Theatre Thursday

Week 4 - Do You Believe in Magic?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is now pulling all kinds of young witches and wizards away from their Playstations and into movie theatres all across the country.

That got us Muggles to thinking...wouldn't it have been cool to be able to point your wand at the bully that pushed you around on the playground, say "EXPELLIARMUS!", and watch them fly back against the wall?

1) Which magical power would you like to have (in order to further the cause of good for mankind, of course)? Which magical power would you like to have that you would keep hidden, guiltily, cackling about it under your sheets at night?

a) I'd like to have the power to make myself disappear and appear in another location. I just hate to drive ;) b) um, er, what? I would never do anything like that! (unless maybe I had the power to turn invisible....heh heh heh)

2) If you had a flying broomstick, would you use it? Where would you go?

Absolutely. I'd love to fly. I think I'd just enjoy flying above and around the mountains here in East Tennessee in the fall. Oh, and I'd fly in and buzz a Tennessee football game, preferably when Florida's about to score...

3) If you could briefly turn yourself into an animal, what would it be?

Well, if it didn't have a broomstick it would be some kind of bird (see above for reasons) but absent that, maybe a dolphin.

Bonus) Do you believe in magic?

Do I believe in miracles? Yes! Magic, as in Harry Potter/witches/wizardry type magic? No, sorry. Solely the stuff of fantasies.

That's it till next time! Be sure to leave your name and blog address in the Comments when you've answered the questions.

And remember, Traguna Makoides Tregorum Satis Dee!

Auditions

I auditioned yesterday for Albert (the Dick Van Dyke role) in Bye Bye Birdie at the Oak Ridge Playhouse. We'll see what happens - wish me (belated) luck!

UPDATE (06/14/04): Heard nothing over the weekend, rehearsals start tonight. Oh well.

TV Tuesday

Week 13 - Daytime Talk TV

From the tame and elegant setting of Oprah to the wild and crazy brawls of Jerry Springer daytime talk TV has a little bit of everything. They've got make-overs, psychics, paternity suits and things you'd rather not know about but their ratings are through the roof!! Like them or hate them they're part of TV culture.

1. Do you watch daytime talk TV? If so, which shows do you watch? Do you prefer the calm shows like Oprah or the wilder side like Jerry Springer?

Sorry, don't watch any of them. If I had to, I'd watch a light variety show like Ellen Degeneres or Wayne Brady. But that's only if I was forced to, by like, being in a full-body cast or something.

2. Which daytime talk TV show would you like to be on? What would the topic be?

If I had to appear on one, it'd be on one of the above-mentioned shows. I like both of the hosts, and I think I'd have a good time. No confrontations, no controversies, just fun chatter. Of course, I'd have to be promoting my new movie, or book or something ;)

3. Is there a daytime talk TV show you miss that's no longer on the air? Is there someone you'd like to see get a daytime talk TV show?

Can't think of any I miss. Someone who might be interesting would be Nathan Lane, but he'd have to do a lot of Broadway stuff.

~Bonus~ Before talk TV took over game shows ruled the airways during the day, which do you prefer? Or are you a soap opera fan?

I've followed Days of our Lives off an on (mostly off) since I was in school because my mom watched it during the day when I was a kid. It was just a family tradition. She still tells me occasionally what's going on...

Quick Thought on "The Dead Zone" premiere last night

If you watched "24" last season, you'll be heartened to know that new guest star Sara Wynter hasn't changed her expression a bit since she was on it.

It Sucks To Be Me

Congratulations to Avenue Q for winning the 2004 American Theatre Wing Tony Award for Best Musical

You and Me

Ok, I resisted at first, but here it is.

I first saw it on seductive kisses, and again on Big Orange Michael.

Answer the questions in the comments section.
1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. Do you have a crush on me?
5. Would you kiss me?
6. Give me a nickname & explain why you picked it.
7. Describe me in one word.
8. What was your first impression?
9. Do you still think that way about me now?
10. What reminds you of me?
11. If you could give me anything,what would it be?
12. How well do you know me?
13. When's the last time you saw me?
14. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
15. Are you going to put this on your weblog and see what I say about you?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: My Thoughts

Friday night (yes these posts are out of order) BrainyBoy (v8.3) and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and were not disappointed. Rather than a full and salient review (seeing as I am neither full nor salient myself), suffuse yourselves with a few brief observations and comments:

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

1) Overall, I enjoyed this movie a great deal, but I'm not sure why. The pacing was as even as I've ever seen in any kind of action-oriented film. There were very few highs, and very few lows - most of the action throughout the film was on a very even plane. I began to notice this trait about half-way through, and it followed fairly consistenly to the end. I don't think this was a bad thing, necessarily - it most likely had more to do with the structure of the novel than anything the director or screenwriter consciously did - but it was interesting nonetheless.

2) Again, this is the fault of the book but it felt wrong to leave Ron out of the climax of the movie. He was holed up in the Hogwarts infirmary with an injured leg while Harry and Hermione went back into the past. I thought as a result the last 20 minutes or so were too dry. Interesting, because time travel is always interesting, but Ron's normal addition to the team was obviously missing.

3) That said, he was written to be almost too childish through the whole movie, and was never allowed to do much that was heroic. And Rupert Grint as Ron is too old for some of the dialogue. If they're going to continue with the same group of young actors in the roles for films to come, they need to remember to steer the dialogue correctly.

4) What the heck happened to Draco "Mr. Pushover" Malfoy? Everytime he's confronted he breaks down into little girly-man tears and runs away. Yes, a bully is a coward at heart, but how does even he possibly keep his little crowd of Slitherin Sycophants interested?

5) Sirius Black's sudden change from hideous bad guy to trusted good guy, while accurate from the novel, was extremely abrupt and almost took me out of the story. And Gary Oldman was wasted in what was essentially a minor part.

6) Speaking of wasted actors, poor Maggie Smith. Why does she even bother signing on if they're not going to give Professor McGonnigal anything to do except flutter her hands and look worried? Similarly, Alan Rickman's act is getting old and needs to evolve more from film to film as Professor Snape gets more familiar with Potter and his friends.

7) Is it just me, or did David Thewlis (Lupin) look almost exactly like Jeffrey Jones?



8) Excellent use of the time metaphor throughout the movie, from the giant pendulum just inside the front door of hogwarts, to the virtual trip through the clockface, it set up the ending perfectly.

9) The Dementors were especially chilling.... I was a bit worried about BrainyBoy, but he took them in stride. Thankfully he's a bit young to have absorbed a good deal of the popular Death imagery, so the Death-Eater's similarity to the Grim Reaper was probably lost on him. They were still plenty spooky in that "Nazgul" sort of way...

10) I hope Hogwarts Castle has a good drainage system in the grounds, because somehow it seemed to rain and/or snow almost through the entire film. Also, BrainyBoy's soccer team calls off practice for 15 minutes at the first sound of thunder. At Hogwarts, they play Quiddich matches in blinding lightning storms...folks, far be it from me to tell you how to run your games, but if I were a parent of an aspiring wizard-to-be, I'd rather my little Seeker be safely indoors than flying through a thunderheard on a broomstick, dodging deadly lightning bolts. And I'd ask for better weather protection for the spectators, as well...

11) Finally, an open message to the folks who sat beside us in the theatre: Hey, my son's eight - he needed a little help with the plot, and was plenty excited about seeing the movie. That gives you no reason to SSHHHHHHHH!!! us twice - twice! - near the end of the film, in an auditorium full of chattering audience members. There was an action scene going, with little dialogue besides the occasional, "Come on!" and "Let's go, Harry!". Maybe those little snippets are important for you to understand what's going on. But he wasn't bothering anybody. Next time you want utter and abject silence while watching a movie, wait till it comes out on DVD.

AdventureCon 2004

Today my children took their first step into a larger universe...

We went to a sci-fi/comics convention.

AdventureCon 3.0-something-or-other was in town today, as I mentioned a few days ago. I was excited to see Anthony Daniels and David Prowse, and a few other old TV/movie sci-fi actors, so I planned an afternoon outing - assuming that the kids were safely tucked away at Grandma's house. When that didn't work out (they had planned a day trip to the mountains--have a good time, folks?) I mustered up my midichlorians, and packed them in the car with me.

BrainyBoy was very excited. I asked him later as we were leaving if it was anything like he'd expected, and he said it was nothing like he'd expected.

GiggleGirl was another matter.

GG was basically supercargo - along for the ride. A four-year-old girl who will, on occasion, watch Star Wars with her old man and enjoys the music but would much rather be playing with her Little Ponies, was not too keen on the idea.

Buck up little trooper! It'll be fun! There'll be cool people there, with costumes!

GG: "Um........ok........"

So off we went. Pulling in the parking lot, there's the General Lee! Parked right outside the convention center!

BB: "What's the General Lee, dad?"

*Sigh* "We'll look at it again on the way out."

So in we go - BB has our video camera in hand, and GG is swinging merrily from my hand. The first thing we see is the Dark Knight - The Batman. Well, someone in a Batman costume.

GG: "DADDY! DADDY!! LOOK, IT'S BATMAN!!!!!!!"

Paying our admission, we enter the hall. Wall to wall dealer tables - more than I've ever seen, really, outside of Atlanta's DragonCon.

Now, a quick word about my history. I'm a sci-fi geek from way back. I never had any costumes, but I attended my share of cons when I was in college. It's been a l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g time since I've been to one, though, and some things never change:



1) There are all kinds of people who attend Cons. Smartly dressed, and dressed in home-made costumes. Those too young to have first-hand experienced the original Star Wars trilogy, to those who were thinking deep thoughts about Heinlein and Asimov while I was still puzzling over Encyclopedia Brown.

2) There is more stuff to waste spend money on than at the mall. Truly.

Well, there's something for consistency.

One thing I did notice - some of the "vintage" toys and games I had when I was a kid. GI Joe's and their original green wooden foot lockers. An original "Trouble" game (with box falling apart).... These weren't vintage the last time I went to one of these...I wonder why?

Anyway, the kids were absolutely entranced. BB, video in hand, shot everything he could see, and somethings noone could see - like his feet. He fluttered from item to item, oohing and aahing over action figures, models, games, videos...GG picked up (literally and figuratively) on the more feminine things: the toys, the older memorabilia like Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and assorted stuffed animals. They marveled at the moving Creature from the Black Lagoon, gawked at the mounted AT-AT Walker models (circa 1980 Mattel), and were agog at the full-scale miniature of Jabba the Hutt's Palace, complete with all action figures, working trap-door and compatible sized Rancor beast below. The owner said that it took 16 hours to build. I believed it.

I still have a good number of my old Star Wars action figures from when I was a kid, and BB plays with them occasionally - I'm sure any collector reading this probably is having a heart attack (trust me, it's not this - it's that Atkins diet), but they're reasonably well taken care of.

So the merchandise tables were a hit. Then there were the characters...

Stormtroopers walked freely among the crowd, as did a TIE Fighter Pilot. Several Jedi Knights mixed with a Battlestar Galactica Colonial Warrior. We made our way to the "Ballroom" where the special guests were holding court, and there seemed to be a greater concentration of characters.

Inside this room was the Grand Assembly of the Imperial Legions, or something - which sounds more like a KKK rally than a collection of Star Wars Imperial Troops, but there they all were. People whose imaginations (and courage) are greater than mine, in their homemade armor and weaponry.

Well, BB's shooting everything he can see. Sandpeople, Jawas, Clonetroopers, an Imperial Commander....however, GG had had enough. She immediately jumped in my arms and dug her head in my shoulder....Apparently some of these guys were too much for her, but it wasn't until we saw a red-robed Royal Imperial Guard with her--yes, her--helmet off did GG perk up. You see, under the Guard helmet was a lovely young lady, and GG decided that "a lady" in costume was ok. So she introduced herself, shyly, and made a friend. After that, the costumed people weren't quite so bad :)

We got to see Anthony Daniels (the actor who played/plays C-3PO), who looks well for someone who's had the same part for 20+ years. Also, David Prowse, the man in the Darth Vader suit, Kate Jackson -- Yes, Kate Jackson!!! The smart angel from Charlie's Angels (she had fairly long, straight hair which I didn't think suited her, but I guess we're all used to the shorter bob she had on the show), Catherine Back from The Dukes of Hazzard -- she looked ok, but let's just say Cousin Daisy's looking more like Aunt Daisy these days, Richard Hatch (not the Survivor guy) who played Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica, and Felix Silla (Twikki from Buck Rogers. Mr. Silla looked a bit lonely, as no one seemed to be interested in speaking with him. I wonder at these events that draw a number of "C"-list celebrities, if they can sit where they can see each other (which they could today) if they compare the number of autograph-seekers and well-wishers they each get?

GG had finally had enough of the superheroes that shot sparks out of their fingertips, and the -- ahem, well-built -- Supergirl that was with him, so it was once back around the dealer floor.

We did, however, come away with a few purchases (natch).

I found an original Star Trek series set of Micro Machine ships I'd been looking for, BB got a Reek from The Phantom Menace, and a Ringwraith figure from Lord of the Rings. GG got some Snorks, and BB and I both found a model of the Back to the Future Delorean time machine we'd been looking for. In addition, each was given a paper sack full of Star Wars action figures - figures that were being sold in the dealers' room for around $5 each....if we were smart, we might've turned a quick profi---no, no, I wouldn't do that.

Clutching their treasures, BB gave GG a piggy-back ride out, and then home.

What a wonderful day...

Theatre Thursday

Week 3 - Disaster Movies.

The Day After Tomorrow has opened to rave great passable some reviews, and disaster movies are once again in vogue. This week's Theatre Thursday questions are about those motion pictures that make us want to avoid the water, planes, tall buildings, large cruise ships, angry atomic reptiles and everything in general that makes life enjoyable...

1) What's your favorite disaster movie of all time?

I'm not sure this is a pure disaster movie, but Independence Day is my favorite for general destruction and mayhem.

2) Do you prefer a disaster movie with tons of special effects, carnage and general mayhem (i.e. Armageddon) or would you rather see one where the focus is on the people and the event's effects on their lives (i.e. Deep Impact)?

I want to see how people react to disasters, and how it affects their lives. ID4 does this some, but not a lot.

3) Of all the disaster movies you've seen, which depicts the most realistic portrayal of what might happen in an actual disaster? Which was the most far-fetched?

The most realistic was probably The Perfect Storm. The most far-fetched, to me, was probably The Poseiden Adventure - I still don't believe a boat can just flip over like that and stay afloat :) I also enjoyed, but could scarcely believe, Kingdom of the Spiders.

Bonus) Which character would you be if you were in a disaster movie - the tough hero, the corrupt businessman who profits from it all, the old lady who runs around and screams "We're doomed!!!", the kid who saves the day, the young guy who buys it in the first five minutes of the disaster, or another stock character?

I'd be the guy who tries to cheer everyone up in the face of impending doom, then buys it in the most awful way imaginable...

That's it till next time! Be sure to leave your name and blog address in the Comments when you've answered the questions.

And remember, in the immortal words of Maureen McGovern:

There's got to be a morning after
If we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine
Let's keep on lookin' for the light

Be Still My Fanboy Heart

AdventureCon is in town this weekend...

Guests:

Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
David Prowse (Darth Vader)
Felix Silla (Twikki - "Buck Rogers")
Richard Hatch (Apollo, "Battlestar Galactica")
Jackson Bostick (Captain Marvel)
Brad Dourif (Wormtongue, "Lord of the Rings")
Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke - "Dukes of Hazzard")
Kate Jackson (Sabrina, "Charlie's Angels")
Ernie Hudson (Winston, "Ghostbusters")

Anybody going???

Time Passes

I found out this morning that an old schoolmate of mine passed away. He was the quarterback of our football team, had the lead in our Senior production of Oklahoma!, and was a pretty nice guy.

I didn't actually know him all that well, although we were always pleasant to each other. he was a jock, and I was an art guy.

Interestingly, our high school never seemed to have that bad of a social schism - there were fairly clearly defined parameters to our social and academic circles, but there was still a lot of cross-over, and never any true rivalries between them.

The jocks were active in the Drama Club, a lot of the brains were in the arts, etc. The "lower" strata was there...the punks, the hoods, other misfits - but even most of the misfits seemed to find a niche somewhere.

Other than never having a date (which is about 14 posts by itself), I have a lot of good memories of high school.

Oh, and did I say my 20th reunion is coming up this fall? Yes, it's been 20 years since my high school graduation...

One nice thing about reunions is I've gotten back in touch with a good friend I haven't been in communication with much over the years. She lives in Kentucky, and I'm looking forward to seeing her this fall.

I let her know today of the death of our classmate - she was much closer to him than I was, and was quite shocked at the news.

All this to say...time passes.

Welcome to the Rocky Top Brigade

New Recruits:

My old and dear friend Michael, from Big Orange Michael, Zoot of, well, Zoot. Plus there's Jay at Tennessee Liberal, Betsy at Pizza Soup and Jeff at the Baculum King.

Blogroll has been updated. Here's the code to put the RTB Blogroll on your site:

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="http://rpc.blogrolling.com/display.php?r=bc437d5b4878268597cc4cb373738dc1"></script>

Every two weeks, one of our Rocky Top Brigade members hosts the Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compendium of the best and brightest posts of our members over those two weeks. If any of the new folks (or anyone at all) is interested in hosting the Party, please check the Calender and let me know.

Welcome everyone!!!

2004 KATC Awards - Winners

For those of you who've been searching for it and coming to my site, here are the winners of the 2004 Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition Awards:

(The first set are from the Oak Ridge Playhouse)

Best Leading Actor in a Musical - Brian Hinman, "Company"
Best Leading Actress in a Musical - Erica Bundy, "The Wizard of Oz"
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical - Dana Wham, "The Wizard of Oz"
Best Director of a Play - Reggie Law, "Sylvia"
Best Leading Actress in a Play - Stephanie Quist, "Sylvia"
Best Supporting Actress in a Play - Karen Brunner, "Sylvia"
Best Scenic Design - Tony Lucchese, "The Diary of Anne Frank"
Best Young People's Production - "Little Women"
Best Short Play/Special Work - "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine"


Other Area Theatre Companies:

Best Play - "On Golden Pond," Actor's Co-op
Best Leading Actor in a Play - Bruce Borin, "On Golden Pond," Actor's Co-op
Best Supporting Actor in a Play - Terry Weber, "Romeo and Juliet," UT Theatres
Best Musical - "The Secret Garden," UT Theatres
Best Director of a Musical - Ron Bashford, "The Secret Garden"
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical - Tony Cedeno, "Little Shop of Horrors," Bijou Theatre
Best Lighting Design - Keith Kirkland, "The Secret Garden"
Best Costume Design - Bill Black, "Romeo and Juliet"
Best Sound Design - Mike Ponder, "Midwives," UT Theatres

Congratulations to all the winners!

Just for the Record

Just for the Record

Weblogs.com is a piece of garbage. You can ping all day, and it will never recognize your site has been updated.

Couple that with SayUncle's Rocky Top Brigade auto-RSS feed not indexing Blogspot sites (apparently), and I have no way to let anyone know I've updated.

Nice.

Shoot Me Now

BrainyBoy (v8.3) likes to watch Full House on Nick at Nite.

*blink*

*blink*

We once saw Drew Barrymore on some show or other, and I told him - "Hey - that's Gertie...the little girl from E.T.!"

He just looked at me. Guess the passage of time is lost on an eight-year-old.

Because of this, there's no way I'm explaining the Olsen Twins.

And speaking of the Olsen Twins - don't they sound like someone Potsie Webber and Ralph Malph might've had a double date with?

Ok, I'll hush.

Hm...Do You Think They Award Pulitzer Prizes For Sci-fi Novels?

Rich from Shots Across the Bow has been unemployed for too long, and he's fed up with it. In true American entreprenureal spirit, he's started his own micro-publishing company: PHD Publishing.

My mission is two fold. First, I will run a small, independent press, specializing in genre fiction, and releasing 12-20 new titles per year. I'll be marketing these PHD Press releases directly to independent bookstores, as well as to the big chains through a distributer. Additionally, PHD Press will provide low cost, quality editions of classic books in the public domain, like Huckleberry Finn, A Christmas Carol, or Around the World in 80 Days.

...

The second mission will be to provide a one-stop solution for people looking to self publish their work.

Which leads us to PHD Publishers LLC. We offer all the services a self publisher needs, proofing/copy editing, formatting for print or e-book, ISBN registration, printing and binding, whether short run (100-200 copies) or BOD, and web hosting for e-books, or author's book stores. It is our purpose to provide all the support the new author needs to break into self publishing, or to prepare their manuscript for traditional publishers.

If you're an aspiring writer, throw some business Rich's way. He's a nice guy, a great (if not frequent enough) blogger, and a charter member of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Good luck to ya, Rich, and happy publishing!

TV Tuesday

Week 12 - Marathon TV Watching

Hope everyone who was celebrating had a safe Memorial Day weekend!! Hopefully you got an extra day for your weekend!! Now on to this week's questions! Be kind, it's my first week solo! :)

1. In the US many stations run "marathons" all day on Monday, many stations have also went to running all weekend marathons of old sitcoms. So question number one is: Did you watch any of the marathons running this year? In part? In whole?

No, we watched Nickelodean all day here.

2. Is there a show you'd like to see run an all day marathon? On the flipside is there a show you'd avoid in marathon?

I'd watch a M*A*S*H marathon, as there are a lot of the older episodes with Trapper and Henry Blake either I've never seen, or haven't seen but once. I wouldn't watch any of the "fluff" 50's/60's shows in marathon, like Leave it to Beaver or Petticoat Junction. Ok, maybe Green Acres.

3. Is there a show/movie/program that brings back special memories for you and what is it?

There's one episode of M*A*S*H - near the end of its run in the early '80s. In high school drama class, we did a Reader's Theatre production, meaning all the actors sit in one area and read/act out their parts without blocking or costumes. I took the episode where a soldier has died and doesn't realize he's dead, and Klinger has kidneystones, and taped and transcribed the entire episode on a typewriter. We then performed the episode in class. I was Hawkeye and Father Mulcahy :) Whenever I see that episode, it reminds me of high school.

~Bonus~ What show featuring those who protect your country (fiction or non-fiction) is your favorite?

I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader.

~Bonus #2~ Out of curiosity, what's the longest you've ever watched TV in one stretch?!

Interesting question. Unfortunately, it was probably the 9/11 coverage...

See you next week! Same time! Same channel!!

Milestone

I hit 20,000 visitors to my site this afternoon around 10 till 4.

Thank you, everyone, for reading the Inn and all your comments. I appreciate it!

A Choice

Stalking the Bogeyman

Go quickly and read this man's story of a choice. A man who chose to walk about from the mouth of the abyss, and found another way to exorcise his demons.

Not for the weak of heart, but tremendously uplifting. I can't stop thinking about this man's courage.

"This time last year I was plotting to kill a man.

The man I was going to kill was the one who raped me in 1978, when I was seven years old."

(Thanks to Missives Anonymous for the link)

My Two-Second Dan Brown Book Reviews

The Da Vinci Code: Read It! Now!!!! (but only if you're not easily offended by speculative religious topics)

Angels and Demons: Read It!

Deception Point: Read It!

Digital Fortress: Read it only if you have a lot of free time and a low tolerance for bad plotting and shallow characters.

Theatre Thursday

Week 2 - Trilogies.

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has officially hit the stores this week (I bought the first copy at my local Borders yesterday). Trilogies have been popular in the movies for years. This week we look at questions based on some famous cinematic triumvarites:

1) The Back to the Future Trilogy sent Marty McFly 30 years into the future, 30 years into the past (twice!) and 100 years into the past. Which of these time periods would you like to visit in your 1.21 gigawatt-powered DeLorean, and why?

I think I'd like to visit 30 years into the future to make sure we make it out of today in one piece.

2) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was, of course, based on a famous trio of novels by JRR Tolkien. What sci-fi/fantasy/genre novels or series would you like to see turned into a Peter-Jackson-directed/George-Lucas-written/Steven-Speilberg-produced trilogy?

The Dragonlance Series of novels is an excellent fantasy series that comes in two ready-to-produce trilogies. IMHO, they are better than Lord of the Rings, but that's just me. No, actually, they really are better.

3) Next summer, there will be two complete Star Wars trilogies in the history books. What's your strangest or most interesting Star Wars experience?

Probably one of my best experiences is I was the first person into the theatre for the first showing of the original Star Wars the day before it opened in Knoxville back in 1977. A friend of mine and I won tickets on the radio to a preview showing they held the day before the grand opening, and he and I wormed our way to the front of the line to get into the theatre. When the ropes dropped I sprinted into the theatre first and got the best seat ;) I was 9.

Bonus) While the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones movies are currently only trilogies, plans are in the works for a fourth movie in both series. What trilogy might've been better served with a fourth movie? Which trilogy would've been better if they had left it at only one movie?

Can't think of a trilogy that needs another movie, but the one that should've stayed at one is easy: The Matrix.

That's it till next time! Be sure to leave your name and blog address in the Comments when you've answered the questions.

And remember, as the Terminator said in the first part of his famous trilogy, "I'll be back."

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XXVII

Stoney of Rebel Yell, the husband of the blogger with the unpronouncable name, is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Don't Get Any Ideas, L.

Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

New York
You're competative, you like to take it straight to the fight. You gotta have it all or die trying.

Seen at Hatamaran.

Last Night's Season Finale of 24

Well, it was nice Chase was able to lend a helping hand to the investigation....

Do it.

TV Tuesday

Week 11 - Everybody may or may not love Raymond

Ray Romano and co. just signed on for one more year of Everybody Loves Raymond, for record salaries. Situation comedies have been popular on TV since the beginning, with Lucy and co. being one of the first. So what's your take on sitcoms?

1. What's your favorite sitcom?

My Favorite sitcom is The Dick Van Dyke Show. Second favorite is M*A*S*H.

2. Is there a sitcom you really don't like?

Everybody Loves Raymond. Bleh.

3. Which sitcom did you used to like, but now it just seems too hokey?

I loved "Grace Under Fire" for the first couple of years it was on, but one season they inexplicably aged her son Quint about 5 years, Brett Butler really tanked with the booze and drugs and the bottom fell out of the show. A shame.

~Bonus~ If your life was a sitcom, what would the title be?

Barry'd Treasure, about a real family with intelligent parents and humorous situations raising small children in a small town in America. No Roseanne, Ed Bundy or Bob Sagett in sight.

Thanks for playing, and be kind to Insane Faery, your new TV Tuesday guru. I've enjoyed playing along with you, and wish you many more seasons of fun! ~ Isabella

And remember the immortal words of Homer Simpson: "The answers to life's problems aren't at the bottom of a bottle. They're on TV."

21 Things

Yet Another Meme:

1. Which political party do you typically agree with?

Democrat, generally.

2. Which political party do you typically vote for?

Democrat.

3. List the last five presidents that you voted for?

2000 - Gore
1996 - Clinton
1992 - Clinton

I am not ashamed of any of those choices.

4. Which party do you think is smarter about the economy?

Considering neither opposition party lets the other get anything started, who knows? I don't profess to know much about global economics anyway, so I have no real idea.

5. Which party do you think is smarter about domestic affairs?

Democrat, in that their policies are typically geared toward empowering society whereas Republican policies are generally geared toward empowering the individual. There's nothing inherently wrong with empowering individuals, certainly, but it often comes at the expense of the former.

6. Do you think we should keep our troops in Iraq or pull them out?

Keep them until Iraq is stable enough to leave behind a functioning government and a trustworthy peace-keeping force.

7. Who, or what country, do you think is most responsible for 9/11?

Well, Osama Bin Laden (or whoever in Al Qaeda made the final "GO" decision for the mission).

8. Do you think we will find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

I think we'll eventually find evidence of where they are, or were, which will put to rest any questions. I personally have believed from the start that they were trucked to Syria.

9. Yes or no, should the U.S. legalize marijuana?

No.

10. Do you think the republicans stole the last presidential election?

I think they did everything they could to capitalize from a huge logistical foul-up, and those who happened to be in charge that could steer things their way, did. If the governor of Florida had been Democrat, Al Gore likely would be president now.

This doesn't mean anyone did anything illegal, or that there was any kind of preplanned conspiracy. It just means circumstances fell in such a way that those who could, did.

11. Do you think bill Clinton should have been impeached because of what he did with Monica Lewinski?

No.

12. Do you think Hillary Clinton would make a good president?

If she were given the true respect a president should have, who knows. Maybe. She seems to be a smart, tough, no-nonsense kind of person. But from eight years of Democratic president experience and almost four years of Republican president experience, it's doubtful any president in the modern era will be able to govern effectively without having to worry about constant, unrelenting political opposition.

Compared to, say a turnip? Oh, you mean Pat Robertson?

13. Name a current democrat who would make a great president:

Well, I'd still like to see what kind of president Al Gore would have made if he started in January 2001. However, with the current Democratic mindset against the war, I don't think anyone would make a good president right now, unless they could think for themselves. And Gore has shown in the past year that he can't, which is a shame. I do have a lot of respect for Tennessee's governor, Phil Bredesen. I hope he continues his political career beyond the state level sometime in the future.

Ok, I'll go with David Palmer. Well, before this season of 24, at least. How the might have fallen....

14. Name a current republican who would make a great president:

Can't think of one.

I actually don't think we will have another "great president" until one takes office that is apolitical, or a centrist. Like that's going to happen anytime soon.

15. Do you think that women should have the right to have an abortion?

Not touching this one - nope, nope, nope.

16. What religion are you?

Christian, United Methodist.

17. Have you read the Bible all the way through?

Not all the way through, but many passages.

18. What’s your favorite book?

When I was a kid, my favorite book for a long time was "Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein.

Nowadays, I read so many sci-fi, mystery and suspense books it's difficult for any to stand out on their own. I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code for its puzzles and plotting, but it was nowhere near a "favorite" book.

19. Who is your favorite band?

The Beatles.

20. Who do you think you'll vote for president in the next election?

That's the big question. I don't know, and probably won't decide until I get into the booth. Let's just say John Kerry has a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g way to go before he can win my confidence as the leader of our country. The fact that we're still alive 2-1/2 years after 9/11 leans me toward Bush by default although I despise him. I guess I will be voting for a philosophy and a mindset more than a man.

21. What website did you see this on first?
SayUncle

The Prodigal Cat Returns

BEST DAY EVER!

"I can't believe it! Our Stripey is home after nearly a month's absence!"

Go give Leslie your best wishes, she really loves this cat and it had been missing for a long time....

She Hatesssssss It!

Sheila's Moment at the Cracks of Doom

"Came inside. Took shoes off. Put keys away. Took a shower. Put on terricloth robe. Walked into my room. Turned on light.

And ... saw the biggest "s" I have ever seen in my life - on my wall. [Ed. note: "S" means spider]

I stood - frozen - I did not know WHAT TO DO."

Read on for a great show of courage and intestinal fortitude, as Sheila confronts her deepest fear right straight in the fangs.

Good on ya, Sheila!

Marshall, Will and Holly...

Land of the Lost - LOTS of info about extras, final details, and early art

For a great number of 30-somethings like myself, Land of the Lost was the last, best guilty pleasure of childhood. Endless Saturday mornings, following the adventures of 3 travellers lost in a world of dinosaurs - it just didn't get any better than this.

A couple years ago TVLand broadcast some of these episodes, and I taped them. My kids love them, even in today's Jurassic Park era. Because they're good shows.

If you remember this show, check out the DVD and share them with your kids...

Theatre Thursday

Week 1 - Animation.
Shrek 2 opens this weekend in theaters, hoping to be an even bigger hit than the prequel. From Antz, to Mulan, to The Lion King, to Heavy Metal, even Anime; There are hundreds of animated movies.

1. What is your favorite animated movie?

My favorite animated movie, and pretty near the perfect movie, plot-wise, is Beauty and the Beast.

2. Which animated movie is your least favorite?

I can't stand Anime - the animation, acting and direction are so crude as to be unwatchable.

3. Who is your favorite animated movie character?

Either Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast or Timon from The Lion King.


We miss you in Toontown.
Thanks for playing. Don't forget to leave a link to your blog in the comments, so we can all see what your thoughts are on animation.

No Imagination

Giuliani: NYC not told about al Qaeda briefing

This is hard to believe:

'Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told the panel investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks that city officials prepared for everything they could think of in response to terror threats but that they never imagined that planes would be used as missiles."

...

Giuliani said the city had prepared for bioterrorism threats including anthrax, smallpox and dirty bombs. "We never thought there would be planes used as missiles attacking buildings."'

This shows the lack of creativity on the part of these so-called "preparedness planners." Apparently none of them has ever read a Tom Clancy novel. Or seen Independence Day. Or a single James Bond movie. Or watched The X-Files. Heck, apparently none of them has ever read a Spiderman comic.

Popular media has been dreaming up doomsday scenarios and supervillians and megalomaniacs and counter-terrorist units for years and decades. It's hard to believe that planes-used-as-missles never once emerged as a possible threat to NYC buildings.

Heck, only a couple weeks prior to 9/11, the premiere episode of The Lone Gunman, and X-Files spinoff, concluded with that exact premise - that of a hijacked airliner headed directly into one of the Twin Towers.

Maybe we need Jerry Bruckenheimer and Chris Carter in Homeland Security...

More about Wonka

To follow up on this post:

I finished watching the AMC "DVD" broadcast of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

I just wanted to add a few things about Grandpa Joe. Before, I pointed out my belief that Joe was a bad influence on Charlie by thinking only of his own fortune and convincing him to break the rules.

There's one more real instance of Joe's selfishness - at the end, when Wonka has given the factory to Charlie, the candymaker says the boy and his family can live there.

"And me???" Grandpa Joe asks, hungrily.

I never liked that line, nor the expression on Jack Albertson's face. It gave the impression that he was only thinking of himself, and his comfort.

But earlier, when Mr. Wonka tests Charlie's honesty in the office, Grandpa Joe vehemently comes to his grandson's defense. But, again, all the attention from Mr. Wonka is on Grandpa Joe, not Charlie. As if he knew it was Joe that would be the turning point. And Joe passed, as well.

Ah, another day another theory gone by the wayside...

Another interesting tidbit picked up from the commentary:

1) Wonka's first entrance into the courtyard of the Chocolate Factory,
2) The first step into the Candy Room

Both were the cast's genuine reactions to the scenes. Until they started filming Wilder's entrance, limping down the long path to the gates of the factory, nobody had met him yet. So the children's and parents' reactions were genuine.

Similarly, none in the cast had seen the Candy Room until they stepped into it as camera's were rolling, so their reactions to the mammoth chamber were genuine as well.

Signs You Spend Too Much Time Around Your Kids

You're driving down the highway...

You spy a Volkswagen beside you on the road.

You yell, "Red Punchbuggy! No Punch Backs!!!"

...and you are alone in the car...

Star Wars: Episode III Title Revealed?

Either Birth of The Empire or Birth of An Empire, according to The Sun

I kind of like Birth of An Empire better, if either are actually accurate. But I like them both. If it's true, I'll be much more pleased than after the other two prequel titles were announced.

TV Tuesday

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip...

Jay Leno once quipped when he was alone in an elevator his mind always reverted to the lowest song he could think of: "Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed..."

Love them or hate them, TV theme songs stick with us for years! If you're stuck on some lyrics, click here for a comprehensive page with words I never even knew existed. (Who knew I Dream of Jeannie had lyrics???)

On that musical note:

1. What is your favorite TV theme song?

Wow, that's tough. I really liked, and still do like, the "Friends" theme. Gilligan's great, and so is WKRP. However, I think my favorite is "Mad About You"

"Tell me why, I love you like I do,
Tell me who - can stop my heart as much as you.
Tell me all your secrets and I'll tell you most of mine...
Let's take each other's hand, as we jump into the final frontier!
(Mad About You, baby!)"


2. Which song drives you crazy enough to hit mute on the remote?

Family Ties with "What Would We Do Baby, Without Us". It never fit the tone of the series...

3. Which song are your proud to say you remember (most of) the lyrics to???

The Gene Roddenberry-penned lyrics to the Star Trek theme..

~Bonus~ Put the lyrics on your page (from memory), and I'll list you next week in the TV Tuesday Theme Song Hall of Fame. Don't forget to leave a comment so I'll know you posted!

"Beyond the rim of the starlight,
My love is wandrin' in starflight,
I know he'll find in star-clustered reaches,
Love, strange love a star woman teaches!
Although his journey ends never,
His Star Trek will go on forever,
And tell him while he wanders his starry sea...
Remember - remember me."

That is just sad...

Thanks for playing, and remember:

"Got kind of tired packing and unpacking,
Town to town and up and down the dial
Maybe you and me were never meant to be,
But baby think of me once in awhile.

I'm at WKRP in Cincinnati..."

Willy Wonka - the Untold Story

I'm in the middle of watching AMC's showing of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, complete with DVD-style written commentary along the bottom of the screen.

One fact I'd never heard before was that, due to a sponsorship agreement with Quaker Oats who agreed to launch a line of "Wonka" chocolate bars to promote the film, Quaker required the producers of the movie to ensure the name "Willy Wonka" was in the title. So they changed the title from the original novel's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I never heard that, and had always wondered.

I've rewatched this classic a number of times lately with my kids, and have come to an inescapable, but depressing conclusion: Grandpa Joe was a golddigger and ultimately a rather selfish man. Consider:

1) When Charlie returns home with the Golden Ticket, Grandpa Joe immediately takes focus away from Charlie - getting out of bed for the first time, and singing, "I've got a Golden Ticket!" Right from the beginning we learn It's all about him...

2) Grandpa Joe's the one who talked Charlie into drinking the Fizzy Lifting Drinks. If it weren't for Joe's recklessness and disregard for the rules, Charlie would've never gotten in trouble at the end. Joe says, "Let's try it, Charlie - nobody's looking!" And Charlie, who Joe knows idolizes him, follows suit.

More later as I watch more of the movie. There are other examples.

This and that from the weekend

• Rev. Donald Sensing slams the United Methodist Council of Bishops resolution condemning the US and the Coalition's "cycle of violence" it is creating in Iraq. Sensing notes there seems to be no condemnation for the actions of Al Qaeda or Baathists, and the Council's attitude seems to indicate they don't understand the consequences of US inaction in the War on Terror.
  
  
• Les Jones is back from his vacation, and has some interesting stories about his trip to Florida. He also mentions the closing of another restaurant I've been to a couple of times in Alcoa, the Elkmont Grill.
  
  Maybe Hatamaran will tell you of the time we had lunch there and a light fixture almost fell on her head...
  
  
• And on a sad note, South Knox Bubba has now officially Lost It. Bubba "interprets" a hypothetical scenario posited by James Lileks as a wish for an American city to be destroyed by a nuclear bomb. Read Lilek's post, then Bubba's (and his commenters) and you'll be amazed at the disconnect from reality. It's unfortunate, because what used to be a fine blog written by someone with rare insight into life (whom I considered a friend and now ignores my emails) has fallen so far to catering to the far left audience it's now incoherent. Either that, or he actually believes what he writes. I don't know what's worse.

UPDATE: A little bit of clarification regarding Lilek's post, for those who need it (you know who you are).

He's commenting on the lack of condemnation (or meaningful condemnation) of the Berg murder, by mainstream, non-fundamentalist Islam. It's a pattern that's continued since Al Qaeda were first identified as being behind the 9/11 attacks. Perfunctory words of sympathy, but..

"But where are the rallies and marches outside the Saudi embassies demanding an end to funding extremism?"

It seems more and more apparent that mainstream Islam refuses to take sides in the War on Terror. Since Al Qaeda and those of their ilk preach a perversion of modern Islam you'd think there'd be more protests, more calls for these "infidels" of Islam to be shunned. But that hasn't happened. Maybe Muslims are hedging their bets, waiting to see which way the tide turns.

Lileks acknowledges that the US has the power to cripple Islam in a few swift strokes. It could (meaning, it has the ability) to destroy Mecca, to destroy Syria, to destroy Saudi Arabia, to destroy Iran. But it won't, obviously, as a first strike and the enemy knows that.

"But it would be a crime greater than the crime that provoked such an act, and in the end that would stay our hand. They know we won’t do it.

Then he poses (are you listening?) a situation that would force a lot of fence-sitters to choose sides: the loss of an American city to a terrorist nuclear device:

There is another path, of course. Simply put: if a US city is nuked, the US will have to nuke someone, or let it stand that the United States can lose a city without cost to the other side. Defining “the other side” would be difficult, of course – do you erase Tehran to punish the mullahs? Make a crater out of Riyahd? These are exactly the sort of decisions we never want to make. But let’s say it happens. Baltimore: fire and wind. Gone. That horrible day would clarify things once and for all. It’s one thing for someone in a distant city to cheer the fall of two skyscrapers: from a distance, it looks like a bloody nose. But erasing a city is a different matter.
Everyone will have to choose sides. That would be one possible beginning of the end of this war."

This hypothetical scenario is but one of several others he supposes could happen to polarize the world Islamic opinion, but hopefully the changes are just happening where we can't see them:

" A minimal-casualty defeat of the Islamists will require the help of Islam. I'd like to think that will happen on its own, without some exterior catastrophe to force the issue."

So there it is. Understand?

A Series of Unfortunate Events

First a softball players slides into home onto my wrist, then I slam the car door shut on my thumb. But, the damage to my left hand continues...

I'm sitting there this morning, minding my own business and reading the paper. I reach over to turn the page, when suddenly there's a sharp stabbing pain in my hand... I jump, and see a fat happy wasp sitting on my leg. I jump to my feet, flinging my paper away with a shout and stomp on the little denizen from below, fulfilling my fatherly protective duties...

It has been 25 years probably since I was last stung by anything. And I'd like to wait another 25, thank you...

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XXVI

Medb, the blogger with the unpronouncable name, is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Good Lord, It's True

To refresh your memories, here's my blog entry from March 15:

Watch the Skies

The cicadas are returning to East Tennessee.

I showed the picture of them in the newspaper to four-year-old GiggleGirl, and she asked what they did. In addition to making a lot of noise, I told her sometimes the couch-sized bugs swoop down on eagle-sized wings, scoop up little kids and fly away with them.

I don't think she appreciated that very much.

Little did I know....and I tremble to say...

Cicadas Kill - Protect Yourself

"How large are Cicadas? Many of the Cicadas in this year's strain stand over 3 feet tall and weigh over 50 pounds. The largest Cicada to appear in Cincinnati...[caused] several hours of downtown traffic congestion while it searched for food in the form of human children. This giant Cicada was eventually shot by Cincinnati Police who mistook a spot of shiny tree sap on its leg for a gun. "

AIIIIII-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Hat tip: Sugarfused, who has the gory photos)

TV Tuesday

Reunited and it feels so good!

Tuesday at 9/8 central CBS is running the 159th episode of one of it's classic TV series: The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. This episode was written 40 years later, with all the surviving cast members in it. This will be an actual episode, with the actors in character, not just actors sitting around reminiscing about the good old days.

Bill Persky, the show's writer-producer, said in TV Guide: "Everybody's memory was not what it was. We could remember a joke from 40 years ago, but we couldn't remember whether we decided to do a scene this way or that way. Everybody had something they almost remembered, so when we were looking for a title, I came up with The Dick Van Dyke Show Almost Remembered. The comic timing was terrific- except when they couldn't hear anything. There was a lot of "What? What? What?" The greatest below-the-line expense was for hearing aid batteries."

On that note, how do you feel about reunion shows?

1. What show would you like to see brought back for an hour or two episode, to see how the characters are doing now? (This should be a show that it might be possible to do a reunion on.)

1st choice: M*A*S*H, definitely. I believe all the actors are still with us - Alda, Farrell, Morgan, Stiers, Swit, Farr, Burghoff, Christopher, (I think even Wayne Rogers is still kicking around, though would Trapper now have to be played by Pernell Roberts?) Unfortunately, Larry Linville has passed away - Frank would've been great fun (and of course, McLean Stephenson couldn't come back even if he were still alive). Actually, I'd be happy for a 2-hour episode of just Hawkeye and BJ sitting around drinking coffee and discussing their medical careers and their lives through Vietnam, the Reagan years, etc.

2nd choice: Picket Fences but it would have to be done v-e-r-r-r-y carefully with David Kelley writing the script, but not being allowed within 100 feet of the production stage - I've seen what he did with Ally McBeal and the Practice, etc.

2. Pick a show that could not realistically be brought back for a reunion, because some or all of the cast members are gone. What if they could have done a reunion before it was too late? Name the show you'd most like to see.

It might've been fun to see a Happy Days reunion where Richie and Lori Beth Cunningham were the parents of two teenagers in the 70's....but That 70's Show pretty much has covered that niche.

Another fun possibility: Alien Nation

3. Which reunion show have you watched and thought "Wow, they should have left that one alone!"

I was actually looking forward to the "Facts of Life" reunion for the sake of seeing Jo again (ah, my teen years...) but when I heard they actually decided her character was dead, I didn't watch it.

~Bonus~ Which do you prefer- a "reunion" episode of the series, or a "cast reunion" where the actors sit around and talk about the making of the show?

A full new "episode". Save the sitting-around-talking for the season DVD's.

Thanks for playing, and while you're watching Dick Van Dyke Revisited remember this: (found in TV Guide May 9-15 issue)

~ Actual furniture from the New Rochelle living room set was tracked down and used in the special.
~ An early title considered for the original show was "Double Trouble".
~ Johnny Carson was ever so briefly considered for the part of Rob.
~ The show was almost cancelled midway through the first season because it ran against the popular "Perry Como" show on NBC.

And who could forget:

"Oh Rob!!!"

Another One Bites the Dust

I just heard today that the great new West Knoxville restaurant Northern Exposure has been closed for several months. This was one of our favorite new places to eat, and I'm sorry to see it go. We drove by later this evening after the "thumb" incident, and confirmed the sad news. Northern Exposure offered a unique German/Pennsylvania Dutch style of cooking that we'd never seen in Knoxville, plus it had a great, dark and brooding atmosphere fitting a German-style restaurant. We wish the owners success in whatever their next endeavour may be.

Northern Exposure is added to our list of The Cooker and Miami Subs as late, great unique Knoxville eateries that we frequented.

Ah, well, there's always Aubreys...

How I Spent My Friday Evening

The gang and I all went to Sonic tonight. Sonic has nothing to do with this story, really (except I'd like to explain to everyone how truly wonderful and special their Cherry or Watermelon Slushes are), but it's the basis of what happened.

So we're getting ready to leave. The Ewoks decided they'd like to sit at the little tables out front (but, but, but.....the point of a Sonic is to Get Your Meal Delivered To Your Car So You Can Eat In Your Car. That's why it's built that way! But I digress). I've strapped Gigglegirl into her car seat, and stepping back I hold the edge of the frame with my left hand and slam the sliding door of the Ford Windstar closed.

On my left thumb.

For a moment, time froze. I looked at my thumb, half inside and half outside. There wasn't a lot of pain, and for a moment I thought, "This door has now automatically locked. It will take me seven minutes to contort myself around with my right hand to reach through the open driver-side window to push the auto-unlock, and even longer to convey the direness of my situation to my wife". But, thankfully I avoided the stress of all that decision making and simply opened the sliding door back up. Ah, the elegance of simplicity.

I looked at my thumb, still gripping the frame. It appeared to be in one piece, which is truly a good thing - especially if you work at a computer keyboard for a living designing websites, as I do. Then...oh, like a snickering childcatcher from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", the pain slithered malevolantly in.

Now, I'm The Dad. The Dad doesn't show pain, or scream, or start singing, "Carmina Burana" at the top of his lungs in agony. Not with impressionable 8-year-old boys around. BrainyBoy was, however, oblivious on the other side of the car, sucking down the remains of his Watermelon Slush (good taste, he). So I do the most manly thing I can do - I hunch over, thumb between my knees and wait. For the inevitable.

"What happened?" my wife asked, waiting patiently in the passenger seat.

i slammed my thumb in the door

"What??"

I slammed my thumb in the door!!

So, after a few quick breaths I regained my composure, re-closed Gigglegirl's door (c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y), got in and gingerly started the car. I looked at the thumb, and tested range of motion (Fonzie "Aaay" move? check Hitchhike? check Emperor Commodus passing judgement on Maximus? check) Ok, nothing appears to be broken. Pain's lessening, actually. Not too bad. Drive off, a little wiser.

Actually the worst part was seeing half a thumb outside the car, and hoping against hope that the inside part was still actually attached.

Invent a Memory

What a cool idea.

Invent a memory of me, and write it in the comments. The only stipulation is it has to be completely false. Oh, and keep it (relatively) clean....

(Hat Tip: Jill, via Busy Mom)

Cough...wheeze

I've got a bit of a sore throat, and a little cough. Nothing major, but I have about 300 hours of sick time coming to me....y'know the weather's supposed to be pretty nice the next week or so.....

TV Tuesday

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world…

In honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday (what- you forgot? Shame on you! Get thee to a Hallmark Store!) This week’s questions will be about that beloved group of ladies we all know and love- TV moms.

1. Who is/was your favorite TV mom?

Probably Marion Cunningham from Happy Days. Warm and friendly, and goofy as well.

2. Was she a realistic mother, or more of a TV fantasy type?

More fantasy, since it took place in the idealized 50's.

3. Which TV mom did you find the most unrealistic? Or if you’d rather: creepy – sappy – mean – you choose the adjective, and you name the mom.

I did not, do not, and never will care for Claire Huxtable from The Cosby Show. She had a look that said, "Heathcliff ...you are an absolute idiot, and I don't know why I even listen to you..." Ick.

~Bonus~ No disrespect to your dear old mum, but which TV mom did you think it might be neat to have as your own?

I think Carol Brady would've been a great mom. But not nearly as good as my mom. Hi Mom!

Thanks for playing! Happy Mother’s Day, and always remember the loving words of TV mom Roseanne Conner: “If those kids are alive by the time he comes home at the end of the day, then hey, I’ve done my job!”

How Cool Is That?

The owners of recent Kentucky Derby winner "Smarty Jones" live in Boca Grande.

(Related stories about my adventures in Boca Grande.)

The Big Gold Golf Ball

This would be very good news:

Mayor hopes to return spotlight to Sunsphere (Registration Required)

"But as one of the city's most recognized symbols, and with its next-door proximity to the Knoxville Convention Center, Mayor Bill Haslam says he would like to see the attraction reopened and put to use.

City spokeswoman Amy Nolan said the new funding would address the tower's faulty elevators and problems with its heating and air conditioning, as well as the invasion of several birds through its cracking exterior."

There is no mention of a rumor that srange puddles of melted wax keep being found on the outside panels.

If this goes forward, it's a good think for Knoxville. Let's hope we can find the money to get the Sunsphere open again permanantly, and maybe again put a restaurant up in the top.

I went up in the Sunsphere exactly twice, during the World's Fair twenty (gasp!) two years ago. It's time to go again and take my kids, this time.

Cheap Shots

Bad vibes go out to:

• TDOT - for closing one lane of Pellissippi Parkway, both ways, and only working on one side at once. Since they're apparently only employing one crew, only one side of the parkway can be worked on at a time, rendering the other side uselessly reduced to one lane. They've stripped half of the asphalt off the lane, rendering it unuseable to traffic. The Parkway is now a ParkingLot. Nice job, folks. That's my daily commute, and unless my office moves or I figure out how to work from home, my drive time has doubled both ways. Thanks.
  
  
• Local Media - There was a story over the weekend about some new controversy regarding UT's incoming president, . Seems the local media couldn't wait to start digging up dirt about the guy, and I seem to remember thinking the "dirt" was awfully suspect and reaching. Today, however, I can't find the story on the Sentinel's or WBIR's websites and I can't remember the exact details enough for a good rant. Guess they got the hint that it wasn't that important in the first place...

Prom Night

Tonight is Gigglegirl's prom.

She's 4.

Her daycare holds a "prom" for the kids who will soon be moving on to kindergarten. They're requested either to dress up, or wear some sort of cute costume. Gigglegirl's going to wear the Tinkerbell costume from this past Halloween.

She's 4.

No word yet on whether there will be any actual dancing involved. I've had my eye on the little boys in her class lately, making sure they weren't giving her any suspicious looks. Warning to all little boys: Daddy's watching.

She's 4.

What will it be like when she's 16? Don't ask - I don't want to know yet.

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XXV

Busy Mom is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Set Your VCR's

TV briefs: CBS readies nostalgic specials for sweeps

"CBS' plans for the May sweeps period include several blasts from the past. The network will offer specials paying tribute to both "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Carol Burnett Show."

Up first will be "The Carol Burnett Show: Let's Bump Up the Lights" on May 5. The special will reunite variety legend Burnett with Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner for an evening of memories and never-before-seen and frequently-before-seen clips.

Less than a week later, on May 11, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Carl Reiner and Rose Marie will get back together for "The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited," a new episode of the classic series set in 2004. In addition to catching up with Rob and Laura Petrie 40 years later, the episode will feature the usual array of memories and clips."

This is fantastic. Any new retrospective special with Carol Burnett is worth watching, but the Dick Van Dyke show update (something alluded to by Carl Reiner at last year's TVLand Awards) is something I've been looking forward to for years.

The Dick Van Dyke Show is my favorite sit-com, and it's the funniest, classiest, smartest and probably the most sophisticated sit-com that I've ever seen. Can't wait.

Mark Evanier has more.

Conversations: Saved by the Bell

More questions from Gigglegirl.

Gigglegirl (4): Daddy, can I ask you a question?

Me: Sure, honey.

GG: Can you tell me about babies?

Uh oh. Didn't we cover this?

Me: What do you want to know about babies?

Pleasebeaneasyquestionpleasebeaneasyquest--

GG: Daddy...how do babies get out of their mommy's tummy?

Me: Um... Er... Why don't you ask your mom when she gets home?

(Buck passed so fast I wore it out)

GG: No, I want you to tell me....How do they get out??

Me: Well, I know mommy can tell you a whole lot better than I can...

(searching frantically for a portable hole to jump into...)

GG: I want you to tell me....please, daddy?

R-I-I-I-I-N-N-N-G-G-G!!!!

(turn around, dash away to answer phone)

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Bloggercon III in Nashville?

I saw go for it. Only a couple hours west of here, and there are a number of East Tennessee bloggers that would probably participate.

Bill Hobbs and Rex are on the case, and so is new RTB member Blake.

Steve Kirks and Robert Cox also endorse the idea. And they don't even live here.

I'll bring a bag of Doritos, or something...

TV Tuesday

Stop me if you've heard this one...

Comedy Central unveiled it's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comedians of All Time last week. (The list was quite subjective, I don't know who voted, no one asked me.) But it was a fun series of shows to watch. They are replaying it endlessly if you'd like to catch it. You can view their list here, if you'd like some help coming up with names for this week's questions!

1. Who is your favorite stand-up comedian of all time?

I'd have the say the one stand-up whose material made me laugh the most was Bill Cosby, especially his "Fatherhood" routines. Second place would probably be George Carlin.

2. Which one could you do without? (Not your type of humor, or just plain stupid!)

Although he was at times mildly amusing, I could never understand the point of Sam Kinison. I was never really amused by Don Rickles' "insult" humor, either.

3. Which comedian do you think has gone on to have a great career aside from doing stand-up?

I think Robin Williams has had the most distinguished career outside of standup.

~Bonus~ If you went to a comedy club on amateur night, and they gave you some jokes and a microphone, would you go onstage?

In a heartbeat. I love to perform, and if I have material and something to improvise with, I think I'd do pretty well.

Thanks for playing - you are one wild and crazy guy!!!

Welcome to the Rocky Top Brigade

New Recruits:

Blake of Nashville Files Blog, Candi The Baseball Widow, and Cas Walker's Coonhunter's Journal.

Blogroll has been updated.

Welcome everyone!!!

My Brief Vacation

Spent the weekend at a church retreat in Townsend at the Valley View Lodge. My wife had to stay home to take care of some work and other personal responsibilities, so it was dear old dad who "loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly" on Friday...

BrainyBoy and Gigglegirl are, generally, pretty well-behaved when they're together. But as they say, don't push your luck. A weekend together in fairly close quarters can get both of them in a mood and this weekened was no exception. After a particularly trying moment at dinner one evening, I turned to someone and offered this heady, deep observation: "Single parenting sucks". Thank you, good night everyone. Drive safely!

In fact, the person I turned to was Single Parenting (tm) this weekend, as well. Her husband was on a separate spiritual retreat (the same one I was on last fall) and brought up her 7 and 8-year-old boys. Another friend, whose husband was also at that separate retreat, had her 8-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. All four of our sons are good friends, and we tended to stick together through the weekend.

This being said, I have all the respect in the world for Single Parents. Having gone through the trauma of a divorce or death of a spouse, those who are forced by necessity not only to be father and mother - and empart all the separate life-lessons for both of them - but just the ability to consistently divide their attention between two or more kids is nothing short of amazing. There were moments when BB was out on the porch with the boys, and GG was riding a bike around the dinner area. Two seconds later, while I'm watching the guys throwing the football off the balcony I glance around and GG's gone. Three minutes of frantic searching reveal she's playing hide-and-seek from her little friend. In the girl's bathroom.

Well, I would've never looked in there...

Of course, having corralled her, I realize BB and the Boys (sounds like the name of a 60's music group) are chasing each other through the dining area. Lucky I brought my lasso...

Anyhow.

GiggleGirl woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat, a powerful thirst, a generous dad and even more generous amounts of the water tossed up right back at me a few minutes later. Shall we say....ick? Apparently the combination of copious amounts of water on an empty stomach did not make for gastronomical peace and harmony, so out it went all over her, the hotel bed, dad, and everything. Well, not to worry - got her cleaned up, some toast in her and some of her old perkiness returned. Dropped her off at the playground and next thing I know she's snarfing Cheetos at lunch. I kept a wary eye on her just in case.

The theme of the lessons for the weekend was on "Conflict" - resolving personal conflict, family conflict, and church conflict. The speaker was the pastor at a local church who was also a brain cancer survivor. He seems to know something of conflict... Interestingly, his wife was the sister of a former college friend of me and my wife - in fact, she was in Camelot that I directed back at the Wesley Foundation at the University of Tennessee in 1991. Plus I went to high school briefly with another of her sisters. So, small world....

When we got back this afternoon, both kids were beat. Both hit the sack easily and gratefully. So will I, soon.

Happy Birthday!

Brian Arner of Resonance is having his first blogiversary - go congratulate him!

A Touchy Subject

Black official accuses Wilder of making racial remarks (Registration Required)

'Lt. Gov. John Wilder made "openly prejudiced and racially biased" remarks to Capitol visitors, according to a Carter County commissioner who wants a written apology besides the phone call he got Thursday.

"During your introductory remarks you stated that 'because of affirmative action favoring blacks, women and other minorities, people like me (gesturing to your skin pigmentation) could no longer get decent jobs,' " commissioner Robert Davis wrote in a letter to Wilder, who is white.

...

The commissioner said he believes Wilder should resign, but the speaker said he has no intention of stepping down from the post he has held since 1971.'

Geez, why does it seem to be taking forever for this kind of racial bigotry to finally go extinct? And how long until our elected officials (or government appointed ones) finally realize when they're on camera and in the public eye before they go spouting off at the mouth? How long, also, before their younger and presumably more enlightened colleagues being indicating that there's no place for this in government society any longer?

We're relying on the Iraqi people to stand up for themselves and resist their uprising countrymen, and our representatives can't even stand up to their bigoted colleagues? We're counting on mainstream, moderate Muslims to denounce their fanatical cousins and we still have this kind of public behaviour?

Well, maybe someday.

But the other thing - Trent Lott made similar statements at Strom Thurmond's birthday (which a lot of bloggers get swelled heads at "breaking" the story). Lott's comments, though they didn't seem to be even as insensitive as Wilder's, caused pressure to mount for him to resign as Speaker of the House.

I think that these things should be dealt with privately, and to call for someone to resign their position based on one comment - no matter how ugly - is short-sighted, and vengeful. It serves no useful purpose, unless there's a demonstrable pattern of discrimination that affects how they (Lott, Wilder, whoever) do their job. But, of course, there's no record of this behaviour since the other senators and reps don't seem to have made a big deal out of this beforehand.

Guess we'll just have to wait.

Overstayed His Welcome

Judge tosses [Thomas "Zoo Man"] Huskey photo out of court (Registration Required)

"Prosecutors contend it is proof the woman who says accused serial killer Thomas Dee "Zoo Man" Huskey raped and kidnapped her in August 1991 is telling the truth."

If you live in East Tennessee, you'll understand what I mean when I say:

Is this guy ever going to go away???

It seems like he's been on trial and in the news since I was like, 11.

UPDATE (04/26/04): 'Zoo Man' verdict: guilty

Ok, maybe this will take care of it.

Yeah, right.

Please, Just Make It Stop!!!

When you're in a technical field, you're occasionally offered "free" subscriptions to certain trade magazines. Since I'm in the internet/website business, as well as the Healthcare industry, I get offers from both sides.

Some of the magazines are interesting, some are way technical and some are just strange. But a couple of years ago I subscribed to the magazine, "InfoWorld." I'm not sure if it's sold on the newsstand - I've never seen it there, and it's a little thin, so I assume subscriptions are how they make their per-issue money.

Now, free subscriptions are free in that they cost no money - which is good - but they require you to fill out either a physical paper form and mail it in (how 80's), or fill one out online. They want all kinds of demographic information about you, your company, how many people work there, how much $ it makes, what kind of decision-making power you have, etc. I generally don't mind filling this out because, hey, I want professional stuff headed my way. I do, however, make sure I carefully Not check the "Do you mind if we sell your email address to slimy 3rd-party spammers pretending to be legit e-commerce vendors" box.

So anyhoo (or anywho - you make the call), I'd been getting this InfoWorld for about a year. It was a decent little publication, but it was more for the IT industry than my job gets into, so when it came time for renewal I declined. That, I thought, was that.

Not so fast, tomato!

Well, I continue getting them. And getting them. And Getting Them. Did I mention it's a weekly? Every week (and it seems like occasionally it's more often than that) they keep coming in. And I keep tossing them in the trash. I also still get email renewal reminders, which I do not fill out.

Then about 2 weeks ago, I got an issue which on the cover said:

"KISS YOUR SUBSCRIPTION GOOD-BYE!

Unless we receive your renewal application immediately, this is your Last Issue.

Your free subscription to InfoWorld will expire unless we receive your renewal application by midnight on May 11, 2004, central standard time."

And so I think, "Ok! That's it! No more annoying magazines!"

Foolish mortal.

A week later, the next issue arrived. And today, another. Next week, another will also. And it will continue, like a bad Stephen King short story, to arrive week after week after week after week until I die.

And one of these days, your children will be travelling down an old country road and see a lovely cemetary. In the middle of the cemetary will be a lone gravesite, with about a thousand magazines stacked on top. And every 52nd one will say:

KISS YOUR SUBSCRIPTION GOOD-BYE!

My Legacy

I mowed my backyard last night, and having recently purchased a used copy of the Special Edition Return of the Jedi Soundtrack, I loaded it up into my portable CD player and listened as I mow.

Now, I love sci-fi and I love soundtracks. I have a tendency to get lost in just about anything John Williams scores.

When I finished, I came in all hot and sweaty, with the earphones still on and the CD still going. GiggleGirl bounces over and, after commenting about my general yuckiness, asks to listen.

The track "Jabba's Sail Barge Assault", a rather bombastic piece, was playing. I slipped the earphones over her ears.

Her eyes grew wide, and a big grin came over her face. And she started dancing and directing to the music, and generally enjoying the heck out of herself.

YES!!! I've found my blood-sister for soundtracks!!! Now she wants to watch the movie.

And so a little Jedi is born....

Random Spam Subject Heading in my Email Today

Subject: propellant immovable dinah extent lucas endgame recriminatory exploitation ar convivial perceptible mackintosh picnicked brindisi crocodilian ah mailmen confident cretaceous infarct lawsuit glacis impassable earth barbarism gneiss erasmus

Ok... no need to go any further. You had me at "crocodilian".

I'm just wondering what kind of search engine searches I'm going to garner after this post ;)

TV Tuesday

Just the facts, m'am…

Whether it was Barney Fife with one bullet in his pocket, or Lt. Columbo's "Just one more thing…", we could be sure in the old days that TV cops would wrap everything up neatly in 30 to 60 minutes. These days it may take a few episodes, but TV's top cops still manage to right most of the world's wrongs.

1. Who is your favorite (past or present) TV cop?

Andy Taylor, of course. 1st runner up: Joe Friday.

2. Which TV cop do you think was the most crooked, or the most inept?

Probably Roscoe P. Coltraine from "The Dukes of Hazzard"

3. Which TV show had the best ensemble cast of police officers?

"Hill Street Blues" (big shock)

~Bonus~ You need to hire a bodyguard for yourself. Which TV cop do you choose?

Well, if it was going to be a really really long deep undercover bodyguard duty with no other human interaction...um, probably Kim Delany's character from "NYPD Blue" ;) But if I really needed someone to protect me I'd pick Bobby Simone from "NYPD Blue".

Thanks for playing… Let's be careful out there!

TV Note: Thursday and Friday this week at 10/9 p.m. central, Court TV is running a 2-part documentary called "Just the Facts", dissecting the accuracy of Hollywood's depiction of police work. "Police work is years of boredom punctuated by seconds of sheer terror," says Bill Davis of the California State Police. Doesn't quite seem that way on TV, does it?

2004 Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition Awards

The nomination list for the 2004 Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition Awards is online at http://www.katcawards.org/.

The Oak Ridge Playhouse musical I was in, Company, has been nominated for Best Musical! Brian Hinman - a phenomenal talent, and a heck of a nice guy (say hi to him at Cat's Records on Kingson Pike the next time your're there) - has been nominated for Best Actor for that show, and our director, Terry Silver-Alford, has been nominated for Best Director. I blogged about my experiences somewhere around this area.

If you saw any plays in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge/Sevierville area last year, go to http://www.katcawards.org/ and vote for your favorite!

Smack Dab in the Middle

Take the IOP Political Personality Test

I scored as a religious centrist. Yep, that about sums it up nicely.

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XXIV

Thomas of Newsrack Blog is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Let's Get Going....

Ok, so the Northern Alliance has this.

And the Bear Flag League has this.

C'mon, Rocky Top Brigade - we're falling behind! We're in danger of becoming the Big Sky Conference in the blogging Alliance world.... Any ideas? There are several local Knoxville RTB bloggers - Myself, South Knox Bubba, SayUncle, Hatamaran, Rich, Bjorn, and of course The InstyDeity. That would certainly be an interesting discussion with all of us at once ;) I'm not sure all of us could be in the same room together these days....

Let's think!

Off Day? Or Just Intoxicated?

I saw the Mercedes G500 on the way to work today.

What designer had a bad day when he designed this car? Ugh.

The Most Useless Blog Post Ever

What is the correct spelling of "anyhoo"?

Is it "anyhoo" or "anywho"?

The fate of the world lies in the balance.

My Blogspace

A recently circulating meme was to take a picture of where you do your blogging. Well, don't tell anyone but I've been known to post something from time to time at my office. Well, here it is:



That's my desk. Notice the random geeky items scattered about: the DS9 Hallmark Ornament, the Archer Enterprise model (with working lights and sound!), my Palm Pilot in its cradle, plus a picture of GiggleGirl. Discerning eyes will notice that the calendar says "March" but that's only because I took the picture last month. There's also a wooden skeleton of a Triceratops that BrainyBoy made one day he was visiting. Take a look into the hall and you can see the small strip of carpet that separates my office from Hatamaran. Finally, notice what swell website's up on the PC...



This is the flip side, looking toward the back wall and my 2nd PC. It's primarily for email, but it's also the home for The Schoolhouse Rock Bill and Conjunction Junction Engineer, a Lego X-Wing Pilot, a lionfish from the Gatlinburg Aquarium, a green painted T Rex BrainyBoy painted one day, and oh yes, a tribble that really squawks when you squeeze it. On the wall, on the bulletin board, is the word "ECOLOGY" - that's from when that bulletin board starred in the production of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" I directed a couple of years ago. Take a look at the book sometime and you'll see the sign. Also to the left on the shelf is a Borg. On the desk is my cell phone recharging, and on the wall is a poster of "Malificent's Fury" from Sleeping Beauty I picked up at Disneyworld a few years ago.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour of my blogspace - if I can get the digital camera home, I'll post what the desk I'm currently typing this on looks like.


UPDATE (04/14/04): I apologize for the uber-crappiness of the pictures. For some reason, my photo host site, Photoisland, refuses to provide graphics in the dimensions they were intended. Anyone have a better free site to host photos that allows you to link them into other sites like this?

Phototime!

There's a new thing going around, from Phototime Tuesday - here's the scoop:

"Self Portrait. It doesn't have to be revealing. It could be taken from behind, in a mask, or any old how. Give reason to be creative"

So here's my self-portrait...



Well, actually, I didn't take it - I think my dad did....