Saddles. Is it even possible that Mel Brooks’ nod to classic Westerns was released in 1974?
I saw this Mel Brooks masterpiece when I was around young – it was different times, people didn’t assume seeing comedy, even crude comedy was going to affect anyone. I didn’t understand half the jokes, so when I re-watched it later I was more impressed and hurt myself laughing.
Blazing Saddles takes satire to fine art status as MelBrooks takes us back in time to the American Old West, circa 1874. He pokes fun at Hollywood’s version of the Old West, especially the racism by making a completely implausible scenario – a small Western town hiring a black sheriff, even by mistake and the mayhem that it caused.
Brooks was a pioneer in using offensive humour to mock people’s prejudices. He felt it could make people realize how silly intolerance was by making it funny. Still not sure everyone got the point.
Mel Brooks is a master at breaking the Fourth Wall before it became the cool thing to do. Known for throwing in anachronisms to amuse, bemuse, and possibly defuse any tensions his deliberate political incorrectness could cause, Brooks went to ye olde town in Blazing Saddles with various references like: WW II, Laurel and Hardy, Gucci, Academy Awards, Cecil B. Demille, and The Count BasieOrchestra playing April in Paris.
Gene Wilderand Cleavon Little are an amazing on-screen bromance; it’s clear in most scenes there are many private jokes and difficulty keeping straight faces.
I can never decide who makes me laugh the most, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn or Dom DeLuise or maybe the combination makes it so absurdly perfect.
Less Than 40 Fun Blazing Saddles Facts:
The now defunct Pickwick Drive-In Theater in Burbank, California became a ride-in theater as guests rode in on horseback for theBlazing Saddlespremière.
Mel Brooks is one of a small group to have every won EGAT – an Emmy, a Grammy, an Academy Award and a Tony.
Gene Wilder wasn’t the first choice for the Waco Kid, Johnny Carson among others turned it down and Gig Young became indisposed in early production with an elbow bending problem so Wilderwas brought in.
Blazing Saddles was the first movie to have foreground music instead of background music.
Madeline Kahn received an Oscar nomination for her role as Lili von Shtupp. So the Oscars used to be fun I guess. Love her song, I’m So Tired, cracks me up every time.
Brooks’ wanted Richard Pryor who was one of the scriptwriters to play the Sheriff, but the studio thought he wasn’t as well-known as Cleavon Little.
Trailblazing Brooks made this movie the first to have on-screen flatulence. Come on, all those beans and coffee, yer dern tootin’ those cowboys would have been tootin’.
There are 11 men sitting around the fire during the bean scene, Mongo is to the side or it could have been a dirty dozen.
John Wayne said he found the script funny, but declined to actually appear in Blazing Saddles. How cool would that have been?
I always thought Slim Pickens name was funny.
Gene Wilder had the idea and a few pages written for Young Frankenstein and approached Brooks with the idea during filming of Blazing Saddles. They worked on the script together while filming. Blazing Saddles was released February 1974 and Young FrankensteinDecember of the same year.
Mel Brooks received some hate mail about the horse being punched. He explained the horses were trained to fall, like horses in Westerns, they were acting horses, no one hurt the horses. Brooksalways seemed confused because he thought everyone understood how much he loved animals.
He also received hate mail about using the ‘N’ word although he was assured by Richard Pryor, Cleavon Little and others he use it correctly. In retrospect Brooks says he would reconsider using it, but found it interesting he only got hate mail from white people about the word.
Anyone remember how many flavors of ice cream Howard Johnson’s Ice Cream Parlor sold?
How about what snack Hedley Lamarr purchased at the theater? I had to look this one up.
What is most or least favourite of this movie? Mine is when Cleavon Little/Bart takes himself hostage; I think it changed comedy forever.
I wasn’t shocked to find out that there were reasons why bacon smells so good, like smoky greasy sirens luring unsuspecting people to their doom.
Science has now confirmed bacon smells so good because as it starts to cook 150 organic compounds release them on the noses of the world.
The fancy name for it is the Maillard Reaction which happens when foods cook. It’s why bread baking smells so divine, or cinnamon rolls, coffee, apple pie, cookies, steak, cake, ok, now I’m just making myself hungry.
What is it really? Sugar reacting with amino acids when the fat begins to melt. Hydrocarbons and Aldehydes weaving a magical olfactory ballet that makes even some vegetarians drool. Or is it the Pyridines and Pyrazines that make us forget how much we were rooting for Wilburor Babe not to become bacon? There are 150 reasons and it’s hard to find even one reason to say no, well, besides the it’s not good for you, not eating animals, the treatment of animals, religious reasons, actually, there are a lot of reasons as it turns out.
Either way, the pork industry has little trouble selling their products especially when they have all the cooking shows promoting it and joining forces with Bacon – Nature’s Evil Genius sizzling away, making our noses smile.
While I love the smell of bacon, I could take or leave the actual taste. Of course, being Canadian I should like Canadian bacon better or as the rest of the world calls it, ham. Now cinnamon rolls are another story altogether. I can smell them right now, in my mind.
Is there a food you can’t resist, especially the smell of it cooking?
“I’ll think about it tomorrow, after all, tomorrow is another day.” Margaret Mitchell may have written the words of Gone With The Wind, but it’s Scarlett O’Hara we think of when we read or hear them.
Elizabeth Bennet Anne Shirley Daisy Buchanan Auntie Mame Catherine Earnshaw Nancy Drew Holly Golightly Dorothy Gale Jo March Cosette Jane Eyre Juliet Capulet Nora Charles Charlotte Blanche Dubois PecolaAlice Daisy Miller Lily Bart Becky Sharp Mary Lennox Emma Woodhouse
We’ve had tea and coffee with these women.
Ate ice cream and chocolate with these women.
Even taken baths with these women.
Stretched out under a tree with these women.
Flew with these women.
Drank with these women.
Dreamed of being these women.
Tried to make sure not to be some of these women.
Loved them. Hated them. Pitied them.
We’ve cried with them, laughed with them.
Shouted yahoo! for these women.
Watched them live, love, sometimes die.
Felt their sorrow.
Rejoiced in their triumphs.
We’ve learned from their failures, cheered them on.
They’ve seen us at our best and our worst.
They’ve met our loved ones, including cats and dogs.
They live in our homes.
Fiction’s loved and hated heroines hold a place in our hearts and remind us of who we were, who we are and who we want to be.
Take a few minutes to relax and remind yourself of the joys of a good read with this delectably illustrated book, Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction’s Most Beloved Heroines by Samantha Hahn(Chronicle Books).
Contains smile-inducing illustrations of fictional heroines (although I would have liked Bridget Jones included, but maybe in the next book) by the talented Samantha Hahn, accompanied by some of your favourite quotes from these ladies and their authors.
“It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party. It’s like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting “Cathy” and banging your head against a tree.” ~Bridget Jones Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
1. People are running and screaming and it’s not because there’s a new iPhone coming out.
2. It seems to be raining concrete.
3. You’re gaping up at the sky a lot, mouth open when you should be running.
4. You get a huge gust of rancid fish breath and think, forget the warheads, get this guy a giant breath mint.
5. You hear a loud bellowing and Rob Ford isn’t in town.
Godzilla turns 60 years this year. Lookin’ good big guy.
Up until 1984 each Godzilla suit was made by hand, new each time.
It wasn’t until 2004 that Toho Co. Ltd used CGI in their Godzilla films.
10 years agoGodzilla earned a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood…glad he didn’t do his actual footprint.
Raymond Burr starred in the 1954 black and white Godzilla movie. Yes, yes I see.
3 members of The Simpsons cast, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria and Nancy Cartwright were in the 1998 reboot of Godzilla.
Godzilla has more films than James Bond. Zilla, Godzilla.
Godzilla once fought The Avengers, in a comic book.
George Takeidid some dubbing for Godzilla films. Oh my!
Guys in suits crushing miniature buildings, that old-school style, Suitmation.
Scientist killjoys say the weight of Godzilla would crush his own legs. They also say zombies can’t exist. Just cure cancer already and let us have our fun.
Saw Godzilla yesterday, the movie, not the monster. Nice cheesy feel, but was still too high-tech.
I got the stink-eye from my teenage son when I may or may not have sniffed a little as Godzilla went down at one point. Geez, you cry at a few movies and you get a reputation.
Way too long and not enough Bryan Cranston.
Still great messages about the environment, trying to control or destroy nature, and about the checks and balances already in place that we humans keep tampering with.
We’re so arrogant to think we can control nature, look around…do you feel like you’re in control?
Penny Dreadful, a Showtime horror TV series that is certainly lurid, melodramatic, frightening, and intriguing.
Set in London, 1891 as the world hurtles toward the 20th century; the old meets the new featuring literary horror staples: Dorian Gray, Victor Frankenstein and creations, Mina Harker, etc.
The cast is repulsively enchanting:
Billie Piper, again as a companion of sorts (come on Doctor Who fans), also more of a Secret Diary of a Consumptive Call Girl.
Reeve Carney as oh my, Dorian Gray, a portrait of a guy who likes to have a good time, no matter what, a sort of rock star version of the endless playboy.
Timothy Dalton glowers and growls his way through, hey, I’m not complaining he does it so well.
Eva Green as the unfathomable and flexible Kill-Jill-of-all-Trades with many secrets.
Harry Treadaway as Dr. Frankenstein, defies all that is natural by making himself some friends, literally making them.
Josh Hartnett as a handsome cowboy with a past.
Plus Rory Kinnear, Alun Armstrong, Simon Russell Beale, Alex Price, Anna Chancellor, Helen McCrory, Olivia Llewellyn and more.
John Logan (The Aviator, Rango, Skyfall, Sweeney Todd, Any Given Sunday, Star Trek: Nemesis and more) offers up his own monster in this macabre yet novel series. While this has striking similarities to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie, it has a more sinister tone and not as cheesy.
I’ve only seen 2 episodes, but so far so spine-chilling.
Penny Dreadful, also the term for garish and shocking serial stories sold in parts in bookstores during the 19th century. Each part cost a penny. As time went on, the term came to represent all sorts of poor quality, sensational fiction for the working class.
Penny Dreadful, not Penny from The Big Bang Theory or my lovely and hilarious British cousin Penny whom I would instead refer to as Penny Delightful.
“The suspense is terrible…
I hope it will last.”
~Oscar Wilde
“Back off, man. I’m a scientist.” ~Dr. Peter Venkman
Ghostbusters was 30 years ago? Wow.
This is probably one of the best movies of all time.
Definitely one of the best comedies of all time.
Certainly one of the best paranormal comedies of all time.
I also believe this movie stands the test of time.
Bill Murray gives one of his most hilarious performances ever.
John Belushi was supposed to play Dr. Venkman, but when he died Bill Murray was brought in. Slimer was affectionately known as the ghost of Belushion set.
The party scene with Rick Moranis (Louis Tully/The Keymaster)and his guests ad-libbed the whole scene. Bill Murray ad-libbed most of the movie.
Ghostbusters was originally titled Ghost Smashers.
Safety Not Guaranteed is one of the best quirky indie films few people have seen. Cleverly demonstrates that you don’t have to spend millions on a movie for it to be entertaining.
In 1997, Senior editor/writer Jon Silveria wrote a joke ad as filler in the Backwoods Home magazine. It became an internet sensation and inspired this 2012 film in which a writer and two interns go to a small town to answer the ad. The story they get isn’t the one they expected. Is it ever?
I guess we’re all looking for something. But what we’re looking for or what we find isn’t always what we need. And sometimes when we stop looking we find exactly what we need or just what we want, at least in that time.
At the risk of spoilers I’ll just say this movie reminds you life is too short not to enjoy some serious goofiness. And remember, some dreams may fade in time and scope, but replaced by others, at least that’s the hope.
The cast includes: Aubrey Plaza (Parks & Recreation, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, 30 Rock,etc.), Mark Duplass (The Mindy Project, Zero Dark Thirty, etc.) and Jake Johnson who I will always think of as Nick from New Girl (also in Neighbors, The LegoMovie and next year’s Jurassic World), Mary Lyn Rajskub (24, 24:Live Another Day, 2 Broke Girls, etc.), Karan Soni (1600 Penn, Touch, The Neighbors, etc.), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars,Deadwood, Heroes, Frozen, Fanboys, etc.) and more.
The thing I enjoy most about indie films is they take chances big budget films aren’t going to even think of, like bravely trying to give this a Hal Ashby feel by shooting the whole film with a Sony F3 camera using old Panavision lenses. Does it work? You decide.
The most important factor in this film…would you answer the ad?
And if so, where in time (or should I say when) would you go and why?
Dystopian future films have become hugely popular in the last couple of decades. I figure it’s because we’re already there, and this is a way to explore what’s happening without truly acknowledging it’s happening.
Do many already feel like we’re in The Matrix?
A simulated reality where we’re kept complacent and subjugated.
Perhaps our body heat is already being harvested, think about it, corporations plotting to make us fatter because obese people produce more body heat.
Maybe they’ve brainwashed people into having phones or tablets with them at all times so they’ll produce more electrical activity.
Is it easier to just live on our computers, cell phones, tablets, and so on, looking at pictures of kittens, tragedies, recipes, hoaxes, optimistic quotes that looking around at what we’ve done?
So where is our Neo come to free us from this dream world we’re plodding through on our cellphones, laptops, Google glasses, tablets, etc.? And do we even want to be saved from the distraction?
The Wachowski Brothers, now called The Wachowskis (Larry Wachowski is now Lana) wrote this cyberpunk standard with the works of Philip K. Dick whispering in their ears. The paranoia, power, mental discomfort, a ruined world. The Matrix is the ultimate exile from ourselves.
Or maybe it’s so loved just because the awesome effects, the wire fu techniques, the anime-like feel, action scenes, great cast, and cool outfits.
The Matrix contains incessant references to: mythology, religion, philosophy, literature, and pop culture.
Johnny Depp was first choice, also Will Smith and Nicolas Cage both turned down the part of Neo. Smithturned it down to do Wild Wild West. No comment. Butcome on, we’re expected to believe Nicolas Cage turned down a part?
Epic shot where Keanu Reeves(Thomas Anderson/Neo/The One) hits the ground, bounces back up again is meant to look like Wile E. Coyote? Evil super genius ordering from an omnipresent evil corporation ACME who sends weapons to an address in the desert, great, but where’s the tiny umbrella?
The numbers 1 and 3 are everywhere in this movie. Neo means new; it’s also an anagram for One. Trinity, 3.Neo is called Thomas in the beginning when he is doubting.
A matrix in mathematics, is a rectangular arrangement of numbers, symbols, or expressions, ordered in columns and rows. Distinct items in a matrix are called its elements or entries.
The Matrix is green, not ecofriendly, but shot with a green filter for the parts inside The Matrix.
The scene with Neo and pins. Those pins were actually in his head. For realism. It worked.
The government lobby shootout took 10 days of filming and didn’t use CGI. The Wachowskis staged everything you see on the set, even the explosions and water pouring in.
Sci-fi flicks always produce conspiracy theories. How about this one, note the date on the passport.
The actors were put through their paces on this movie, they had to be able to do stunts, wire fu, fight, process weighty philosophical discourses, etc.
The end, the last line inNeo’s monologue gave the studio and audiences options, “Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.”. I would’ve been satisfied with The Matrix, it was enough. In the 15 years since it’s release few have matched it.
Definitely a cautionary tale that allowing oneself to the plugged in all the times can rob us of reality, truth, and any meaning to life.
In case you haven’t seen This Is Spinal Tap, it’s a mockumentary about a heavy metal band and their downward descent. It’s not merely a satire about bands, but about documentaries themselves.
It was so different and groundbreaking, fans and bands alike thought it was about a real band and believed this was an actual documentary.
Many bands and musicians can identify with This Is Spinal Tap, like, way too much.
This Is Spinal Tap wasn’t popular at first, but since has grown into a cult sensation.
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer did their own music. In the decades since, they’ve released albums as Spinal Tap.
Guest, McKean, and Shearer received writing credit with Rob Reiner because they ad-libbed most of the movie.
Christopher Guest is actually a British peer, the 5th Baron Hadon-Guest. Brilliant in Waiting For Guffman. Tragically exceptional in The Princess Bride.
Michael McKean, best known for playing Lenny on Laverne & Shirley. Former SNL alum, also in Clue, A Mighty Wind, AmericanDad, my fav is still when he changed X-Files.
You may know Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, etc. on The Simpsons. Did you know he’s 70? That he was mentored by Mel Blanc? And also on SNL and Laverne & Shirley?
Rob Reineris best known for his amazing writing and directing, but has appeared in many films and TV series, the most obvious as Michael “Meathead” on All In The Family.
There is a legend told of 4½ hour bootleg version of This Is Spinal Tap, traded among fans and collectors for years.
Do you know at least one of the original names of the band, Spinal Tap? And how many members they’ve had?
Some bands actually believed the writers of This Is Spinal Tap had bugged their tour buses and hotel rooms because parts of it were so familiar.
Aerosmith’sSteven Tyler wasn’t pleased with the movie. Gee, was it because Rock in a Hard Place had Stonehenge on its cover?
Many people believe the tiny Stonehenge was a parody of Black Sabbath’s too-large-to-fit-on-stage-monument during their 1983Born Again tour, yet this Spinal Tap joke was actually first filmed in 1982 as a 20-minute short. Life imitating art?
Cherie Currie (The Runaways) appeared as the singer of The Dose, sadly, by the release her whole character lay on the cutting room floor until deleted scenes became en vogue.
A running gag during the film was bizarre drummer deaths, including a gardening accident. Strangely enough, drummers from ABBA and Toto died in bizarre gardening accidents within a few years of the film.
Jamie Lee Curtis allegedly fell in love with Christopher Guest after seeing him as Nigel. She said she was going to marry him. She did. They’ve been married 30 years.
Many movie sites that usually rate movies out of 10, rated This Is Spinal Tap out of 11. Of course.
Spinal Tapattempting to sing Heartbreak Hotelwhen they visit Graceland is still one of my fav scenes.
I made not one, but two cheeseStonehenges for gigs when a band I knew were doing a Spinal Tap cover band many years ago. I wish I had taken pictures, then again maybe they weren’t as good as I remember, er, the Stonehenges that is.
I could go on and on and on and on about this movie. Really.
30 years later and this documentary is just as hilarious and as realistic as ever.
Some call this Intergalactic Star Wars Day, but really, isn’t that every day?
Yet this one has an added feature, we now have a date, December 18, 2015, of the nextStar Warsmovie, as I’m calling it, Star Wars VII: An Old Hope.
Also, cast announcements. The latter has brought a torrent of indignation from many fans.
I think this is unfair in many ways to the new cast.
Of course any comparison can’t be helped and it’s not likely to be favourable.
Many of us grew up with the original cast and still think of Star Wars IV: A New Hope as the first SW movie.
In 1977Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill weren’t even known.
Carrie Fisherhadn’t said, Help me Obi Wan Kenobi you’re my only hope or aren’t you a little short for a storm trooper?
Mark Hamill hadn’t inadvertently kissed his sister, stood in the iconic pose against the twin suns, lost his hand, and screamed his famous nooooo!!!
HarrisonFord had never swaggered about the Millennium Falcon, said I know to Leila’s I love you, been encased in carbonite…
Alec Guiness hadn’t uttered the now famous, That’s no moon, that’s a space station, or said Use the Force Luke or become a cool ghost.
We had never seen or heard the rasping menace of Darth Vader or the twisted malevolence of the Emperor…no Chewie or R2 or C3PO or Jabba or Lando or Boba-Fett.
So fear not, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, and John Williams are returning.
I think we should give the new cast a chance.
Adam Driver (he’s the best part of Girls, also in J. Edgar, The Unusuals, Your Don’t Know Jack, etc.),
Oscar Isaac (SuckerPunch, W.E., Inside Llewyn Davis, etc.),
Andy Serkis (Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, Einstein & Eddington, Longford, The Simpsons, Avengers: Age of Ultron, etc.),
Domhall Gleeson (Harry Potter as Bill Weasley, Black Mirror, About Time, When Harvey Met Bob, etc.),
John Boyega (Attack the Block and 24: Live Another Day),
Daisy Ridley (Mr. Selfridge, Silent Witness, etc.) and
Max von Sydow who’s been in I can’t even begin to list the work he‘s done since 1949, but he was Ming The Merciless.
Keeping an open mind, I am.
Hope for the best, you should.
Now go get your comics, watch Star Wars movies, get your nerd on, and May The 4th Be With you!
I’m a laugh addict. Movies, TV, books, people (not usually at them, more like, if they make me laugh), to be honest, I’m even satisfied with smiling. I have the laugh lines to prove it. Which brings me to Mel Brooks, bad man having contributed to these aforementioned lines.
One of the worst offenders is still Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder (whom I wished to marry when this movie came out, now I’d go for friendship).
You’d think after all these years I’d get tired of it yet I don’t.
It’s impossible to explain how hilarious this doting spoof on Mary Shelley’s classic, Frankenstein is, but I’m chuckling even as I type.
As time marches on, 40 years later, watching this has become bittersweet with the passing of so much of its brilliant cast.
Props created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film Frankenstein were used as most of the lab equipment in this film.
The ‘Walk This Way’ gag in the movie was the inspiration for Aerosmith’s hit, Walk This Way.
Cloris Leachman improvised a scene in which Frau Blücher (add horse whinnying here) offers “varm milk” and Ovaltine to Dr. Frankenstein/Fronkensteen.
Gene Wildercame up with the idea for YF and pitched it Brookswhile filming Blazing Saddles.
Wilderand Brooks agreed the latter couldn’t actually be in the movie because Brooks’ charisma always managed to break the fourth wall whether or not he played himself. But he did provide all the sound effects. It’s good to be the movie King…
Wilder fought Brooks to keep the “Puttin’ On The Ritz” (written by Irving Berlin, made famous by Fred Astaire) bit in; thank goodness he won.
Young Frankenstein was not only filmed in black and white for effect, Brooks used unusual techniques like iris outs, wipes, fades to black, and old-fashioned opening credits.
As a gag, Marty Feldman furtively moved his character’s hump from shoulder to shoulder to see if anyone would notice so they added it to the film with lines like, “Didn’t you used to have that on the other side?”, and “What hump?”.
Gene Hackman, who played tennis with Wilder asked to be put in the film. So, not just blind luck…
Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman, and Peter Boyle also starred in the mind-numbingly funny Yellowbeard with the astonishing Graham Chapman.
Gene Wilder always had trouble not laughing during scenes. I understand.
Big Fish is so emotional and so sincere, depending on the place you’re in, it can be almost difficult to watch, but worth every minute.
Tim Burton directed this after losing his father and mother between 2000-2002. Although not close to either or perhaps because of that, Burton is able to meticulously highlight the pain, sorrow, regret, and joy of the story; each are woven through each shot with a texture only loss can weave.
There is no way to explain this movie except to say watching it is an unmitigated pleasure that you will want to call on again and again.
The cast is exceptional in so many ways: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Marion Cotillard, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito, Robert Guillaume, Matthew McGrory, Steve Buscemi, Alison Lohman, Deep Roy, andMiley Cyrus (credited as Destiny Cyrus) among others.
The 1998 novel, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace gives us this fantastical tale of a man who has an astonishing gift for storytelling. On his deathbed he and his son try to reconcile.
John August follows the same path, but brings the tale onto the screen with words and images that wrap you in soft, warm blanket where you want to sip some tea and press replay.
The son thinks he can never trust his father because he obviously wasn’t as his tall tales portrayed. The son had never looked past his own disbelief to his heart where his father’s stories had nestled, where he learned the stories were true in many ways, if he only believed.
A film of rare proportions, with just the right mix adventure, magical storytelling, the glory of life and love, and raw emotion.
We’re destroying our future and our children’s futures so we can have stuff.
We’re being controlled by our ability to choose.
Scarcity is unknown to too many of us. It’s difficult to even comprehend people still live in squalor with no safe water, no heat or cooling, no medical care, selling themselves, dying, even selling their children for food.
Comfort and abundance has lead to sloth, entitlement, intolerance, apathy, and waste.
“Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting; it is not logical but it is often true.” ~Spock
The less you have the more you appreciate it. People dreaming of winning the lottery are often happier than those who win it.
Ever been eating something delicious and realize it’s almost gone? Those last few bites are savoured.
Reading a book, watching a show, time with family or friends – all taken for granted until you realize they’re almost over.
You’ll actually use less toothpaste as the tube empties, without conscious thought.
The last days of your vacation you’ll do more.
You’d think we’d be happier with more things, more choices. If stuff made us happy why are more people on meds for stress and depression with higher debt, more drama, more shopping, more self-help books, more diets…apparently more isn’t always better.
If you have one glass you will take care of that glass, cherish it because otherwise you will have difficulty drinking.
If you have one pair of shoes, you will treasure those shoes for without them you will walk in bare feet.
I’m not advocating poverty, just moderation. The ‘M’word was more popular before we were told by corporations selling us stuff that we needed more stuff.
I love having the ability to choose, but there comes a point, especially with products and services that super saturation directs us to confusion, stress, worry, and disorder.
Abundance should be shared.
When will we ever have enough?
The book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir (Times Books/Henry Holt and Company) is a well-written, amusing, comprehensive explanation with examples of why scarcity is so important. Scarcity in all forms. I borrowed it from the library…one less book.
1. Zombies are, so far, an analogy for over-consumption. We don’t have to worry about zombies, we’re killing ourselves off quite effectively.
2. Zombies seem relentless, but have no ambition, sort of like teens at a mall.
3. Zombie genre is hyper-focused on what zombies would do to humans. Not much about what nature would do to these walking smorgasbords. Nature doesn’t need fresh meat, many love decaying flesh. First the blowflies, flesh flies and maggots. Also, vultures, burying beetles, lions, wolves, dogs, eagles, hawks, coyotes, crows, raccoons, tigers, hyenas, etc. And cockroaches – they can live up to a week without a head, can’t say the same for zombies.
4. They’re dead and only getting deader. Weather, nature, and decomposition works wonders on the complexion and can make the average zombieinto a sticky puddle of botox-won’t-help-that-sweetie-mess in no time.
5. Think of the zombie apocalypse as a Home Alone movie, but with zombies instead of inept burglars. They can’t strategize, they’re easily tricked, they don’t notice traps. Try sandbags, fences, walls, doors, boarded up windows, spikes, barbed wire, fire, or maybe even marbles, icy stairs, hot door knobs, paint cans, etc. would work.
6. No one really explains how zombies overcome the military. Zombies move toward armies, have no defenses, don’t retreat. This doesn’t even work as a Risk game.
7.As free-range humans become more scarce so would the food source; we’re just not that reliable. Also, we fight back.
8.Humans could get to islands, fortified or remote locations, and structures to wait until the zombies decompose.
9.Humans generally know more about survival now, ie. Water purification tabs, weapons, decoy camps, Dakota fire pits, how to purify urine to drink it, making a stove out of a soda can, etc.
10. I think Nerds will save us. They have special skills, right? Video games have taught them survival skills, including using a sniper riffle, crossbow, etc. Most already exist on processed foods. They’re used to staying up for days on end, they’re patient, and they don’t feel the need for a companionship. Also, they can figure out a way to start getting power back on, etc. They can read maps, are used to quests, and really, it’s as though they’ve been training for an apocalyptic event since the first time their hands touched a controller. Let’s hope these video game skills translate into life skills, wait, maybe I shouldn’t pin too much hope on this.
I just hope if the zombie apocalypse happens they’re the slow zombies, not the fast ones. I think I can survive the slow, shuffling ones, but those fast ones, not so much.
1.Zombies won’t just be dangerous because of the biting flesh part, they’re rotting corpses. Think about all the diseases they would cause, not to mention all the scavengers and parasites they would attract. Like some people you may know, zombies are toxic, but literally.
2.Zombiesdon’t need to sleep.
3. They’re not distracted by TV, the internet, cell phones, etc.
4. They don’t have any vices.
5. Zombies don’t get sick, I mean eventually they decompose, but who knows how long that will take?
6. Society will fall apart if they don’t have cell phones, the internet, TV, etc.
7.Sadly,Zombies will kill off children and probably their parents quickly, come on, think of how long it takes to get the average toddler to put on their shoes, get to sleep, etc…and how would they stay quiet enough? How would they be amused without technology?
8.Zombies don’t get bored and don’t need entertaining, they just wait around for food to be delivered to them or they wander around looking for takeout.
9. So many people are too apathetic or lazy to even get out and vote which effects your life just as much as zombies (have you seen some politicians?). How are they going to survive?
10. Statistically as there are more zombies and less humans, well, you do the math…the odds are against us.
For those that have read the novella by Stephen King I will alternately title this Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
For me, both have been irreparably damaged by the Family Guyversion, oh great, now I’m humming Hollaback Girl.
This book and movie hold many messages, the most obvious one, hope.
I used to think, many years ago when I was young that no matter what anyone did to you, no matter what they took from you, you’d always have hope.
But then I began to slowly realize that hope itself could be dangerous.
When nothing or no one can hurt you.
When nothing or no one can take anything more from you.
When nothing or no one can break your heart.
Hope can.
Hope unfulfilled.
Hope crushed.
Hope ignored.
Hope betrayed.
Hope denied.
Am I cheering anyone up yet?
This is the moment when people have to choose, to take a chance that hope is a gift. Just because you’re in a hopeless position doesn’t mean you’re hopeless.
For people with chronic illness we cling to hope like it’s the side of giant mountain and we never want to look down.
That’s the power of hope. And the danger. It depends how you use it.
It’s been 20 years since we were given Frank Darabont’s (The Walking Dead) vision of Shawshank. Hey, it starred: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, William Sadler, James Whitmore, and Clancy Brown, how could it be anything but cool?
I recommend you also read King’s story and if so inclined, destroy both by watching the Family Guy take on this brilliant celebration of how you can be free or imprisoned wherever you are, it’s all about perspective.
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”~Jack Layton
1. You identify yourself with one of the kingdoms, houses, and/or families of Game of Thrones.
2. You make White Walkers with your children instead of snowmen.
3. You name your new kitten Khaleesi.
4. You name your baby Khaleesi.
5. You get your money management advice based on GOT, although not a bad idea. A Lannister always pays his debts; Master your money and don’t let it control you;always look for opportunity and so on.
6. You start trying to make candles that will make your house smell just like Winterfell.
7.You think more about who will sit on the Iron Throne than who will lead your own country.
8. You know the whole history of GOT yet know little or nothing about The War of The Roses that inspired the books/series.
9. When you’re out walking your dog you think you see a dragon egg, nope, just a part of a Mountain Dew bottle.
10.You love hearing, “Winter is coming”.
11. You change your Christmas Carols to We Five Kings; God Rest Ye Anyone Who’s in GOT Too Long; and Lannisters Are Comin’ To Town.
12. You can’t sleep at night thinking about the dragon has three heads prophecy (hint, there are three dragons so they need three riders).
13. You worry what Jon Snow with think when he finds out about his past.
14. You find yourself using the language like: sweetling, imp, serving wenches, smallclothes, my moon and stars, kissed by fire, I wager, etc.
15. You used to get really upset when a main character died and now you just kind of shrug and think, that’s life…unless it’s Brian on Family Guy, that’s totally different.
16. You’re scared when you’re invited to a wedding…and not for the usual reasons.
17. You give family and friends only GOT-related gifts. And they should be grateful.
18. You think of learning to swim as Greyjoying.
19. You don’t have to look up how to spell: Viserys, Daenerys, Rhaegar, Targaryen, R’hllor, Arya, Dothrai, Khaleesi, Khal Drogo, Melisandre, Stannis, Maegyr, and more.
20. No one argues with you because you simply say, “It is known.”
21. You memorized and live by the Night’s Watch oath.
22. You worry about what happened to Lyanna Stark and want to know more.
23. You check out your window to make sure The Others aren’t coming.
24. You love the mechanisms of the opening credits, but know little or nothing about the Leonardo di Vinci’s machines.
25. You start talking about the characters in GOT as though they’re friends, even using their first (fictional) names…
Poor Sansa…
Jaime is so hot…
Joffrey is so evil…
Cersei is creeping me out…
I wonder what Tyrion will do…
Littlefinger should be running our economy…
I think Arya needs more adult supervision and less pointy things…
Daenerys, don’t bother the dragons when they’re eating…
Getting antsy waiting for the next season of Game of Thronesto start? Missing the intrigue, passion, treachery, lies, horror, murder, lust, filth, fighting, and fantasy?
Tired of hearing Winter Is Coming when many have had enough of winter?
Then the 4-part BBCGormenghast might be just the ticket to exotic destinations.
Before Game of Thrones there was Gormenghast. Adapted from the first 2 books in the trilogy by Mervyn Peake, this is a stunningly creepy and brilliant experience you’ll not soon forget.
Exceptional cast including: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Ian Richardson, Neve McIntosh, Richard Griffiths, Zoë Wanamaker, Spike Milligan, and more.
This twisted foray into fantasy will be a stark reminder – more is out there.
1. When you hear a noise down a dark alley, or basement, up in the attic, in the woods, in the shadows, or a cemetery – don’t go to check it out or call out things like “Is anyone there?” or “Who’s there?”. You probably don’t want to know.
2. When confronted by a serial killer or zombie, etc. don’t try to come up with an overly elaborate Scooby-Doo-type plan to kill them. Run away.
3. If you’re in a good hiding space, don’t leave it right away or make a lot of noise. Shhh!
4. Don’t depend on someone coming to rescue you, they usually get killed.
5. Don’t go all hero and decide you’re going to go and fight the serial killer, zombie, demon, etc. It rarely works and usually ends in death, dismemberment, maiming, or all of the above.
6. Don’t check into a hotel or motel named: Bates Motel, The Overlook, Motel Hell, or Pinewood Motel.
Stay off Elm Street, Hanging Hill Lane, or Lucifer Dr.
Don’t go to summer camp at Crystal Lake.
Don’t go to places with names like: Satan’s Kingdom, Transylvania, Bloody Springs, Silent Hill, Helltown, Amityville, Monster, or Bad Axe (really, it’s scary, trust me, I know) and apparently all small towns in New England have an overabundance of spooky and bad things happening in them, go figure.
7. Not the time for heart-to-heart chats, true confessions, make-out sessions, or arguments – wait until the bad things are gone.
8. If loved ones or companions start growling, hissing, have glowing eyes, misshapen features, sudden hairiness, a fascination with blood, this isn’t the time to practice tolerance – run!
9. If you get invited to a spooky mansion for a party, don’t go, really, even if it seems cool, skip it.
10. If you see a book of spells or a book of the dead – don’t read aloud from it!
11. If you think you’ve killed a zombie, monster, serial killer, etc. don’t go closer to check if it’s really dead.
12. Don’t solve puzzles that might open portals to Hell, or loose demons upon the world, bringing about the End of Days, etc. Stick to crosswords.
13. Even if you’re really good at it, don’t play with recombinant DNA, actually, especially if you’re really good at it.
14. If you find a town that’s deserted, leave. Leave quickly. But first listen to the old crazy who tells you there’s a curse, or alien invasion, or possession – he’s the last one alive, he knows stuff.
15. Don’t borrow or steal from the dead. Don’t wake the dead. Don’t try to talk to the dead even if you think they might have helpful information. Don’t even think about them. Just don’t.
16. If plants and animals start behaving in an odd or aggressive manner, this is not the time for curiosity.
17. If your children, loved ones or friends start speaking to you in Latin, or ancient Babylonian, or some alien language it’s probably time to run, or get help, or run and get help.
18.Don’t fall asleep (I got this one covered).
19. Don’t try to figure things out or try to investigate. Also don’t go to the authorities, they’re probably already altered in some way, they won’t believe you, or you’ll get them killed.
20. If something is after you run or take a bus. I don’t care how reliable your car is, this time it won’t start or it will take you a long time to start it, or the cab driver will be possessed, or something really, really bad.
21. Even if you think your problems are over, you might want to wait to take a bath or shower.
22. If you find out your house is built on an old cemetery, ancient burial ground, where they use to perform rituals or sacrifices, or some other bad stuff, cut your losses, or get a really good supernatural real estate agent.
23. Always ask why a piece of real estate is so cheap and no one else wants it.
24. Whether you’re on an alien planet or Earth, stay away from: giant eggs, glowing things, ooze, furniture that moves on its own, scary clowns, TVs that lead to other worlds, hockey masks, machetes, chain saws, cabins in the woods, creatures, etc. And don’t wander around on your own or go looking for someone.
25. This is the most important one: good shoes. No heels, no slippery soles, no untied laces. You are going to be running. Yes, you still might fall as they chase you, but your odds are better if you have good shoes.
This is another one we can blame on Shakespeare, that’s ok Will, I still love you.
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar the soothsayer tells Caesar to “beware the Ides of March”. For some reason this caught on and people often celebrate March 15 so I guess they’re celebrating when Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.?
Here are some more commonly used phrases you may or may not have known came from Will S.
Hamlet: To thine own self be true. There’s method in my madness. Own flesh and blood. Neither a borrower nor a lender be – used in song on Gilligan’s Island when performing Shakespeare to get off the island, another great plan.
Julius Caesar: Itching palm – My Grandma always said if you had an itching palm you were going to get money, yes, most likely from her. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war – not a common phrase, but was used in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, so cool.
Romeo and Juliet: Wild-goose chase. Star-crossed lovers. What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Macbeth: What’s done is done. A sorry sight.
Merchant of Venice: Love is blind. All that glitters/glisters is not gold. Bated breath. In the twinkling of an eye.
The Tempest: In a pickle. Fair play. Such stuff as dreams are made on.
As You Like It:Too much of a good thing. Forever and a day. As you like it. Bag and baggage. Neither rhyme nor reason.
The Merry Wives of Windsor: A laughing stock . What the dickens – people often think this refers to Charles Dickens.
Henry IV 1: Set your teeth on edge. Send him packing. The game is afoot – later make even more famous when used by Sherlock Holmes/Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Henry IV 2: Eaten out of house and home.
Henry VI 2: As dead as a doornail. Mum’s the word.
Henry V: Heart of gold.
Henry VIII: For goodness’ sake.
Othello: Neither here nor there. Jealousy is the green-eyed monster. I will wear my heart upon my sleeve. Vanish into thin air. Pomp and circumstance.
Taming of the Shrew: Kill with kindness. Cold comfort
Cymbeline: Not slept one wink
Troilus and Cressida: Good riddance
All’s Well That Ends Well: Obviously, the title.
King Lear: Full circle
King John: Play fast and loose . Cold comfort.
Twelfth Night: In stitches. Out of the jaws of death
Anyone have any more?
Strangely some phrases have had their meanings changed, the oddest one is “sweets to the sweet”(Hamlet) which is now seen as romantic, but was about death in the play.
A lot of great movies, plays, graphic novels, TV episodes, etc. about Julius Caesar, check a few out today.
This is probably the most underrated show on TV today, maybe ever. I really don’t know a lot of people who watch it. It stays on year after year so some must.
There are so many amazing episodes of Community I don’t know if I could say there’s a best. Based on a group of people that apparently are going to go to community college longer than the passengers of The Minnow were stranded on an island, like every other TV show, movie, or book it’s really all about the friendships, relationships, and issues between the people.
There are some even more amazing than others if that’s possible: Cooperative Calligraphy, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, Modern Warfare, Intro To Knots, Anthropology 101, Analysis of Cork-Based Networking, A Fistful of Paintballs (Parts 1 & 2), Basic Human Anatomy, Comparative Religion, Conventions of Time and Space and of course, Pascal’s Triangle Revisited to name a few. App Development and Condiments with the Meow Meow Beenz test was so brilliant it almost hurt.
Amazing guest stars including: Betty White, John Oliver, Malcolm McDowell, Nathan Fillion, Taran Killam, Michael Ironside, Vince Gilligan, Chris Elliot, Tricia Helfer, Luke Perry, Jason Alexander, Luke Youngblood, French Stewart, Andy Dick, Giancarlo Esposito, John Goodman, LeVar Burton, Drew Carey, and Josh Holloway.
Who doesn’t wait to see what Abed (Danny Pudi) will say or do next? I don’t think they’ve ever specifically said he has Aspergers Syndrome, but it’s discussed and implied many times, kind of like Sheldon (Jim Parsons) from Big Bang Theory.
I miss Chevy Chase of course, always.
And Ken Jeong (Chang) is mind-bending.This show is so clever in so many ways it’s almost incomprehensibly clever. The dialogue, the plots, it should be ridiculous instead it’s ridiculously hilarious and thought-provoking. It has a particular niche I suppose, after all, the meta-jokes don’t stop, and it’s essentially a walking pop culture reference, a vehicle to toy with TV and movies clichés and truisms. Not like a ton of other shows don’t use tropes, meta-humour, and pop culture references: Family Guy, America Dad, South Park, Friends, X-Files, M*A*S*H, 30 Rock, Seinfeld,Night Court, SNL, Lost, Once Upon A Time, Buffy, Revolution and so many more. It’s a tried and true method of connecting with viewers of various ages. The tricky part becomes the squandering or gorging of those tools. I think Communityhas a good balance.
Laden with stereotypes this show is all about the links that we find with others and how strong or tenuous those links can be.
So I guess you either think this is one of the best shows ever or you haven’t seen it yet.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless masterpiece continues to capture the imagination of millions worldwide and so the adaptations of the occupants of 221B Baker Street continue.
While I still have a soft spot for Basil Rathbone, my first Sherlock, I find room enough for Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller.
Though theBBC series, Sherlockis darker and more true toDoyle’s vision of his Aspergerian detective who solves cases not because he cares as he feels compelled.
I enjoyed Monk with the truly amazing Tony Shalhoub which I always thought was a thinly-veiled Sherlock adaptation.
Also, House MD starring the incomparable Hugh Laurie in which Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as a doctor who detected.I also see some of Holmes in shows like Psych and The Mentalist. All characters are amazing detectives who appear to lack empathy and social skills yet end up helping people massively.
Other actors to have played Sherlock Holmes on screen, stage and radio include: Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Peter O’Toole, Matt Frewer, Frank Langella, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Brent Spiner, Stewart Granger, John Gielgud, Peter Cook, Raymond Massey,John Barrymore, Harry Arthur Saintsbury, Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Pryce, Jeremy Brett, Charlton Heston, Rupert Everett, James D’Arcy, Viggo Larson, Christopher Plummer, Larry the Cucumber, Orson Welles, and more.I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the first three seasons of Sherlock (4th on the way) and am still enjoying Elementary on CBS.
So what is it that keeps so many of us returning to Sherlock Holmes over and over?
Is it the mystery?
The intrigue?
The clues?
The brilliance of his mind?
I think it’s all that and the friendship between Holmesand Watson and Mrs. Hudson.
As much as Sherlockcan be annoying, he is also strangely endearing and we want to visit his exceptional, fascinating mind…just visit.
So whatever adaptation of Sherlock Holmes you enjoy, it’s lovely to see the game is still afoot after all these years.
Suicide isn’t a laughing matter. Neither is depression.
g incongruity that many comedians use humour as a mask, a shield, a façade…That while they are making us laugh, making us forget our worries, making us remember that life is worth living they are haunted by inner demons.
Josie and the Pussycats 
When I was young, quality time with my parents came later in the day, after they had slept in – their reward for a long work week.
August 8, 2013
‘virtually’ met some awesome people who are kind, supportive, funny, helpful, generous, hopeful, caring, and have mind-blowing things to say and they share it. Thank you.
g 
s now a state-of-the-art dino theme park on 
leaving 40% of the town unemployed.
And then there were the spinoffs. 
Spiderman, Batman, part of Superman (get your minds out of the gutter), X-Men, 
Stand By Me, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 
And many, many memes.
out of more than 150,000 warriors who went in that day, no one knows for sure how many died. But her work brought many names of fallen soldiers into the historical records and onto plaques and made us realize there were more lives lost than we had understood.
John Wayne
They live in our homes.
10 years ago 
bands, but about documentaries themselves.
a or Lando or Boba-Fett.
when people have to choose, to take a chance that hope is a gift. Just because you’re in a hopeless position doesn’t mean you’re hopeless.
ol?
amazing episodes of 
yadadarcyyada 