Movie Moments V: Oh, those nuns!

Is it wrong that my favorite parts of The Sound of Music involve the nuns? First off, I've always loved the song they sing at the beginning. I may not have known any of the other songs in the musical, but I knew How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (Now that I think of it, I'm not so sure that's actually the title, but you know the one I'm talking about.) I used to watch the beginning of the movie just for that song and then wander off, coming back every now and then, trying to catch The Lonely Goatherd, and whatever else looked interesting. I also liked Liesl's singing voice, and wondered just why Kurt said "To you and you and you," the way that he did. But back to the nuns. They're what this is about, after all. I usually make it a point to see the part at the end where they sabotage the Nazi's cars so that can't go after the von Trapps. I think it's funny when they ask for forgiveness because they had sinned. I think it's a forgivable one, don't you?

Corn!

The guy who does the introductions for Modern Marvels on the History Channel seemed really excited about the show today.
It wasn't the usual calm: Next on Modern Marvels: Hunting Tech.
It was: Next on Modern Marvels: Corn!
You really could hear the exclamation point. I'm not sure why he said it that way. Maybe it was because he only had the one word, so he put a lot of emphasis on it as if to say, "Hey, I'm getting paid for this, so I'm going to give it everything I've got." All I know is that the way he said it made it sound like he thought corn was the greatest thing since sliced bread (and I don't know how he would say that one because I haven't seen that episode.).
What else can I say, it really helped make my day, so I thought that I'd share it.

Don't fear the...weather?

I keep thinking the Weather Channel is about to start playing "Don't Fear The Reaper." Listen to Weather on the 8s. Every so often, they play a song that starts out a lot like it.

Go West, Young Men

Does it seem weird to anyone else that in the Western Bracket, the only team actually from the west is Colorado College? Practically a home game since they're playing in Colorado. I mean, you've got New Hampshire, Notre Dame (they didn't tie, but they did lose), Michigan State, and Colorado College in the bracket. Oh well, should be some good games, even if I probably can't watch them.

Of fish and flying

It is still a flying fish if it's using a glider?

Think about it.

Sticks Again

Why don't stick figures have toes?
(are they all wearing shoes?)

Think about it.

Sticks

Why do stick figures only have three fingers?
(and which ones are they?)

Think about it.

You're in...or out?

So if you tie, you miss the tournament, but if you win or lose you're in. Sounds screwy, doesn't it? Maybe even unbelievable? It's true, though. Just ask Notre Dame.

Movie Moments IV: Hayley Mills

Now, the previous post set a new rule, that the moments don’t have to necessarily come from the movies, just be connected to them. This one is a memory from the past, but every time I see that the movie is on TV, I have to say it. It was something that was always said before they aired the original Parent Trap on television. The announcer guy would come on and say “Coming up next, The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills.” I’ve always loved that. I don’t know if they even say it anymore, or if there are even announcers who do that sort of thing for the Saturday afternoon movies, but I think there should be more of it in the world.

Movie Moments III: Clear Eyes

Sometimes a moment is made not by the movie itself, but by what goes on around it. This is why I am bringing to light a moment from The Wizard of Oz that only I, and perhaps one of my friends, can understand or remember, but it deserves to be mentioned. This occurred during one of the many showings of the movie on network television many, many years ago. I don’t know why this has stuck with me through the years, but it has become something I say, or think, each time a particular moment of the movie appears. It takes place right after Dorothy leaves Professor Marvel to go back home, and he sees the storm is coming. Right after his line about hoping she gets home safely, they went to a commercial for Clear eyes, so this is what I, an impressionable youngster, got stuck in my head:

“Poor little kid, hope she gets home all right.”
“When eyes are red, and dry, use clear eyes.”

Now, somehow that has become locked into my head, so that every time I hear Professor Marvel’s line, I hear Ben Stein talking about Clear Eyes. I will say that I have no idea what he says after that line, but it just always seemed to naturally flow into the commercial, which has now made the two forever connected in my mind.

Movie Moments, Part II: They could at least give them some goggles.

Today it's time to recognize a couple of guys from Star Wars who will probably never become action figures: The guys standing on that little platform on the Death Star who shield their eyes and turn away as the laser shoots past them. Now, one would think that with all of the technology that went into building the Death Star, they would have given those guys a little command center, closed off from space, maybe with a window, that they could use to do whatever it is they do. Or maybe they could just give them better helmets (the guys in the control room have more protective headgear than they do). I've never been completely sure what they're doing out there anyway. I mean, really, if something goes wrong, it’s not like they can just push the laser beam back into alignment, or hold out some mirrors to get it back on target. Then again, I guess their being there makes sense considering that when they built it they left a hole in the station leading right to where it’s the most vulnerable. And who knows, maybe that's the platform where the storm troopers and other personnel take their smoke breaks.

I have a song in my head.

It's a good one too.

Why I read Rex Morgan, M.D.

It's not because I think it's great literature, that I can't wait to see what's happening next, or that my family has always read it, so I read it too. No, what drew me to it was the controversy created when the Lansing State Journal took it out of the paper, choosing to carry it only online. Suddenly, every time you looked at the letters to the editor, there would be something about the absence of Rex Morgan, M.D. Apparently, there were a lot of people who really, really liked reading it every day. I read each of those letters, and I'm not sure why, but I blame them for getting me to read the comic. It started when somebody wrote something about bones being found in the woods and how by taking the comic out of the paper, they'd never know who they belonged to. I'll admit it, that's why I started reading, but that was several years ago. The mystery of the bones has long since been solved, and yet, I'm still reading the comic, and I'm not sure why, but I don't think I'm going to stop either.

I'm sorry, you just don't cut it.

I tried to be open minded, really, I tried. My hopes were raised by the posters in the window and the smell of incense and mysterious things coming from inside. I thought that maybe, just maybe I’d found a worthy replacement, somewhere that I was going to make my own and find my music. Close, but no cigar. You reminded me of New Moon, but you weren't New Moon. You had the handwritten place cards (which I’m starting to think are made by the same person no matter where the store is located), the old plastic case holders turning yellow, the smell of incense in the air, the people wandering up and down, clicking cases against each other as they searched for an elusive prize. It was all there, but it was too…commercial, I guess. I miss the hole in the wall atmosphere, the incense in the air that you never saw burning but always smelled. The scent that stuck to everything so that after you left and went somewhere else, you still smelled it. I’ll give you this, there was a scent, but it was faint.

Maybe you’re too big for those little things I wanted. I guess the things I recognized when I entered set me up for a fall because you couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations. It only got worse when I started looking at things. I looked for bands I thought would be there, that I knew would be at New Moon, but they weren’t there. Sure, other sections were bigger, offered more, but the little things were missing. I miss the metal section, tucked against the wall between punk and techno. I miss seeing Mike and Gil and Chris and Jason and everyone else who knew me there. I miss buying the CD that surprised the people at the store who would later tell my brother who would ask if it was true what I had bought, which would then lead to a lending of things from his own collection that I might also like. I miss making my way around the store, finding the things I wanted to buy and the things I never would. I miss knowing that if I couldn’t find something, it could be ordered, no matter how obscure the title. I know, you had people, and I’m sure they were knowledgeable, but they were more concerned with the job, not the music, and I doubt I could take them up on a conversation about bad black and white sci-fi movies from the past where the monster could be a guy in a gorilla suit with a fishbowl on his head. I also miss being able to find the Leonard Nimoy or Chuck Mangione album that I’d never buy, but liked to look at. Maybe that only happens in the little places where you really get to know the people. If so, that’s sad because the little places are doomed.

I guess I expected too much. It’s just that, well, you weren’t hard to enter that first time. You weren’t the place I had to bring a friend to the first time I went in because entering was like stepping across the border into a strange new world that required the buddy system. You weren’t the place where you never knew when you entered whether you’d be hearing jazz or metal, where they’d write your purchase in a notebook for inventory. You were just…a store. You were too much like Wherehouse and too little like New Moon. You tried hard, I’ll give you that, and maybe I’ll find that New Moonness in you that I’ve been looking for, but I don’t think anyone is going to write a comic about you. It’s just that I dedicated over ten years to that store and it was taken away from me because it was too small, it didn’t carry the pre-packaged corporate pop music in bulk, it was dark, it smelled funny, and some people didn’t want to go in, but it was mine, and it was a lot of other people’s too. I guess I looked to you to fill the gap that was created when my store closed. You put up a good effort, my friend, but you just fell short. I’ll be back again though, because for now the little similarities will have to be enough.

Movie Moments, Part I

So I’ve realized something: I latch on to little parts of movies that can’t really stand on their own, or are overlooked by most viewers, but that bring me great joy. They make me smile when I see them, and sometimes laugh, which makes other people think I’m crazy. They are the parts that I will specifically watch a certain movie for, and I think it’s time to let the world in on the secret, to show it that there are little things happening all the time in movies that people don’t recognize. Some of them are blink and you’ll miss it moments. Others are snippets of dialog that either bring forth a thought or are just delivered in such a way that it makes them memorable. Anyway, I don’t know how long this list is going to last, but I thought I’d give it a shot (it’s something to do, right?).

I’ll kick things off with a character that I believe deserves to be recognized. He’s probably known as Student 129, or Student in Library or some other nondescript title. Who am I talking about, you ask? I’m talking about the kid that you’ll miss if you blink during Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone, whichever way you want to see it). He’s the kid in the library who’s trying to study at the same table Harry and Ron are sitting at talking about something. When Hermione appears with her Big Book of Magic and drops it on the table, if you’re watching closely, you can see him give our heroes "The Sideways Glare of Death," and you can almost hear a frustrated sigh of disgust. After all, he was probably there first, and just wants to get some work done, but those three are making it impossible to do that. It’s probably my favorite part of the movie. It’s one of those things where if it’s on television and it’s close to that point, I keep watching, and once it’s over, I change the channel. I just love seeing that look and how those three are completely oblivious to it. I guess that’s why he deserves to be first, to get that little bit of the recognition he doesn’t get in the movie.

Slang.

It’s too easy to say cool.
I think more people should use the word keen.
I’m also in support of the reintroduction of "the cat’s pajamas" and "the bee’s knees" into everyday speech.
I support it, but I just wish I could remember to say it.
I always fall back into cool.

Even though I'm not going home

I still look to see how much the plane tickets would cost.