Movie meme

Thank you Southern Chris for this!
I had nothing to do today but fill this thing out! ;-)

Las Reglas

- Bold the movie if you’ve seen it
- Put asterisks next to the movies you’ve seen and liked it. (this is where Chris changed the rules a bit, if it’s bolded it means I saw it and enjoyed it! If it’s bolded and RED I saw it and hated it.) and, of course, I added my comments.

1. Pulp Fiction 1994
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I only saw one of them, please, I get it! I don't read Microsoft Word Manuals or speak Klingon in my spare time either!
3. Titanic 1997 Kate Winslet has redeemed herself but her acting was the only thing that could distract you from the special effects....and not in the good way. "Jack--sniffle--this is where we first met!" Oi
4. Blue Velvet 1986 I think of this movie whenever I see my mom's oxygen mask.
5. Toy Story 1995
6. Saving Private Ryan 1998 The most realistic battle scene ever. George Bush will have to watch it for eternity when he finally lands...down there. Don't even go there, even Satan doesn't want to clean up after him if he made W experience it for eternity!
7. Hannah and Her Sisters 1986
8. The Silence of the Lambs 1991 I still have nightmares of him touching her hand. Ewwww.
9. Die Hard 1988
10. Moulin Rouge 2001
11. This Is Spinal Tap 1984 Better than a real Spinal Tap!
12. Matrix 1999 Oh Good God. I don't speak Klingon either
13. GoodFellas 1990
14. Crumb 1995
15. Edward Scissorhands 1990 Johnny Depp!
16. Boogie Nights 1997 Julianne! Julianne! Julianne! John C.! John C.! John C.! Philip Seymour! Hmmm doesn't have the same ring but they're all incredible!
17. Jerry Maguire 1996
18. Do the Right Thing 1989
19. Casino Royale 2006 He is the new Sean Connery!
20. The Lion King 1994 At the El Capitan on Hollywood Blvd!
21. Schindler’s List 1993 Amazing...absolutely amazing. Even with the stupid couple behind me rustling papers, eating sushi, announcing not only that they were going to the toilet or concession stand to each other but also precisely why it was the perfect time to go! THEN! leaning way forward and moaning loudly at every death. My movie mate finally turned around and said "6 million people are gonna die! Are you going to do that for every one of them."
22. Rushmore 1998
23. Memento 2001
24. A Room With a View 1986 Loved it! Maggie Smith!
25. Shrek 2001
26. Hoop Dreams 1994
27. Aliens 1986 Also, creepy but not for the actual scary parts but at completely unexpected times
28. Wings of Desire 1988
29. The Bourne Supremacy 2004 What's next? 'Bourne Enough Already' ?!
30. When Harry Met Sally… 1989
31. Brokeback Mountain 2005 I know it was Canada but Wyoming never looked so good. Of course, neither has any real cowboy!
32. Fight Club 1999
33. The Breakfast Club 1985 Oh Molly Ringwald....sigh
34. Fargo 1996 I still laugh uproariously The foot coming out of the wood chipper
35. The Incredibles 2004 The Edith Head character. No, F-man, it was NOT Margaret Cho! Dope!
36. Spider-Man 2 2004
37. Pretty Woman 1990 Let's teach our daughters that if they turn tricks on Hollywood Blvd They'll meet Richard Gere and live happily ever after. Sheesh. OK, I admit it. I liked it. But if she guffawed one more time I was gonna barf.
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 I am not sure I get it to this day but I liked it.
39. The Sixth Sense 1999 (OK...Bruce gets shot. In the very next scene, he is wearing the exact same clothes and chasing little Haley Joel down the street and following him around the church and no one calls the cops? Or screams "Child Molester!" He must be a ghost, right? I mean he was shot in the previous scene, or did you forget? Then Little Haley Joel says...."I see Dead people!" Ok, 10 minutes into the movie I think any idiot should have understood that. After that there is NO plot! So the movie now is just a series of random scenes. I turn to my movie mate and say "This is the most pointless movie I have ever seen!" He says "I love it! I still can't figure out what's gonna happen from one moment to the next." I thought I was gonna die. Couldn't he have just worn a different shirt? The rest of the clues seemed so ham handed. Blech!
40. Speed 1994 Ok...a bus....jumps across a gap....never mind...
41. Dazed and Confused 1993
42. Clueless 1995 letOne of my all time favorite movies. Well written, witty, and full of great dialogue. "She such a Monet" that immediately made sense!
43. Gladiator 2000
44. The Player 1992 It is so LA of that time
45. Rain Man 1988 It was like visiting the State School all over again and also the beginning of the end of any star power Tom Cruise may have had for me. But very nicely done
46. Children of Men 2006
47. Men in Black 1997
48. Scarface 1983
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
50. The Piano 1993
51. There Will Be Blood 2007
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad 1988
53. The Truman Show 1998 I began to like Jim Carrey
54. Fatal Attraction 1987 (Glenn Close with the knife and in the bathtub...eww...but have you seen "Hard Candy" ? It does for Child Molesters what Fatal Attraction did for philandering husbands....rent it. You'll understand.)
55. Risky Business 1983 I started to like Tom Cruise....and Chicago
56. The Lives of Others 2006
57. There’s Something About Mary 1998
58. Ghostbusters 1984
59. L.A. Confidential 1997 Kevin, Russell, Kim, etc etc and so beautifully over done visually
60. Scream 1996
61. Beverly Hills Cop 1984
62. sex, lies and videotape 1989 ugh
63. Big 1988 (if I heard once I heard a thousand times...You look like Tom Hanks in Big!..I don't think it was a compliment any more than when I heard from one person "You look like Tom Hanks in Philadelphia! Not at the beginning...but at the end when his hair is grey like yours!" You mean when he was nearly DEAD?
64. No Country For Old Men 2007
65. Dirty Dancing 1987
66. Natural Born Killers 1994
67. Donnie Brasco 1997
68. Witness 1985
69. All About My Mother 1999
70. Broadcast News 1987 I have sweated like whatshisname I swear
71. Unforgiven 1992 A western I liked
72. Thelma & Louise 1991 Love the T bird and the performances
73. Office Space 1999
74. Drugstore Cowboy 1989
75. Out of Africa 1985
76. The Departed 2006
77. Sid and Nancy 1986
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
79. Waiting for Guffman 1996
80. Michael Clayton 2007
81. Moonstruck 1987 letMy mom and dad and I went to see it in San Diego on their first visit to CA when I lived her. Being CA we showed up too late and sat in the second row. My Dad said at the end "I liked it but I was staring up Cher's nostrils for two hours! It was a funny love story full of Italianism and Jewish isms I felt like I grew up with. You've got a love bite on your neck! Your life's going down the toilet."
82. Lost in Translation 2003
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn 1987
84. Sideways 2004 Loved when he drove the car into the tree
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin 2005
86. Y Tu Mamá También 2002 (What about my Mama???)
87. Swingers 1996
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 1997 (although I did like the following two)
89. Breaking the Waves 1996
90. Napoleon Dynamite 2004 A real classic
91. Back to the Future 1985
92. Menace II Society 1993
93. Ed Wood 1994
94. Full Metal Jacket 1987
95. In the Mood for Love 2001
96. Far From Heaven 2002
97. Glory 1989 (Morgan Freeman can do no wrong. Excellent movie)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999
99. The Blair Witch Project 1999
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut 1999

My Mom --- --- Attention Pig

OK, Mom.

First it was being the only mother of a performer at the Boys and Girls Club Show on April 4 to attend three times. (Attend and beg...BEG I tell you!...'not' to be introduced.
Then, later in April, it was the infamous pneumonia scare and hospital stay. Well, that faded away eventually.

Then, just a few short weeks later, she resorted to that Classic "Lady of a Certain Age" Show Stopper Attention Grabbing Stunt -

Breaking her hip!
(No shame I tell ya!)

It got so bad that Brother Chris' mother in law, Sally (god love her!) had to fake some sort of something and go to the ER to get a tiny bit of attention for herself!

So, I get a call from my brother Friday and I know it's trouble. What has she done now?

Another cliche attention getting device! A tornado in Nebraska! Oh Mom! Will it ever stop!?
Seriously, what a year for Mom! Her house had some siding ripped off when the telephone pole in the back yard was split down the middle by whatever it was. Without that there is no electricity. So Brother Chris and she had to go to the ER for her oxygen since the machine wasn't working without power. But she's fine. She's staying with her other mainstays, Cousin Nina and Gil!

Thank God! Love ya, Mom!

Chris....You're the oldest. You should have moved a long way away before I got out of college! But you stayed and you're the greatest! Thanks!

Flikr meme

Amazing how I can't sleep after a botched spinal tap. Just too sensitive, I guess! So while reading blogs I found a Flikr Meme on

Are You There, Blog? It's Me, Stephen

and it looked like fun! Thank you Stephen! Anyone with a Judy Blume referenced title must be good!

So, I have searched and cut and pasted and saved and thought and almost put myself to sleep...almost. Forgive me if I have done some blogger misdeed but I'm new (ish)!

I'm not sure what the mosaic will tell you but if you want to share, comment away!

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.
4. Tag as many people as you like.

The questions:
1. What is your first name? Kevin
2. What is your favorite food? right now? Chocolate Cupcake
3. What high school did you go to? Westside
4. What is your favorite color? Brown
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Wallace Shawn (No, not really but I thought the pictures would be good)
6. What is your favorite drink? Coca Cola
7. What is your dream vacation? Dubrovnik
8. What is your favorite dessert? Chocolate Chip Cookie
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Architect
10. What do you love most in life? Loyal Friends & Family
11. What is one word that describes you? Funny
12. What is your flickr name? Huh?

Gee, Wally! Meme's are fun!

I've been waiting for midnight in order to make sure I have something to answer on number 2!

1. What was I doing ten years ago?
I was at the beginning of a very tough cycle in my life. Although with my usual outlook I can tell the funny stories that go along with it! !
I had just been transferred at my request to another school after 5 years of working for my good friend, and wonderful mentor, Pat! I knew it was time for me to see if I was as good as I looked working with Mama Pat. But that request set off events that really changed my life.

I went for my short meet'n'greet with the new boss (aka UPS Bitch...explanation soon). UPS B told me she knew I was there to spy on her, to gather info & to get her fired. She'd see that it was me who left with a shattered reputation not her. "Welcome! Glad you're here!" The higher ups heard about it & tried to transfer me elsewhere but when I burst into tears hearing the name of THAT Boss' name**(Call her Dot), they rethought it and put me back with UPS B.

I won't go into too many details but basically as #2 in charge I ran the place with #3 in charge while #1 was missing in action. One morning, #3 and I were working in my office (the former supply closet...seriously...that adjoined the UPS B's office) #3 looked up and cocked her head. I looked at her and I knew that look. "Ignore it! Turn up the radio!" She turned it down and really screwed up her face listening. "Is that ? What's she doing in her office?" I put my pencil down and looked at her as I waited as a look of disgust spread across her face. "Oh MY GOD! Who's in there with her!?" I simply turned the radio up, pointed at the UPS packages piled in the hallway and went back to work. We kept that place in ship shape while the UPS B kept herself busy (....in her office....in her home while her husband was gone....in a dirty van behind the 7-Eleven). And, yes, when I left after a year that included having to look at the photographic evidence gathered by a PI, my work rep was okay if tattered a bit. Some assumed I ratted on her...I didn't, but I was told that she was being investigated...and she was fired. It was horrible.

**The reason for the tears? 13 years earlier in my early 20s and a new hire, fresh to California, no friends or family nearby, the boss, Dot, gave me excellent evaluations. Then she got very touchy feely. When I told her to stop, I was put on the road to being fired. It was to the point of signing a resignation letter when I told the HR man what was going on. Fellow workers more than backed me up and I got a reprieve. Men didn't get sexually harassed in the mid 80s so no surprise that the HR man asked why I didn't just f*** her. My only response was to hold up my hands and say "I eat with these hands!" I got a laugh from my union rep at least!

2. What are five things on my list to do today?
Smile, pass out awards, Smile, hope no one barfs on me during the BBQ at lunchtime, Smile

3. Snacks I enjoy? Dreyers Frozen Juice Bars

4. Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire? I'd set up a foundation to support & protect public education against right wing attacks that give half the facts, undermine our system of free and equal education for all and works to create a system of public education that gives public monies to private entities/schools while still allowing them to pick and choose their students.

Then I'd move to the beach and read.

5. Three of my bad habits? Biting my nails, staying up too late, driving too much

6. Five places I have lived? Omaha, Denver, Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga and, finally, I got it right with Claremont, California.

7. Five jobs I’ve had?
A/V Aide but that is so insufficient to explain the job. I was what the timer/recorder on a VCR replaced. I turned on these enormous VCRs at all times of the day and night to record programs for my school district when I was in High school and for a few years more. I had a master key to the school...as a student--a master key!....and, yes, though I was a very responsible teenager there ARE stories, lots of stories!

Men's Clothing salesman - and a short time selling Women's Shoes. Ladies, don't go shoe shopping commando, please!

Teacher (Speech to Deaf/HH children, Kinder, 1st, 2nd, 5th gr)

Assistant Principal

Principal

8. How did you name your blog?
It seemed obvious.

You sho' is ugly!

OK...this is a rant!

In The Color Purple, Celie is waiting at the front door as Albert, her husband, brings home Shug Avery, the love of his life, for her to take care of. Celie's anxious to see what this woman of legendary beauty and talent must look like.

Shug, happy drunk that she is, looks into Celie's eyes for the first time and says with a laugh...

oh, just check out 3:40 on this clip

So, why is it that people feel free to say things like that when they aren't drunk? These days society tries to be more accepting of our differences. Call it PC but it's the way it should be.

Today I was gathering my mail at the community mailbox as Baldwin sniffed around picking up his P-mail, adding his own commentary and moving on to the next bush.

One of my neighbors stopped and said "Have you lost more weight?"

Buying into the proposition that it was any of her business I explained that I'd actually gained 8 pounds according to the doctor's scale this week.

She then said I was too thin...that I might be trying too hard to lose weight... I needed to gain back that weight I'd lost a year ago. She went on happily that a guy my age should be heavier, and ended by saying I didn't look good "this thin".

I am 6'2" on a good day with dress shoes on and weigh 204 pounds. I ain't gonna be blowing away like a plastic bag anytime soon. I did lose 20-25 lbs a year ago when I got tired of taking the cholesterol and blood pressure meds. I take a bag of healthy food to nosh on all day at work(fruit, yogurt, juice, or whatever isn't chips or junk). I don't eat out of machines or at potlucks or anything like that. My rule is that I can only eat what's in the bag! My office staff, god love 'em, will slip a good home made cookie into the bag ince in a while since they are my weakness. The result has been that I am hungrier when I get home. I actually eat dinner and then am done eating.

It shows you how poorly I was eating that the weight came off quickly. My cholesterol went from 220 to 132. My blood pressure came down. AND I fit in the same size pants I wore in college. I abhor exercising! I was a fat teenager. I've been as much as 60 lbs heavier as an adult than I am now. But this time the weight, the cholesterol, the blood pressure came down because I changed my eating habits at work. I know...I'm lucky.

But are all American men supposed to be paunchy and bloated? Is it because so many people struggle to get their weight down that it's okay to make commentary on someone else's thinner frame? Is a thinner person's body up for public commentary?

Steven Jobs introduced the new iPhone this week. I've read several commentaries on it and one actually went on for several sentences saying he was too thin and no 53 year old man should be that thin. Who says? Look at Europe! They aren't like us. You can always spot the Americans by their white tennis shoes and their big guts. Is that really a model we need to strive for?

I almost wanted to say to neighbor that she should follow my lead and lose some herself!

"That ass is looking a little wide, Margaret!"
But that would be rude! Right?

A New Frontier for TheKevinPrinciple - - Memes?

Oi...

First, I am so sorry (Lea) for taking so long to post to my blog but it's been a hectic time. A few weeks ago, I shared with all 2 of my readers what a wonderful mom I have, about her bout with pneumonia which caused me to fly last minute to Omaha, about my, visit with her in the hospital and even more about fun stuff about that visit.

Well, I hadn't been home a few weeks when Princess Grace tripped and fractured her hip. It wasn't a bad fracture. The docs said that if you got to fracture it, that was the place to do it. So, I shuffled my Memorial Day visit with the tall and handsome Chris in Fort Worth and Chicago around a bit. I made some major contributions to the "Let's Make the Airlines Profitable Again" fund, and stopped to see Mom in her new location Brookstone Meadows aka The Ritz Carlton with Hospital Beds. It's a beautiful building, with a sincerely nice staff who actually care individually about the people staying with them.

Now if we could just get Mom to stop announcing to people ...

"I'm in Rehab".

So, Lea, that's my excuse and here's my post:

Alphabet Meme
A is for your age: I'm almost 50. I'm 48 until September 13 and a new iPhone would make a lovely early birthday present, Terry.

B is for your burger of choice: The Blue Burger, The Blue Job, Blue Burger Blue... You get the idea. A rose by any other name...

C is for the car that you drive: BMW Z4 but I've just about had it. I love the little zoomer but, well, I really like Mom's Prius. (Oh, lord help me, I'm old! I want to drive the same car as my mother. At least she doesn't drive a Buick.)

D is for dog's name: Baldwin! He's truly the best dog ever. He has a fan club. People will text me out of the blue to ask how he is. He gets attention wherever he goes. He's very quiet. He knows almost everything I say to him and reacts accordingly. I've lived with him since 1996 when I got him at the pound. He was sitting up in his cage. He's probably about 13-14 years old now. People always are amazed he's not 10 years younger than he is and even though Southern Chris is making plans for his ultimate demise**, he'll be around for a long time.

E is for an elevator: Yes. My loft has it's own private elevator. Here's Baldwin in it!
It sounds so Upper East Side to say I have my own elevator but the most common passenger would be groceries, dry cleaning or someone who is not claustrophobic and is on the their very first visit. I can load you in it on the first floor and have your favorite cocktail ready for you by the time you arrive on the third floor.

It was a white box with white tile flooring when I moved in. Baldwin was scared to death of it. I think it was because it resembled a shower. Now, it's a bit over the top in a Sunset Boulevard kind of way but how often do you get to decorate your own elevator?

F is for your favorite television show: Uh, I dunno.

G is for favorite game: Oh, any team game that takes creativity, a vast knowledge of trivial information and plenty of opportunity for clever cheating would be fun.

H is for hometown: Omaha

I is for instruments played: None, though I have a purple ukulele waiting for the end of scuba classes.

J is for favorite juice: Tangerine!

K is for what you'd like to kick: The butt of whoever thought up No Child Left Behind. Think back to your most stellar and exemplary school. Were 100% of the kids at grade level? C'mon! At the bare minimum, there's a dolt in every class! What about doctors having a 100% recovery rate? Accountants having a 100% accuracy rate? A President getting a 100% on a 3rd grade test in any subject? Not going to happen!

L is for last restaurant you dined at: The Yard House with my good friend, Gary!

M is for your favorite Muppet: Bert

N is for number of piercings you have: Two

O is for overnight hospital stays: Let's see, birth, then shortly afterward for some kidney infection ( see photographic evidence of the problem here ), tonsils out at 7, then a long stretch with none until my reward for overworking myself my first year at the new job: pneumonia at 40.

P is for people you were with today: Depends on how you define "with". It could be anywhere from 0 to 745 people. Yeah, go ahead, fantasize all you want.

Q is for what you do in quiet times: If it's sorta warm and I am anywhere near comfortable? I sleep.

R is for regrets: Oh, I should have stayed with Mom a few more days on the last visit, I should have bought a Prius, I should have moved to the beach a dozen years ago, shoulda coulda woulda

S is for status: Single but the times they are a-changing!

T is for time you woke up today: 4:45

U is for what you consider unique: About myself? That's way too hard to say. I mean, I'm me, doesn't that make me unique? Aren't we all? Should we all celebrate our "uniqueness'" instead of trying to make sure we fit in? I guess I'd say my ability to go off on a tangent with only a little provocation...

V is for favorite vegetable: Fresh Nebraska bought on the roadside Corn Cob on the grill

W is for your worst habit: Nail Biter

X is for x-rays you have had: Dental, arm, lungs, hand, and others I don't remember. Never broken anything...

Y is for yummy food you ate today: Grilled pork chop after it marinated in my own secret marinade for the day.

Z is for zodiac sign: Virgo

**That may be an exaggeration but Southern Chris does talk about buying some flat faced dog and naming him Barium as soon as Baldwin takes that big elevator to dog heaven. Actually, he loves his Mr. BEEEEEEEEEE!