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A Single Dad in His Daughters' WorldAnd other scary stories.... September 16 Helloooo...is there anybody out there?For the longest time, I had no access to this bloody thing. Then, lo and behold tonight, after trying to give the url addy out to and old acquaintance that I recently just caught up with, I found out it's still here. Ain't that a kick in the pants. Maybe I should start this thing back up to see if it runs. December 24 Merry Christmas!From our home to yours……….
From our home to yours, With feelings of love. Just wrap this Christmas wish around you, Like the arms of a hug.
May it give you much comfort, And keep you cozy and warm. We hope it’ll be there for you, Through many a winter storms.
And Remember… We wish you many blessings, At this joyous time of year. With health, wealth, and happiness, And plenty of good cheer.
Merry Christmas From Scarecrow and Family November 26 Movie Review: Quantum of Solace & HSM3Quantum of Solace Quantum of Solace is the 22nd Bond film and a sequel to Casino Royale which came out in 2006. Casino Royale introduced us to Daniel Craig as Bond, and more importantly, it introduced us to the new James Bond formula. Bond is grittier, nastier, he has issues, driven to succeed at any cost, and in this movie, out on his own agenda…which is revenge. Quantum of Solace picks up right where Casino Royale ends, with Bond reeling from the death of his lover Vesper Lynd and seeking revenge. The opening seen jumps right into a high speed car chase, between Bond’s Aston Martin DBS V12 and his machine gun firing pursuers in an Alfa Romero, around Lake Garda in Italy. The action jumps from Italy, to Haiti, to Austria, to Bolivia and to Russia. And aside from the action sequences on the land, we are treated to a once sided dogfight in the air, and a boat chase on the sea. Much of the gritty fight scenes were shot at close range, like the Bourne series, to give us that realistic fight for your life, fight like an animal, feel to it. Whereas the first movie became a love story and clocked in at almost 3 hours, this movie was nothing more than a revenge movie, (with one short love scene), keeping us sitting for only an hour & forty-five minutes. The story itself seemed forced to me. Where the writers had an idea of where they wanted to go, but not sure how to connect the dots. In some ways, it was hard to follow the plot. Add all the international accents and it makes it that much more difficult. I would also suggest watching Casino Royale right before you see Quantum of Solace so as to remind you of all the characters that re-appear in the latter as well as the names that were mentioned in the former. Also, maybe it’s because of the Bourne series, or movies like Saving Private Ryan or even Casino Royale, where the fight scenes are shot in much the same way anymore, I wasn’t wowed by them in this installment of the 007 series as I was in Casino Royale. I never saw any of the Bond movies that came out before Casino Royale in the movie theatre. They were always a little to silly for me to waste the money. I was perfectly happy watching them at home when they would have those Bond marathons on TBS. Casino Royale was different. I saw it at the theatre. It was a great movie theatre film. And it even transcended it to being a great home theatre film. I own it at home and have watched it several times. Quantum of Solace has me questioning as to whether I should go back to my pre-Casino Royale thinking of waiting for it to come out on DVD and renting it. I realize this statement, makes it seem like I disliked Quantum of Solace, which is untrue. I liked it, I’m just not 100% sure how much I liked it. In many ways, Casino Royale broke from the original Bond formula that gave us something completely new. It re-energized a stagnant series. Quantum of Solace keeps up with that formula mostly, but with a thinner plot. And to add another old plotline, they brought back the idea of an evil corporation. All we needed with Quantum was to find out that it was an anagram for something much the same way SPECTRE was an anagram for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge & Extortion. That was silly. I graded Quantum of Solace on a curve and give it three crows feet out of five.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year Yes, I did go to see it so shut up. I promised my 12 & 7 year olds I would take them and a friend. So I did the dad thing and went. And other than realizing how dreamy Zac Efron is, I noted these tidbits. 1) I can, I can fall asleep in a movie theatre w/o any narcotics. 2) I found Vanessa Hudgen’s voice to be extremely annoying. 3) Are there any real black dudes named Chad? How about Corbin? 4) Gay or straight, I hope Lucas Grabeel doesn’t dress like that in real life. 5) To go with her annoying voice, I could help but think about that Hudgen’s photo scandal 6) Maybe Corbin Blue can finally cut his hair 7) Chicks are heartbreakers no matter what 8) Ashley Tisdale is adorable 9) This movie made over 80 million worldwide in it’s first weekend
Okay, having seen all three of the HSMs as well as a stage version of it, it was probably a better version. Much of that having to do with a bigger budget because of its release on the big screen. The camera work during the opening scene of a basketball game was good as well as the effects during Efron’s solo “Scream”. The movie had a lot of Zac in it. Much more than any other actor. Disney must have some bigger plans for him to feature him in that way. In a lot of ways he and the movie reminded me of a lesser known John Travolta in Grease. Okay, maybe I am stretching it there, but that is what I thought.
Anyway, not that it’s something I would normally watch, but I have to look at it from a parent’s aspect and from my little girls eyes. It was rated G, so there was nothing remotely questionable other than a kiss, hand holding, and a half naked skinny kid. All in all, it’s a fairly wholesome movie for your kids to watch. My 12 year old wanted to see Twilight too, so between the too, HSM was the better choice. And considering that everyone in my house had been bitten by the acting bug, it did nothing but drive the girls to WANT to perform on stage. L is trying out for Wizard of Oz in school and J….well, the whole world is her stage and I feel sorry for the person who tries to tell her otherwise. Again, on a curved scale, but for different reasons, I give HSM3 three crows feet out of five.
Take Care and Happy Thanksgiving Scarecrow
Together, together, together everyone
Aaaaaahhhhhhh......make it stop! November 19 AC/DC - Concert Review
The year was 1985. Ronald Reagan was sworn in for a second term. Keira Knightley, Reggie Bush, Evan Longoria, Frankie Munoz are born, (now don’t you feel old?). Tetris is released, the Tommy Hilfinger brand is established, and AC/DC released their tenth studio album, (if you remember LPs, you ARE old), named Fly on the Wall.
Compared to several previous works like, Highway to Hell, Back in Black, and For Those about to Rock, this album was fairy lackluster. Still, it didn’t persuade a 19 year old PSU sophomore with hair half way down his back from wanting to…er….needing to beg, borrow & scrounge up enough cash, (about $35-40 bucks at that time), to get a ticket to see one of his idols in concert.
He did manage to get a ticket, and enough to buy a $20 concert shirt, (also a lot of money at that time), and in turn, he was promptly blown away by the sound, the antics of the lead guitarist, the pyrotecnics, the props, and the fact that to date it was quiet possibly the loudest show he has ever been to.
Twenty three years later, with his 16 year old daughter and girlfriend in tow, (boy how things change), and with a $100 ticket in hand, (and change is good?), that same excitement was still there. The hair is a lot shorter, and the cut-off denim jacket over leather jacket has been replaced by a plain brown t-shirt, but inside the rock and roll animal is still an ever energetic teen, (just with an aching back).
Contrary to the rave reviews of the tour, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. First, I feel this CD, Black Ice, (they are called CDs now children), is good but not great. Second, the members of the band are friggin’ old. Angus and Malcolm are 53 and 55 respectively, with lead singer Brian Johnson almost able to collect social security at 61. Needless to say, I was going in with an understanding that the show wouldn’t be the same as the ones I saw in years past.
Boy was I wrong. From the opening animated video of a runaway rock and roll train with a devilish Angus Young stoking the fire regardless of the attempts of suggestively drawn women trying to stop him, to last resonating note of Angus’ Gibson SG and six barrel cannon barrage of For Those About to Rock the show did nothing lest than kick ass. Angus might look old but he proved to be just as spry and energetic as ever, never slowing down for a straight 105 minutes, and all while delivering his signature power chords and one handed arpeggios. Armed with five new tunes and 13 of their classics, the lads from down under treated us to full throttle attack of balls to the wall, adrenalin pumping rock and roll. Back in Black, Dirty Deeds, Thunderstruck, (which my buddy had the bridal party enter to in his wedding on Saturday night), Whole Lotta Rosie, Hells Bells, Shoot to Thrill, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway to Hell, TNT, Let There Be Rock and more. And as always, during The Jack, Angus did his patented strip down from his burgundy velvet school boy outfit to reveal a pair of AC/DC boxers, (available for $20 in the concourse). Cheesy as it may be, (along with the blinking devil horns for $15), it’s all part of the basic rock and roll entertainment value of an AC/DC concert. (Actually, the devil horns led to a cool light effect when the lights went down.) And as an accompaniment to the cheesy lyrics, we were treated to the usual stage show bag of tricks. From a life size train engine crashing through the stage leading into the entry song Rock and Roll Train, to a bell coming down from the rafters during Hells Bells, to flame throwers lighting up the stage in crimson & orange during Highway to Hell, to the closing cannon fire on For Those About to Rock. It’s all gooood. It’s all fun. It’s all rock and roll. And as far as it not being as loud as I remember, my hearing is worse now, so it probably was a lot louder than I thought.
The crowd itself consisted mainly of 30-50 year olds, with their kids, like me. Mostly, the adults put the kids to shame with rocking out. (Of course, they would say we embarrassed them.) One dude was there with his five year old kid. The kid had on those big industrial earmuffs that landscapers wear to protect his ears and carried a toy microphone which he sang each song into, word for friggin’ word. Talk about cute.
So whereas you don’t need to see close ups of Angus’ striptease, the bags under his eyes, bold spots of Malcolm, or Brian Johnson’s three jowls, what you do need to do is go to this concert. And even without Have a Drink on Me, or Big Balls and a no name warm up band, (or is it warm up bland?), I give this concert five crows feet.
NOTE: My joke above about LPs now being called CDs reminded me of a funny story. A bunch of years ago, mid 90’s maybe, in my last job we use to do polyannas with a $20 limit. Typically, I always wrote down a few CDs that I wanted. One year, the person who picked my name was this sweet 100 year old woman that worked for us part time. She actually tried to buy a $20 certificate of deposit for me. Someone explained what I meant and she had no idea LPs weren’t being used anymore.
Take Care, S November 10 LOST newsLOST returns on January 21st. It will be back on Wednesday nights. That means I can go to the Preston and Steve LOST parties again! Yeah baby!
November 07 Carl the Unhappy SquirrelCarl was an unhappy squirrel. Outside of his nuts, he had nothing. But one fall, Carl’s luck had changed. While scrounging for coffee grounds, Carl stumbled upon a case of Sam Adams Winterbrew. Now, this winter Carl will be relaxing in his tree house with a warm fire, while sitting in his bark-a-lounger watching “Squirrel’s Gone Wild” on his big screen TV, with his nuts in one hand, a beer in the other and a smile on his face. The End
Next up: Chauncey the Dyslexic Zebra August 04 Down the ShoreGoing Down the Shore It’s not “going to the shore” or “going to the beach” it’s just “Going down the shore”. In Philly we go “down the shore” or “up the mountains”. There are no prepositions. No need for unnecessary words to clutter the expression. Can’t get there fast enough and cutting out all those big words like “to” will expedite things. Anyway, in a few hours, that’s where I will be…..going down the shore. The Jersey shore. Wildwood, N.J. to be exact. The land that made Cozy Morley and Charlie Gracie famous. One of the oldest family beach communities in the country. Been getting sand in my shorts there since I was in diapers, and probably will when I get back in them. The best beach and sand in the world is in Wildwood. While most beaches are eroding, The Wildwoods beaches are still five miles long and about a 100+ yards wide. It has everything you want in a beach resort and no stinking blue laws. The Boardwalk has several piers packed with rides, games, food…..enough to drop a couple hundred a night trying to entertain a girlfriend and three insatiable kids. Boardwalk pizza, Curley’s Fries, Kohr’s Custard, polish water ice, hot dogs……. Ahhhh…….the smell of salty air, the sun beating down on you as a cool breeze whips in off the Atlantic, the rolling thunder of waves crashing against the surf , the sound of the fudgy wudgy man selling his wares, and cackle of the seagulls as they swoop in and steal some toddlers Dorito, jellyfish infestations, horseshoe crab carcasses, the green heads sucking your blood, the invisible chiggers gnawing at your leg, sand in your PB&J, sunburn on your scalp because you forgot your hat….love it all. GE has never been “down the shore”. Training her to lose the preposition isn’t going to well. She comes from a foreign land where they VW’s are called “slugbugs” not “punch buggies”, and they put “sprinkles” on their ice cream, not “jimmies”, and people eat “subs” and not hoagies….what kind of bassackward land is Virginia anyway? Oh well, this will be her first visit to the Jersey shore. She has been excited for weeks. Annoyingly so. “Can we do this?, “Can we do that?”, “Should I bring this?”, “Can I play in the ocean?”, “Can we fool around on the beach……oh…wait…..TMI. We’ll probably hit AC one night for little gambling, maybe the Cape May Zoo, maybe a few of the light houses along the coast, definitely a couple pancake houses for breakfast, and not to mention all the regular events Wildwoods has going on. Anyway, time to shower, pack up the old family roadster and get going. Take care, S
Spring'll soon be gone (Wildwood days), summer's comin' on (Wildwood days) after school is out (Wildwood days) 'cause it's kissin' time (Wildwood days) Wildwood Days – Bobby Rydell #17 on the charts in 1963 June 09 The GrandmometerA grandmometer is a device used in determining when it is too hot and humid outside for any man or beast to exist. Basically, take grand mom outside. When she passes out, you know you need to get into a cooled environment a.s.a.p. My grandmometer just broke. With June 10th temperatures reaching a high that hasn’t been seen in the Philly area for close to 75 years, (high of 98, humidity at around the same, and the Realfeel index at 103), all I can say is God bless Willis Haviland Carrier….who in 1902 created the first modern electric air conditioner. Stay cool! S March 21 Oooh, ooh....Can I be one of the good guys too?
Hey......I bet I can tell you where Frank Lapidius went with the helicopter. He took Omar, Kearny and the rest of the fun bunch back LOST island to play with high powered rifles. Frank is one of the few freighter people that seems reluctant on what they are doing. I guess it's possible that, as Ben would say, 'he's one of the good guys'.
Star Wars reference #2: "I have a bad feeling about this"........don't remember if it was Luke, Leia, or Solo that said it, but it was said in the first movie when they landed the Millennium Falcon in a crater on that asteroid, which turned out to not be a crater but the inside of some monster.
Playing Cinderella March 20 LOST (S4, E8)I'm Scarecrow and I approve of this message........
LOST (S4, E8) Meet Kevin Johnson Hey.….I knows you. You played point guard for the Cavaliers and Suns, right?. Aren’t you running for mayor or something in Sacramento….I thought you’d be taller? Not you, huh? Oh wait, I know, the wide receiver for the Browns, Jags, Ravens and Lions….I had you on a couple of my fantasy teams….I thought you’d be taller. Oh…..you’re not him either.
Are you that dude from the plane crash that supposedly murdered two hot innocent women, turned your friends over to The Others and left them bound, gagged, with bags over their heads all under the auspice of a father’s love for his son that he hadn’t seen for like ten years. Yeah?Really….that’s you! Hmmmm….I thought you’d be taller. The episode takes place in December of 2004, about 100 days after the crash and about 32 days after Michael bid farewell to the island with Walt. Evidently, even though Michael and Ben have only appeared to meet and converse for a very brief couple minutes, Michael is Ben’s spy on the freighter. Considering the unknown abilities and powers of Ben, I guess it’s still possible for the two of them to meet and hatch some sort of plan after the fact. Either Ben used Michael’s son Walt to have Michael do his bidding, OR, Ben used the guilt of the murders to get Michael to redeem himself, which is a big theme on the show. Maybe, through Walt’s power of astral projection, Ben contacted Michael and Walt, and continues to give them orders. Remember, basically, Ben, Locke and Walt are all allied, somewhat reluctantly, to protect the island. The island guides each of them. Funny, but I don’t see David Malcolm Kelly, (Walt), listed as a guest star in this episode. So let’s start that Where’s Walt search again….he’s in the red & white striped sweater picking up dead birds. He’s probably taller now. We still have the question of who’s in the Oceanic Six. So far we have Jack, Hurley, Kate, Sayid & Sun. Supposedly, it has already been answered....so who is the sixth? It can only be Aaron or Ben since they are the only ones that we’ve seen in the future. Neither was on Flight 815’s manifest, but an argument can be made for each. Ben can easily take the identification of some loner on the flight. We know he has the means. But I think it was Aaron because of the way that episode with Kate was set up. They kept telling us, “Another member of the Oceanic Six will be revealed”. Well, we already knew from Jack’s flash back that Kate was one, so that wasn’t a big surprise. No, the big money shot of that episode was Aaron’s appearance at the end of that episode. But honestly, do you care about Aaron enough at this point for him to be one of the six? They could of just said Oceanic Five and left it at that. Aside from welcoming back Michael and maybe Walt, we also are treated to seeing one of the aforementioned dead hot women. Yes, Libby supposedly makes an appearance in this episode. In fact we are treated to the resurrection of several now dead characters. According to the guest star list, dead hot Naomi and dead but not so hot Tom & Minkowski make an appearance. Quotes Harold Perrineau said “it felt like we were making a movie because ofall the stuff going on in it”. Evangeline Lily said, “It’s one of the best episodes of the eight”. Jorge Garcia said, “It’s a pretty shocking end but it doesn't close out the way our previous ones have ended because it doesn't have that closure to it and ends in a sense of dissonance” and "Are you gonna finish that moon pie?". Various press comment: “If you were excited about the ending o the last episode, wait until you see the ending of #8. Oh. My. God...” Carlton Cuse said, “The audience just needs to be warned, there’s a very cool cliffhanger at the end of the eighth episode. But most of the major questions were designed to get answered at the second half of the season. ” Ashley Dupree said, "Why yes Larrry I think I will take the money and pose for your magazine". And according to Damon Lindelof, “You'll find out a lot about Michael. But you'll ALSO learn why bearded Jack was unable to jump. AND where the Others are holed up. AND, according to those silly promos, apparently someone dies, too.” Okay, now wait. So it’s a Michael flashback episode, but we get to see something about future Jack? I am confused about that. I have no clue, so let’s move onto who dies. Based on last week’s show, we can assume that Jin is either dead or still alive on the island. I can’t see Sun leaving the island w/o him. I’m thinking he dies, but this soon after last week isn’t much of a surprise so, let’s move on. Something must happen to Claire if Kate now has Aaron. But again, since it’s a Michael centric episode, I can’t see it being her yet. Plus more importantly, there is more to her story being Jack's little Aussie half sis and all. It’s not Locke or Sawyer just because there is too much story left on them. Frank, Charlotte, Faraday or Miles wouldn’t be too big of a deal for us. Ditto for the ship’s captain and crew….who cares? I think Desmond still has a lot more story left in him. Rose, maybe. Bernard, maybe even more after last week’s touching scene with Jin. Who’s left….hmmmm…oh yeah, Juliet. She is not part of future world. In future world, Jack continues to profess his love for Kate. And since, according to Lindelof, we see a glimpse into future world Jack, maybe it has something to do with Juliet’s death. I surely thought Juliet was going to die at the end of her episode a couple weeks back. I don’t see much story line left with her in it. What would create a bigger gap between Jack & Ben that Juliet’s death, with each blaming the other? Hey, what if she dies at Lockes hands? Whoa! And what about those demons bouncing around in Jack’s oxycodone induced skull? They could partially be there due to her death. Anyway, it makes some sense to me that her death would definitely add to the story right now, whereas other might not….yet. Remember, after tonight, there will be a short break before LOST resumes on April 24th at TEN O’CLOCK! Yes, it’s back to 10:00 pm. At least tax season will be over. Get ready for an information and action packed show. Sounds like there are a lot of things going on tonight, so set those Tivos and DVRs….and get LOST! S |
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