Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Of course, this means Mom's trip up here tomorrow might turn into an Adventure, but you need one of those every now and then, right?
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thanks to Cowboy for finding this! Dano loves it too -- he requests it about half as often as "Jingle Bells."
(Note to DKoren: it involves flashing strings of Christmas lights and parts of "The Nutcracker" played on metal instruments. You might hate it.)
Monday, December 15, 2008
"Australia" (2008) -- Initial Thoughts

I was pretty sure I would at least like it, because it has cowboys, soldiers, horses, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Jack Thompson, and David Wenham in it. Plus, it's set in Australia, home to my most favoriteset movie of all time, The Man from Snowy River (1982). And I really like Baz Luhrmann's storytelling abilities. Plus, Mom, Dad, Johnnycake, and Dimples all liked it.
My expectations were more than met. They were exceeded on every hand. The sweeping story of love and good vs. evil, the breathtaking panoramas, the sweeping shots of a cattle herd on the prod, the enjoyable acting... it was all grand.
And I know Hugh Jackman "learned to ride" for this movie, but holy horsemanship, Batman! The man looks like he was born in that saddle, and you could tell he did most of the riding himself. Yeowsa. The sight of him on a horse galloping full-tilt as he drives a herd of brumbies past the camera... it was almost like watching Snowy River for the first time again.
Actually, parts of it did remind me of The Man from Snowy River (the original, not the Disneyized sequel), and not just because they both have Jack Thompson in them. The loner hero who has a special way with horses, the pretty heroine who's tougher than she looks, the various characters out to prove themselves... mmm.
Oh, it gets one Warhead, if you hadn't guessed.
While writing this scattered, unfocused, effusive review, I've been looking for pix to add to this post. Three of them remind me so much of other movies, I can't help but think they're deliberate hat-tips.
This pairing makes me think Gone with the Wind! You too?

This shot of Hugh Jackman is pure Clint Eastwood from his Spaghetti Western days. I blogged before about their similarities....

And finally, this shot has to be homage to John Wayne in Hondo. It has to be.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008
He's fourteen months old now, and has a vocabulary of nearly thirty words. A lot of them are only recognizable to us, but anyone could understand quite a few, like "daddy," "apple," and "up." And is that boy ever strong! Yesterday he grabbed a forty-two-pound dumbell and started dragging it across the floor. Not rolling it, dragging it. We're doomed.
Saturday, December 06, 2008

And I swear they found shots of every time the Duke ate in a movie to put in this book -- what a fun task that must have been! The authors actually included their email addresses at the end of the book, so I will probably have to write them and tell them how much I dig this book. Maybe after I've made one or two of the recipes.
Saturday, November 29, 2008

So now I am going to go bake some gingerbread and stop ignoring Cowboy and Dano :-D
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I'd like to try some that were roasted over a fire, as they're supposed to get a smoky flavor going on. These were pretty good, though. They smelled just like baked ham, and tasted a little like it too. The only thing I didn't care for was their texture, which was akin to baked potato, and as we all know, I am not so much a fan of potatoes.
But still, I have now had roasted chestnuts, which I happen to think is quite cool.
Monday, November 17, 2008
WARNING: LOTS OF SPOILAGE BELOW!!!

So yeah, I went to see Quantum of Solace yesterday. And it had its fun points, for sure. The Wondrous White Pants made another appearance, to great effect. There was a motorcycle. Daniel Craig is 100% enjoyable as Bond. I like Dame Judi Dench so much as M, I want to adopt her as my snarky great-aunt.
But most of the action sequences were a big disappointment. I know the herky-jerky, in-your-lap camera style is supposed to make us feel like we're in the thick of the fight or car chase, but these were shot so close and cut so quickly that I couldn't tell what was going on a lot of the time, and that's not cool. Even in the second two Bourne movies, which this seemed to be copying, I can still tell what's going on. In Quantum's opening car chase, I could barely tell who was chasing who. And during the fight on the scaffolding, I literally could not tell which guy was Bond and which was the baddie. And that's not just uncool, that's bad directing and editing. Never confuse your audience like that, people! You will only annoy them.
Also, the plot was kinda scattered. I love the tight focus of Casino -- it feels like riding a racehorse through a tunnel. Quantum feels like running a three-legged race on a golf course. It's way shorter than Casino, but feels longer.
And hey! Beating the snot out of people using an everyday object is Jason Bourne's turf! I think the number one thing that bugged me about this movie was the fight where Bond kills the guy with a cuticle scissors. The whole thing, from the guy bursting through the window through the death-by-manicure, just reeked of copying Bourne. Grr.
And I kept wanting the bad guy to be played by Sam Rockwell instead of this Mathieu Amalric guy -- Rockwell could've pulled off the skeezy thing with more fun and zeal.
That said, it's a fun romp, and it served the very important purpose of defunking me out of a seriously cranky mood. And it had the Wondrous White Pants. But it gets two Warheads for dragging in the middle.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

(Many thanks to Noumenon for pointing me to this article!)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
And don't worry, I'll still post about craft projects here now and then.
Monday, November 10, 2008
And yes, they're of great assistance when one is pounding out 2,000 words a day. I'm past 16,000 words now, and I put a new snippet up last night.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This past Sunday, I went to the library and saw I Want to Live! (1958), the true story Susan Hayward got her Oscar for. It was quite cool -- I especially dug Simon Oakland as the reporter whose story inspired the screenplay... I'm used to him as the other sergeant in "The Long Way Home" (Combat!). And it was neat to see Theodore Bikel as something other than a Mountain Man or a Russian submarine captain obsessed with American scenery.
And in other news, I'm considering starting another blog. Yes, a third one. Because I'd like to have one to link to from my Huggermugger shop, a blog that deals with crafting and stuff like that. But at the same time, I feel like maybe I should just link to this one, and stop fracturing myself. I already have a seperate writing blog -- would a seperate crafting blog be too much? I like having this blog be mostly for friends and family, just talking about random stuff, and so I don't particularly want to link to it on Huggermugger. Hmm. Any thoughts, anyone?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I can't open the bags inside cereal boxes. Either I yank and yank on them until they burst apart and spill cereal all over the kitchen, or else I never get them open and have to resort to using scissors.
The thing is, it wasn't always like this! I distinctly remember opening many a bag of cereal when I was in high school. Obviously, it's a skill I unlearned during college.
There, now you know.
Monday, October 27, 2008
That's actually my main aim for my store: to make my crafting hobby pay for itself. If I can keep my restless fingers stocked with crafting supplies, then I'll feel successful. If I make a little extra spending money on the side, then that's bonus.
Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, if you look at the left column here, under my profile, you'll see a little advertisement with my shop. It shows the four most recent things I've listed, so it'll change somewhat almost every day.
And in other news... only four more days of freedom before Nanomadness descends!
Friday, October 24, 2008

Yes, I signed up to do NaNoWriMo for the fourth year. I'm signed in as Hamlette as usual, and you can view my personal page here.
As you can see, if you visit my page, I'm doing fanfic this year. It's not strictly a novel, but instead a collection of short stories in which Sgt. Saunders tends to save the day. Which is why I'm calling the collection "Saunders Saves the Day," since it's nice to have a title to put on my the Nano profile.
I'm doing fanfic this year for a couple of reasons. One, I still haven't finished Salem, the novel I started for Nano last year. And two, I have a whole bunch of Combat! ideas bopping around in my brain, and this will be a great way to get several of them down on paper.
Actually, I had planned on skipping Nano entirely this year, but I've become something of an addict to this month of write-your-fingertips-off madness. Daniel is still taking at least two hours of naps a day, and that should be enough time for me to get my wordcount in. I just won't be able to do little chores like sweeping the floors or putting away laundry unless I've made my wordcount for the day already. Or at least, that's my plan!
And if you think I can't write 50,000 words of fanfic, well, my three Marc d'Yae stories ("Hide and Seek," "Finders, Keepers," and "Ashes, Ashes") total 46,499 words.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Last night, we stopped at the Walmart where I worked as a cashier between my freshman and sophomore, and sophomore and junior years of college. It was about 8:30 and the store was fairly empty, so when Dad and Dano and I got up to the registers, most of them had short lines. He chose the shortest, and to my sudden flummoxation, who should be the cashier at that line but a guy I was truly, madly, deeply infatuated with my first summer there: my Jedi Knight.
I had never expected to see him again. That was nine years ago! No way would he still be working at that Walmart, right? By now, he should have a great job writing music for cartoons, or at least be in Walmart management. But there he was, still cashiering. And my brain said, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" and crashed for about three seconds. To avoid talking to him, I picked Dano up from the cart so Dad would have to do all the interacting with the Jedi Knight, since a) my brain still wasn't all systems go, b) he probably didn't remember me anyway, and c) I suddenly felt really guilty that I have this awesome life now and he's still working there.
And then I began to wonder. What if he and I had gotten together that summer? Would I have gotten my AA from Bethany and then gone somewhere in NC for my BA? Possibly to App State, where he was going part-time? What if we'd gotten married? Would we both be working at Walmart still, maybe on opposite shifts so our kids wouldn't have to go to daycare? Or would his life have turned out differently too?
Totally pointless speculation, I know. And it made me realize just how great my life is. Sure, I live in a tiny apartment in the middle of a city, but I have a wonderful husband with a cool job, a beautiful and talented baby, and a writing career that's not exactly stagnating. Yay me!
But I think I should hire my Jedi Knight to be my writing muse, because I got not one but two new story ideas from this encounter. And nine years ago, he inspired dozens of poems (some of them pretty good!) and a fanfic story that I'm still really fond of. Weird, huh?
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
But other than me spending the whole time on the islands with half my mind worrying that I'd lost my Swiss Army knife for good, we had a lovely time. We all got to go up the base of the Statue of Liberty, we took a tour at Ellis Island, and we got to spend time with Johnnycake and Dimples, which is always pleasant. And when we got back to the mainland, the guy gave me back my knife! I was so happy, I tipped him $5. So all's well that ends well, as Ma Ingalls says in the Little House books.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Two weeks ago, we got a couple of apartment-improvement projects done. First, we bought a dry-sink at the Salvation Army to use as a changing table because Dano is getting too heavy for the one we have that's attached to his crib. When we got it home and cleaned up, it turned from a
(Yes, that's Dano in the background.)
And then we finally put up shelves in the kitchen for our spices. There've always been these brackets above the stove where we could just put up a couple shelves, but we didn't get around to it for months and months. But Dano is now tall enough to reach the pantry shelves where we'd been keeping our spices, and I didn't feel like hunting all over the apartment under all the furniture to find the parsley or chili pepper whenever I cook, since he loves to just carry random things around the Crow's Nest. So we got some boards from Lowe's, I primed and painted them, and Cowboy installed them. Aren't they great?

Anyway, then last week, the cold Dano'd been nursing the week before got weird -- he started sort of wheezing, like every time he breathed, it sort of rattled or gurgled. So I took him to the doctor and got him some medicine (which makes him hyper, oh joy) and had to rent a nebulizer to give him medicated mist treatments like asthmatics have to have. But he's all better now, thank the Lord, and he took the last of his medicine yesterday, so maybe by tomorrow it'll be through his system and he'll go back to taking normal naps and not being so hyper.
So that's kind of why I haven't blogged for a couple weeks: I've been busy cleaning dry sinks and painting shelves and giving babies nebulizer treatments. Maybe this week will be calmer!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Today he also figured out how to turn on the hot water in the bathtub. At first he just turned it on a little, and was fascinated by watching the water come out, but then he turned it on more, and then he got scared. For some reason, he gets really upset if he's in the bathroom while Cowboy or I are taking a shower -- he gets all squirmy and whiny and worried. He started doing the same thing when he turned the water on more and it got louder. So maybe that'll keep him from playing with it all the time. (Know what 'fat chance' means?)
All day, I've had Coldplay's new song "Viva La Vida" stuck in my head. The lyric are rather... surreal, but I don't really pay attention to them anyway, the tune is the cool part. This is doubly odd for me, as I'm usually all about lyrics, and I don't like most of Coldplay's stuff because their songs never seem to go anywhere. Except this one.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
I went to see The Dark Knight yesterday.
I was not sure if I wanted to see this movie. Not sure at all. I figured it would be awesome, but I also feared I would spend the whole 2 1/2 hours in tears. Or at least every moment Heath Ledger was on screen. So I waited for Johnnycake to go see it last weekend and asked him to tell me if he thought I would want to see it on the big screen. He said he thought I ought to, so I figured maybe I would. Maybe. If Dano took a nap at the right time, if I didn't chicken out, if I wasn't busy doing other things like... alphabetizing my spice shelf. Cowboy predicted I would drive to the theater and then circle the parking lot and never make up my mind to actually go inside. Or I'd go in and decide to see something else. Like Space Chimps, cuz that just looks sooooo good.
But Dano took a nap just in time for me to run down to the car and... turn the wrong direction out of my driveway. Apparently, part of me wanted to go see the movie, but the part controlling the steering wheel wanted to go to the mall. I realized my mistake, turned around, and made it to the theater in time to stand in a very slow line for tickets where I had plenty of time to read through the show times for everything else currently running and see if there was anything else that I had any interest in seeing at all starting at about the same time. But nothing else started for at least another half an hour, not even Space Chimps. So I got my ticket for The Dark Knight and found a seat just as the hot dog stopped singing about popcorn.
I did not cry. Not once. I did hug my knees a lot. And chewed on my lower lip quite often. Watched some scenes from beneath lowered eyebrows. And spent quite a few minutes with my hands in a tent around my nose and mouth, because that's what I do when I'm worried/frightened by a movie. But I didn't cry. I did clap once, though. As did everyone in the theater -- I'll say this for Connecticut theatergoers: they are not afraid to clap and cheer.
But I'm glad I saw it. I think I needed to. I came out of it feeling empty, almost cleansed, as if I had rid myself of an oppressive mantle of gloom.
And it was a good movie. It had all sorts of deep themes and complicated emotions and complex characters. Very meaty. Even Maggie Gyllenhaal, who usually strikes me as a sort of off-brand Kirsten Dunst, pulled off her role with style.
Once again, my favorite character ended up being Jim Gordon. I completely dug him in Batman Begins, and he's even more wonderful in this. Of course, he's played by Gary Oldman, so odds of me liking him are pretty high, since I've never seen Oldman turn in a less-than-intriguing performance. Don't highlight and read this next part unless you don't mind spoilage. In fact, the closest I got to tears was when they killed Gordon off -- I would definitely have cried if I hadn't been so outraged. I spent the next section of the movie fuming that they had dared kill off such a morally upright character -- and that they never let him become Commissioner Gordon like he's supposed to! Then, of course, it turned out he wasn't dead after all, and that's when the whole theater clapped. Definitely one of my favorite moments in the movie.
I'd say the one thing I really disliked about this movie was Two-Face. Not that Aaron Eckhart portrayed him badly -- he did a good job, full of conflicted morals and juicy emotions. No, what I disliked was the makeup effects they used. They were so... unbelievable. One of the things I like best about this incarnation of the Batman world is that everything is fairly plausible. The Batmobile, Batman's gadgets and suit, even the bad guys and their weapons all seem like they could exist. The whole world feels very real. Very solid and... crunchy. But Two-Face looked too much like the Mummy, all stringy muscles and popped-out eyeball. I did not buy it at all. IMHO, cheesed-out Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever had more believable Two-Face makeup. I would have liked to have seen them go more Man Without a Face with it, because that would have been so much more believable.
But all in all, it was well done. And like I said, I'm glad I saw it, because I now feel very released.
Heath Ledger is dead. I wish it weren't so, but it is. Nothing will change that. He left behind one last brilliant performance, one worth me spending $8.50 to see it on the big screen. I don't think I will ever watch this movie again, but I'm glad I saw it.
Oh, and it got one Warhead.
Monday, July 21, 2008
"Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N." (1951) -- Initial Thoughts
I've been wanting to see this movie ever since I first heard about it when I was introduced to the character ten years ago. One of my mom's friends loaned her three of the A&E Hornblower movies starring Ioan Gruffudd and told her about the old Gregory Peck version as well. Of course, I instantly fell madly in love with both Ioan Gruffudd and the character of Horatio Hornblower as soon as I watched the A&E movies. Although I regret to admit I haven't read any of the books by C. S. Forester, I'm hoping maybe this library will have them.

Anyway, great swashbuckling tale! Gregory Peck makes a wonderful Hornblower, as one might expect. And you know, he even almost looks a little like an older version of Ioan Gruffudd, so it all works very nicely. This movie is based on what I believe was the first HH book written, while the A&E series begins with the beginning of HH's career as a midshipman, which Forester seems to have written about later. This involves his affair with Lady Barbara Wellesley, played adeptly by Virginia Mayo. Of course, it also involves several naval battles and lots of fun sailorly stuff.
And now I'm totally in the mood for more Hornblowerful adventures, so I think as soon as Dano takes his next nap, I'm going to put in "The Duel." This is turning out to be a rather nice Monday after all!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Um, wow. That took a sudden turn for the ultra-serious, huh? I totally did not see Penny getting killed, though I guess I should have, since this is Joss Whedon we're talking about. A show where a main character does not die is not a Joss Whedon show. Or something like that.
Dr. Horrible had a lot of thematic similarities to other Joss shows, don't you think? Dr. Horrible is like an older version of The Trio from season six of Buffy. Penny reminded me a lot of Anne Steele from season two of Angel, all helping the homeless and something of an angel herself, but somewhat willing to do whatever it takes to further her cause. The good guys aren't necessarily all that good, and the bad guys aren't pure evil. And, of course, a good character dies. How often hasn't that happened, huh? Hmm. Jenny. Angel. Buffy. Tara. Spike. Doyle. Fred. Cordelia. Okay, okay, on Firefly no one died, but Wash died in the movie follow-up, Serenity.
Anyway, I dug it, though no songs in part three are running manically through my head. But I've only watched it once, so that could change. Now I need to find time before it all disappears to watch all three acts in a row.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
I'd write more, but I'm going to go watch it again.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mmmmm. Nathan Fillion. Here, have a random picture of him just because. It's not him as Captain Hammer, but it's a fun picture anyway.
I think I'm gonna go watch about 9 eps of Firefly. Okay, maybe 2. As many as Dano's naps will allow, let's put it that way.
Many thanks to DKoren for pointing me to this site!
(Oh, and yes, that's Doogie Howser in the title role. Just FYI, in case you ever watched that show. I didn't, but you might have.)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Jumbo
The Pirate
Royal Wedding
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Band Wagon
Easter Parade
Bells Are Ringing
Lullaby of Broadway
Love Me or Leave Me
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Gypsy
The Stars and Stripes Forever
42nd Street
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Actually "The Pirate" and "Royal Wedding" are kind of tied for second place -- I totally dug both of them.
It's been a fun five months, that's for sure. Hmm, should I see if the library has a lot of some other genre that I haven't seen and start reporting on them?
Monday, July 07, 2008
"Get Smart" (2008) -- Initial Thoughts
Okay, the movie didn't actually make me cry. The trailer for Dark Knight did. When it ended, I realized I had both hands forming a triangle over my mouth and nose. That's usually what I do when I see something horrifying or shocking or scary. So yeah -- not at all sure I'll be going to see that. It might be just too doggone soon.
But anyway, Get Smart was really fun! I was hoping hoping hoping it wouldn't be lame or stupid or reduced to juvenile humor, because I love the original show. And I was not disappointed! It was a good mix of slapstick, one-liners, and gags, with just a little inanity thrown in. And they included so much of the original show, from the Cone of Silence to "Missed it by this much!" to Hymie to Siegfried to the old "explain what someone just did" trick. Dug it.
Plus, Dwayne Johnson! Though, can you believe this? He never appeared even so much as sleeveless! It's like he's starting to be taken seriously as an actor and not just a big, muscly guy. He has a good sense of comic timing, so this worked really well for him. And he looked better in suits than he did in The Rundown. Either they were tailored better, or he's been streamlining himself. Don't highlight the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to be spoiled: Of course, he turned out to be a mole, and I must admit I suspected that a while before it was revealed. Mostly because he turned evil in Doom, but also because he was being just a little too slick the whole time. But that's okay, he made a fun villain too.
And hey, has anyone else noticed how much Dalip Singh looks like Richard Kiel? I was convinced they must be related or something, but they're not.
Sadly, I must give Get Smart three Warheads. It got a little draggy a couple of times, enough for me to think, "Hmm, how about some more sour and tasty candy?" But I still really enjoyed it.
What I decidedly did NOT enjoy was this old woman sitting next to me. She was in her late 60s/early 70s, and there with her husband. When they first sat down, I thought maybe they would be really fun to be near, because they probably remember the original show and would laugh at all the references to it like I would. Plus, they were kind of a cute couple. He put his hand on her knee, and they were sharing a bag of popcorn and whispering. But then the movie started. And every single time something slightly implausible or unbelievable or don't-try-this-at-home-ish happened, this woman said, "Yeah, right." Out loud. Every time. And believe me, that got very old, very fast. Finally, about two-thirds of the way through, I waited for her to say it again, and when she did, I leaned over and whispered, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but you are really annoying to sit next to during this movie." And then I moved over one seat and sat next to two teen girls who were thoroughly enjoying the movie the way I was.
I did. I'm not making this up. I really did.
After the movie, before the girls left, I turned to them and said, "I just want you to know that you have great theater manners, and were much more fun to sit next to than an old lady who said, 'Yeah, right,' every time something happened." They giggled and said, "Thanks!" and left.
What is it with these Nutmeggers and their deplorable theater manners? First the evil mother who wouldn't take her child out of a movie that was scaring him, and now this hag! Yuck! It's a good thing I have neither the time nor the money to go see as many movies as I watched back in Ruralsburg, or I might end up punching people out or "accidentally" spilling slushies on them or something. Yeesh.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Then on Saturday, Cowboy, Dano, Mom, and I all went to Cambridge to visit Johnnycake and Dimples. It was our first time there, although they've visited us several times. They have a cute apartment (with air conditioners, swoooooon!), and Johnnycake showed us around the Harvard Law campus and other interesting sites near there. We went to three different bookstores, one pretty famous (the Harvard Book Store, one of the largest independently-owned bookstores in the country), one really tiny (the Grolier Poetry Bookshop, which is one of two poetry-only bookstores in the country), and one underground (literally -- a used and rare book store in a shop below street level). We all went to church with Johnnycake and Dimples on Sunday, and ate lunch at a Thai restaurant. Then we played Taboo while Johnnycake welded some chrome back onto The Tank for us. It was a short, but fun, visit. Mom is spending this week with them now, but Cowboy and Dano and I are back home.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
1. What I was doing 10 years ago.
Waitressing and looking forward to my freshman year at Bethany Lutheran College.
2. Five things on my to-do list.
- Read Albert Baker's new fanfic story "Full Moon"
- Clean the bathroom
- Sweep all the floors in the house
- Catch up on email
- Work on either Salem or my new fanfic story, "Unforgiven"
3. Five snacks I enjoy
- Oreos
- Popcorn
- Pretty much anything chocolate
- Practically any cookie
- Hot chocolate
4. Things I would do if I were a millionaire
Invest most of my money so I can just live off the interest, pay off the rest of our car, and buy a house out in the country (preferably in WI or NC).
5. Places I've lived.
I was born in Iowa, moved to Michigan when I was three, moved to North Carolina when I was twelve, went to college in Minnesota and lived there for a year after I graduated, moved to Wisconsin and lived there for four years, and now I'm in Connecticut. Yeesh!
Now my tags:
If you don't wanna play, that's okay ;-) Don't feel obligated just cuz I tagged you!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
On Wednesday, the 11th, DKoren picked us up in a rental car, and we drove off to our friend DocB's home for this year's Combat! fanfic Recon, dubbed Reconlan for reasons you will soon learn. We drove about 3 hours that night before stopping.
On Thursday, we drove about seven hours, arriving at DocB's around 4:30pm. The only squaddie to arrive before us was BQ, who had helped DocB decorate the front hall with USO banners and WWII posters. They also lined DocB's driveway with tiny USO flags so we'd have an easier time figuring out which house was hers. Other squaddies arrived throughout the afternoon and evening, including one all the way from Australia! We watched a C! ep in the evening, and when I sacked out at 12:45, the partying was still going strong.
On Friday, the rest of the squaddies arrived, including the Canada contingent. We spent most of the day just hanging out and watching a post-C! Vic Morrow movie called Target Harry that was surprisingly good. Dano adjusted to his new surroundings and started getting to know his new friends.
On Saturday morning, we cleaned up our HQ and got ready for our Guests of Honor, Conlan

That evening, we played Combat! Trivial Pursuit and bid on all kinds of C! memorabilia Jen was auctioning off. I won a bunch of awesome photos, including one from my most favoritest ep ever, "Walking Wounded," and a spent shell casing from Franklin Canyon!
On Sunday, we watched a post-C! Rick Jason movie called Eagles Attack at Dawn (which took place entirely at night) and visited a militaria collectibles shop, where all I bought was a Bobbsey Twins book, go figure. We also went to Walmart and pooled our resources to buy gifts for some British troops that DocB befriended while in Iraq.
Quite a few squaddies headed out Sunday evening, but a few (including DKoren, Dano, and I) stuck around until Monday. Then we three drove to the airport and went our separate ways.
I think this was the best Recon yet! Atlanta was great, because I got to meet a lot of my fellow squaddies for the first time. LA was loads of fun, what with meeting Pierre Jalbert and tramping around Franklin canyon. But this one trumped them all, and not just because we spent six hours with Conlan Carter. For four days, I basically lived in a Combat! commune, surrounded by friends and having fun nearly every second of the day. It rocked! And we even managed not to trash DocB's house... much ;-)
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Anyway, last week's musical was Gypsy (1962). It added Karl Malden to May's selection of Unexpected Male Musical Stars. It was okay -- I didn't dislike it, but I didn't particularly like it either. It seemed to lack emotion and, I dunno, zing or verve or something. Rosalind Russell was competent in the role of Pushy Stage Mom, Karl Malden filled a Nice Guy role with alternate long suffering and bluster, and Natalie Wood occasionally shone in the title role of Gypsy Rose Lee. I think the best scene was when Gypsy's mother pushed her into her first burlesque appearance -- Natalie played it completely flat, no emotions, like she was sealing herself off from what she was about to do. It seemed really realistic and was probably the most poignant scene in the movie.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
And so far, he hasn't bitten me while nursing. What a nice baby! He used to chomp down a few months ago, and I pretty much broke him of that, so here's hoping :-D
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Giddiness. First and foremost, there's giddiness. It was all I could do not to actually cheer when the Lucasfilm logo appeared on screen and I truly realized I was about to see Indiana Jones on the big screen for the first time. On the way out of the theater, I had to try very hard not to start skipping. Or jumping up and down. Even now, nearly 24 hours later, I'm still giddy when I think about it, full of giggles I can't suppress. I'm actually thinking about ordering an Indy t-shirt online. Yeah.
It's not a perfect movie -- it's nowhere near as brilliant as Raiders of the Lost Ark. But I'd put it on par with Last Crusade, and it's head-and-shoulders above Temple of Doom (which I've only seen once and, despite my devotion to both Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones, don't wanna see again). The plot is complex, but not convoluted, and my suspension of disbelief was only over-stretched once. I'll put more spoily comments below, but put them in white, so only highlight them if you've seen the movie or don't mind spoilage.
Okay, the only time my disbelief was stretched instead of suspended was when they went over the three waterfalls in their little WWII Duck-like vehicle. That did honestly make me go, "Yeah, right." Other than that, I could go with everything as much as any other Indiana Jones movie. The aliens, the weird power of the crystal skull to communicate if you look in its eyes -- I could deal with those. Even Indy surviving a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator (and surviving being tossed around in said fridge a whole lot) -- I could accept that. This is Indiana Jones we're talking about, after all.
I went into this movie hoping to like it, and I did. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to like Shia LaBeouf, who I was feeling the most iffy about pre-viewing. He had a good presence, good chemistry with Harrison Ford, he wasn't snotty enough to tick me off, but had a nice slightly rebellious thing going on. Plus, what a great entrance he had, so hat-tipping to Brando in The Wild One. I laughed out loud at that, which made a couple of people around me look at me funny, but it just tickled me.
So yup, I dug it, I hope to see it again next weekend with Johnnycake and Dimples ( who were supposed to come up this weekend, but J got a cold), and I expect to own it on dvd. It gets only one Warhead, so hooray for Indy!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
"Jumbo" (1962) -- Initial Thoughts
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he-who-played-Messala-in-Ben-Hur made a musical. He even sang a song, though I'm sure the voice was dubbed. And he actually looked quite at home, not just on the set of a musical, but in a circus tent! DKoren, if you've never seen this, you really should, because he is 100% lunchable here! He shows up in a turtleneck, and I normally loathe turtlenecks, because most people cannot

So anyway, the Jumbo in the title is a trained elephant who's the star of a little family-owned circus. Jimmy Durante and Doris Day are father-and-daughter circus owners and performers back when circuses had one ring and paraded down main street of every small town they set up near. Jumbo is an exceptionally well-trained elephant that this other circus owner wants. A lot. This other owner, played by Dean Jagger (what? Dean Jagger as a bad guy? Noooo!), has tried repeatedly to buy Jumbo, or the entire circus, but Jimmy Durante always refuses, even though he's up to his famous schnozz in bills and has a gambling problem.
Enter Stephen Boyd in a turtleneck. From the first time we lay eyes on him, we can tell he is Up To Something, but it takes most of the movie for Doris Day and company to figure that out as well. Mostly because he keeps distracting everyone by walking tightropes or wearing tight white t-shirts that show off all those muscles he acquired by driving chariots a few years earlier. After some skulduggery and remorse and penitence, there is a happy ending, and when you get to the part where they start singing about spangles and stardust, just stop the movie. Because they go on for about ten minutes, singing the same song in an ever-more-elaborate parade of costumes. So just end it after one chorus, and all is well.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" (1952) -- Initial Thoughts
Most of the musical numbers are either bands playing marches, or a few staged songs. On a whole, it was okay, though it never grabbed me the way Yankee Doodle Dandy did. I don't have much to say about it -- it was a solid biography of a man who wrote music.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
"Prince Caspian" (2008) -- Initial Thoughts
As for the movie, I think I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it. In fact, I think I liked it better than The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We didn't have to go through all the "introduce the world and its concepts" stuff, we just jumped straight into the action. And the plot felt more... unified. It gets two Warheads, though, for slowing down partway through and getting a little too much in love with faceless warriors building bridges and marching around.
Also, Edmund (Skander Keynes) doesn't do anything horrifically stupid in this one. In fact, he gets to save the day at one point. (Also helps that he's starting to be rather dashing -- by the time Dawn Treader comes out, we could have a hot young star on our hands.) Peter is still nice, but getting a bit stolid in his old age, lol. And Susan is pouty and annoying as always, plus she looks like someone's botoxed her lips. Lucy is still wonderful, but not quite as utterly charming as she was in the first movie.
They did get WETA to do more than just the armor and weaponry this time, but they also got four or five other FX companies as well. Sigh. Will they never learn?
Thursday, May 15, 2008

- "Rainin'" (has footage of him recording this song)
- "Once Upon a Time" (Bobby does some nice acting here, getting all sad as the song warrants)
- "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (He plays the harmonica too!)
Friday, May 09, 2008
I admit it -- I'm a sucker for dimples. Cowboy has them, Dano's developing them, and yeah, if they're not doofy, over-emphasized dimples, but natural and only there when a guy flashes a roguish smile... bring me my swooning couch!
But wait a minute -- I've already got a fling going on this spring! I can't start crushing on Peter Lawford when I've been crushing on Joseph Cotten for a couple of months now! Ack! Too many handsome new men in my life! Ack! Whatever shall I do?

Yes, it's true, I got a thing for Joseph Cotten when I first watched Shadow of a Doubt (1943) a couple months ago. He's a bad boy in it, and he intrigued me, so I picked up Gaslight (1944) at the library the next week, and he was a good guy in it, and I was hooked. So then I watched The Third Man (1949) and decided I definitely need to find more of his movies. He's got this nice guy thing, mixed with a sort of lost puppy look sometimes, like a little baby Beagle that needs a home. Yes, definitely a Beagle. Whereas Peter Lawford is more of a sleek black Labrador.
I suppose I shall just have to deal with two new men in my movie life and keep finding more of their movies to watch. I do have Ocean's 11, so I can see Peter in that, and I have a couple of Joseph Cotten's movies recorded off tv that I've never seen yet, so I can keep seeing him as well.
Good thing my real love life is so uncomplicated!
Oh yeah, I liked Easter Parade a lot, although some of the numbers got a bit long and "why are we here?"-ish. But some, like "A Couple of Swells," were magical. I liked it a lot better than the first time I saw it back in high school, probably because I'm used to Fred Astaire now. This was the first thing I ever saw him in, and I didn't much care for it, being in a major Gene Kelly groove at the time. I still prefer Gene, but I'm used to Fred now. But of course, I mostly liked it better now because of Peter Lawford :-9
For the last three months, Dano's been sleeping in a travel bed on the floor next to our bed. At night, I mean -- he naps in his crib in his room. Last night, I put him to bed as usual and came out here to write in my journal, and he didn't want to go to sleep, so he cried. After ten minutes, I checked on him and patted him and told him to go to sleep. Ten minutes later, the crying had not diminished, so I went to check on him again. And he had managed to get out of his travel bed (I'm assuming he rolled out, but he might have gotten up on all fours, hooked an arm over the edge, and tumbled out) and slither his way to the door. He was trying his hardest to come find us. And for that, we banished him to the far reaches of his room :-(
He slept pretty well over there, despite the guilt-pangs his parents were suffering for their cruel treatment of such a sweet little boy. He woke up at the same times he always does to nurse, and that's about it. But still, we're so mean to reward his devotion that way :-(
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
What I didn't expect to post today was a complete reversal of my opinion of Dano's pediatrician. We've been to her twice before, and I fully intended to talk to the receptionists today and ask to switch to another doctor in the pediatric group, because this doctor and I just do not mesh well. The first two visits, she was all about telling me what to do, not discussing different options, and was just really brusque and... okay, I'll say it: she was too much of a Yankee.
But today, this doctor was all smiley and friendly. She called Dano "cutie" like nine times and complimented what a strong, healthy boy he is. She discussed possible new foods for him to try and a time-frame for him to try them, rather than handing me a sheet of instructions and saying, "Follow this." In short, I would be wondering if she was either bi-polar or had an evil twin, but for one fact:
She's now pregnant. With her first kid. And this seems to have made all the difference.
So I'm sticking with this doctor, at least for now, although she'll be on vacation the next time I need to take Dano in, so I'll end up seeing a different doctor anyway. But yeah... rarely have I had my opinion of a real person so utterly reversed. I change my mind about actors from time to time (usually when I find out someone I'd labeled "airhead" or "pretty boy" actually has talent), but I can't remember the last time I decided someone I had strongly disliked was actually okay after all. Probably because people I dislike rarely have such a marked reversal in attitudes and

And okay, I need to link to one more Rudy vid: "The Shiek's Physique," a short he filmed during his big dispute with his studio. They refused to let him make any movies, but he was able to make this short, which kept him in the public eye. If you watch nothing else, watch 0:50-1:00 of this -- it cracks me up every time I watch it.
And okay, okay, one more.
If that's too much smooching for you, check out The Menace Collection.
Happy birthday, darling Rodolfo!
Friday, May 02, 2008
And now it's the end of the week and I'm ready to report on this week's musical: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967).
I didn't like it.
Partly I didn't like it because I think it was trying to be a clever commentary on the pointlessness of the business world, but it just came off as silly and improbable. More improbable than most musicals. Also, the only song in it I'd ever heard before was "I Believe in You," which I don't even like very much when Bobby Darin sings it.
But mostly, I disliked this movie because it starred Robert Morse. And he annoys me. He looks like the love child of Dave Barry and Dave Letterman and acts like a five-year-old. He has a nasal voice, rolls his eyes too much, and worst of all, whenever I see him, I'm reminded of this reeeeeeeeeeally freakish old movie called The Loved One, which he also starred in.
So of all the "new" musicals I've watched since February, I disliked this one most of all. In fact, it's the first one I've actively disliked, rather than just thinking it was not all that great.
Friday, April 25, 2008
"Royal Wedding" (1951) -- Initial Thoughts
Astaire and Powell play a brother-sister team of singers and dancers, but not all the musical numbers are part of their show. Jane Powell sings several songs as she falls for Peter Lawford, and Fred Astaire does two of his most memorable dance routines off-stage as well: dancing with a hat tree, and dancing on the ceiling and walls of his hotel room. Their numbers together on-stage are pretty good, particularly the classic "Why Do You Believe Me When I Tell You That I Love You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life?" :-D They had a nice, friendly chemistry, and you could believe they were siblings.
But I enjoyed the two supporting guys, Lawford and Wynn, most of all. I've only seen Peter Lawford in a handful of things like Ocean's Eleven and Easter Parade (which I barely remember and should really watch again -- maybe next week?), and I was unprepared for his dry, boyish charm. I may have to try to find more of his movies!
As for Keenan Wynn, well, who doesn't love Keenan Wynn? He's always funny, whether playing a Disney villain or an overbearing Combat! colonel (I did half expect him to belt out, "Don't just stand there suckin' on a prune pit!" in this). And he plays twins in this, one American, one British (a difference that is never explained), so we get several split-screen scenes of him confusing himself with British- and Americanisms.
It ended a bit abruptly, but not unenjoyably so. I think of all the "new" musicals I've watched so far this year, this is one of my favorites.
Oh, and how's this for some interesting trivia? According to imdb.com, Jane Powell and I currently reside in the same county!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Good thing I wasn't making them for someone else's birthday. They didn't exactly turn out the way I'd anticipated. After baking for almost ten minutes longer than the recipe suggested, the top was done and the bottom was done, and the inside was a gloopy mess. As they cooled, they fell, and the top cracked, so it looked like a dried-up watering hole in the desert. Never let me kid you and say that everything I bake is a masterpiece!
Once they were cool, I stuck the pan in the fridge, and eventually they got solid enough to cut. They're actually not too terrible -- sort of like funky fudge with a crust and a cracked top. Cowboy took a bunch to work and returned with none, so I guess I fooled the public with them. But it's not a recipe I'll be keeping.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
"Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) -- Initial Thoughts
Wait a minute -- Doris Day was a singer, James Cagney played gangsters a lot -- what's so unusual?
How about the fact that Doris Day played a pretty unsympathetic character? That strike you as unusual? She was manipulative, she was greedy for fame, she pouted and threw tantrums. Not the Nice Girl Next Door that she usually played.
As for James Cagney, while he played a crook and a jerk and a self-serving jackal, he actually ended up getting more of my sympathy than Doris Day. Because for all his faults, Marty Snyder really did fall for Ruth Etting, and she used him to get famous and then divorced him. There were a couple scenes where Cagney nearly had me misty-eyed.
Of course, it's a fictionalized account of their lives, so who knows what they were really like. But that's how they struck me in the movie.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Yesterday, Dano and I were separated for the first time since his birth. For the first time in six months, I was more than shouting-distance away from him. I went to the library to watch a foreign film: The Wages of Fear. It's a French suspense film from the 50s, rather like cynical Hitchcock with subtitles. I was gone three hours and fifteen minutes, and when I got home, both Cowboy and Dano were still alive :-) Dano napped for almost half of it, so neither of them were too traumatized. But after an initial wide-eyed, jaw-dropped reaction when I walked in, Dano gave me the cold shoulder for about fifteen minutes, just to remind me not to make a habit of abandoning him to the devices of his daddy.
Today, I introduced him to solid food. I mixed a little baby rice cereal with some breast milk, and after he figured out we weren't playing some new gnaw-the-spoon game, he caught on pretty quickly. More than half of what went in his mouth ended up back out on his bib, but he did swallow some of it, so I consider that a victory.
Friday, April 11, 2008
"Meet Me in Las Vegas" (1956) -- Initial Thoughts
The premise is that a rancher-gambler discovers a that snooty ballerina is his lucky charm when they bump into each other in Vegas. This is the Rat Pack's Vegas, not CSI's, so no one ends up dead, they just gamble and bump into celebrities. Among those providing cameos are Frank Sinatra (of course), Peter Lorre, Vic Damone, Steve Forrest, and Debbie Reynolds. We also get treated to entirely superfluous songs by Lena Horne and Frankie Laine, I suppose to make us feel like we're really in Vegas seeing famous people at the casinos. If you watch really closely, you'll also catch a young George Chakiris, who went on to win an Oscar six years later for West Side Story.
Paul Henried and Jim Backus round out the real cast, as well as Agnes Moorehead. She's provides the most fun in the whole movie, as Dailey's sensible mom. She's less acid-tongued than in some roles, but still plenty feisty. The scenes with them all out at Dailey's ranch are my favorite part of the whole movie, hokey modern cowboys and all.
All in all, it was a fun enough way to spend two hours, but I can see why it's not on lots of top ten lists. Enjoyable, but not particularly enchanting.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
So Mom found this French Press thingie at a local coffee palace and got it for me as an early birthday gift. It's perfect! It makes one cup at a time, I can adjust how strong I want it by how much coffee I put in, and it's easy to use and clean. What you do is put in coffee grounds (coarse grounds so they don't sneak past the filter), pour in hot (not boiling) water, let it steep for 4 minutes, and then press down on the filter, which squishes all the grounds down to the bottom. Then you pour out the coffee and enjoy!
You do end up with a little sediment at the bottom of your cup, but that's really just a bonus caffeine jolt :-9 And it's less sediment than I usually get from instant coffee. If you think this is way nifty, the brand I got is called Bodum and here's the exact model I got. Drink up, me hearties, yo ho!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
"The Pirate" (1948) -- Initial Thoughts
The plot revolves around a pirate-obsessed girl (don't know any of those, do you?) who wishes the legendary pirate Macoco would come carry her off so she won't have to marry the mayor. Along comes Gene Kelly, who is not a pirate, but a traveling actor. Then we get into hypnosis and secret identities and all manner of skulduggery, and Gene Kelly winds up on the business end of a hangman's noose!
The parts that made me laugh were all when Judy or Gene would stop their ridiculously affected period acting and say something ultra-normal, like when Judy said, "Don't call me bright spirit, it irritates me," or when Gene told her, "You're overdoing this! You're being vindictive!" It was weirdly like them breaking the fourth wall, only instead they were breaking the wall of their own wacky melodramaticness.
So it's not a musical I plan to buy, but I wouldn't mind seeing it again sometime. 'Cause who doesn't love silly pirate stories? :-D
Thursday, March 20, 2008
When Dano and I went down the back stairs to go to the Post Office this morning (to mail off the bday package to the Leatherneck), I found an Amazon box on the steps. I said to Dano, "What's this? I didn't order anything from Amazon -- maybe Daddy ordered my birthday present already." But when I picked up the box, it was addressed to me. I began to worry that perhaps I've been sleepwalking and ordering things from Amazon in my sleep (which would be bad, as it could get very expensive very quickly).
So I opened it right then and there, and lo and behold, it was a surprise package from my friend Cheryl, who is even more in love with Hamlet than I am! She had told me about this manga version of Hamlet (manga are Japanese comics, like anime only in book form), and I had tried to find it through our library but it's not in the system (even though they have lots of other manga and graphic novels and comic books). So she decided to send me a copy, and also this DVD of a version of Hamlet directed by Peter Brook that she'd recently discovered and that I also haven't been able to get from the library. Isn't she the sweetest?
And then, when Daniel went down for his nap this morning, I pulled up my latest C! story and worked on revising the ending. Everything clicked into place, and I rewrote the ending (which was truly awful in the first draft) and am so much happier with it now.
So yeah, new Hamlet stuff, a rewritten ending to my latest story -- it's all good! Me happy :-)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Anyway, here's the recipe:
Death-by-Chocolate Cake
3/4 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 chocolate cake mix
1 small (4-serving) box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sour cream, eggs, water, and oil together in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Add cake mix and pudding mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until fork inserted into cake comes out clean. While still hot, invert cake onto a serving platter. When cool, sift powdered sugar over top of cake.
See? Piece of cake :-D