Kick Ass Mom!

My brother just forwarded this scanned pic of my Mom. She was in the Navy...

She's seriously working that hat!

Jonesing for a movie!

It's Friday and normally this would be a time to catch one of the fantastic summer movies that are out. Unfortunately Senor Wallet is telling me I cannot this close to payday and with a big weekend coming up that I need to save for.

In light of that, I thought I'd think about past movies, and then I found this meme on someone else's post. Big thanks to Chris for helping me down a memory lane of movies. Entertainment Weekly listed the top 100 movies from the past 25 years.

- Bold the movie if you’ve seen it
- Put asterisks next to the movies you’ve seen and liked it. (this is where I change the rules a bit, if it’s bolded I saw it and enjoyed it, if it’s bolded and Red I saw it and hated it.)
- and of course... my comments ('snarky' or not)

1. Pulp Fiction 1994
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy 2001-03
3. Titanic 1997 (although I saw it 3 times in one week... that's 9 hours invested....ugh)
4. Blue Velvet 1986 (WTF was that about??)
5. Toy Story 1995
6. Saving Private Ryan 1998 (I saw this and had to sit on the front row... Death and destruction 25 feet high... overwhelming at times!)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters 1986
8. The Silence of the Lambs 1991 (I saw this immediately after seeing "Sleeping with the Enemy. I was tense for days!)
9. Die Hard 1988
10. Moulin Rouge 2001 (took me a couple of times to like it, but it was appreciable for it's use of modern music)
11. This Is Spinal Tap 1984
12. Matrix 1999
13. GoodFellas 1990
14. Crumb 1995
15. Edward Scissorhands 1990 (when we first saw the chunky Anthony Michael Hall. When I was at Clemson a friend of a friend was dating AMH. They received an invitation to the Oscars. AMH told his girlfriend "No, I'm not going. I'm not going until I'm nominated for one".... still waiting there are we???)
16. Boogie Nights 1997 (not liking it too much may have had to do with the fact that my car was being broken into as I watched it.)
17. Jerry Maguire 1996
18. Do the Right Thing 1989
19. Casino Royale 2006 (Interesting Prequel set in modern day...)
20. The Lion King 1994 (I remember first seeing the trailer for this in the Disney Store where I worked. If you know me, you know the sap I am for movie emotions,
21. Schindler’s List 1993 (I didn't know how long this movie was going to be before I went and kept wondering how they were going to end it when we were close to the 2 hour mark. It was a bit long, but damn well worth it! The little girl in the red coat was creepy as all get out!)
22. Rushmore 1998
23. Memento 2001
24. A Room With a View 1986
25. Shrek 2001
26. Hoop Dreams 1994
27. Aliens 1986 (This movie was pretty cool, but not sure it quite met the oomph factor of the first one. In the first Alien the first birth scene still gives me the willies! I remember reading that the cast knew SOMETHING was going to happen in that scene, but they were never told exactly what and only John Hurt knew what was coming. After reading it I couldn't believe they'd be that dumb or could realistically react. But, if you watch Veronica Cartwright's reaction, she is truly horrified. Very cool!)
28. Wings of Desire 1988
29. The Bourne Supremacy 2004 (This wasn't so much dislike as it was a "...meh" been there done that. Much like the Rocky movies... yeah yeah yeah.... what's next, The Bourne Geriatricy?"
30. When Harry Met Sally… 1989
31. Brokeback Mountain 2005 (Being the lone southerner in my office when that came out my coworkers were always asking me to do the "I wish I could quit you" line.... of course I paraphrased and obliged)
32. Fight Club 1999
33. The Breakfast Club 1985 (ahh the quotes and memories from that one. "Does Barry Manilow know you raid his wardrobe?")
34. Fargo 1996 (Oooh, yah, I liked that one dontcha know?)
35. The Incredibles 2004 (Disney always amazes me how they can entertain kids and adults with 2 different sets of humor in one movie)
36. Spider-Man 2 2004 (really? this was listed as best movie?)
37. Pretty Woman 1990
38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004
39. The Sixth Sense 1999 (I liked this as the gist of the movie was a nice twist that people caught at very different times. Sadly, M. Knight Shyamalan's movies never had quite the same impact because everyone knew something was coming. I did like how he put himself in one or the other. I remember in Signs, when M. Knight's character told Mel Gibson he was going to the lake because the aliens seem to avoid water I thought... "Mel, he WROTE the movie.. do what he says!"
40. Speed 1994 (good movie... not to be at all confused with the second Speed. Don't fault Sandra for that movie... she couldn't help herself)
41. Dazed and Confused 1993
42. Clueless 1995
43. Gladiator 2000 (They never showed the gladiator that Russel Crowe killed with a hotel room telephone)
44. The Player 1992
45. Rain Man 1988 (I shouldn't say I disliked this movie. But I remember being exhausted and wanting to kill Dustin Hoffman when it was over. I guess that's a testament to his acting and pulling off that part so very well)
46. Children of Men 2006
47. Men in Black 1997
48. Scarface 1983
49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2000
50. The Piano 1993
51. There Will Be Blood 2007
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad 1988
53. The Truman Show 1998 (although it was still "Jim Carrey as...." do we not see this about him and Tom Cruise?)
54. Fatal Attraction 1987 (I like me some Glenn Close, but leaving Ann Archer for her... not so sure. Maybe it was the hermaphroditic child they'd born that made him go looking elsewhere)
55. Risky Business 1983 (While the movie was alright.. I detest that it was one of the launching pads for the Tom Cruise machine. he's the same guy there that he was in Jerry Maguire.)
56. The Lives of Others 2006
57. There’s Something About Mary 1998 (I saw this at a theater with 2 60+ year old women sitting next to me. Not too bad until the masturbation scene... ugh! But they laughed harder than I did!)
58. Ghostbusters 1984
59. L.A. Confidential 1997
60. Scream 1996
61. Beverly Hills Cop 1984 ("Yes, I am Johnny Wishbone from the isle of St. Croix")
62. sex, lies and videotape 1989 (one of 3 movies in my life I got up and walked out on)
63. Big 1988 (who DOESN'T want a trampoline in their 4,000sqft loft???)
64. No Country For Old Men 2007
65. Dirty Dancing 1987 (The first movie I ever paid $5 for.. I thought I'd die. If I went tonight I'd pay $11.. hence my staying home tonight!)
66. Natural Born Killers 1994
67. Donnie Brasco 1997
68. Witness 1985
69. All About My Mother 1999
70. Broadcast News 1987
71. Unforgiven 1992
72. Thelma & Louise 1991
73. Office Space 1999
74. Drugstore Cowboy 1989
75. Out of Africa 1985
76. The Departed 2006
77. Sid and Nancy 1986
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 (Better with Ahhnuld as a good guy. The kid was whiny though. Didn't he go to jail for something?)
79. Waiting for Guffman 1996 (this troupe is always funny in that way that you either completely get. Completely DON'T get, or you get it here and there, but different spots each time you see it.
80. Michael Clayton 2007 (It was OK, but I didn't see what all the Oscar buzz was about. I do like Tilda Swinton though even though she was uber frumpy in this movie)
81. Moonstruck 1987
82. Lost in Translation 2003
83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn 1987
84. Sideways 2004
85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin 2005 (you have to give props to an actor as hairy as he was for having a real hair wax on his chest. Kudos Steve Carell. Just wish I enjoyed "The Office" more)
86. Y Tu Mamá También 2002 (What about my Mama???)
87. Swingers 1996
88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery 1997 (although I did like the following two)
89. Breaking the Waves 1996
90. Napoleon Dynamite 2004 (didn’t see it, and still don’t like it.)
91. Back to the Future 1985
92. Menace II Society 1993
93. Ed Wood 1994
94. Full Metal Jacket 1987 (an old roommate was military and i ended up seeing far more military movies than I ever thought. I have to say this one was pretty good)
95. In the Mood for Love 2001
96. Far From Heaven 2002 (Dennis Quaid has held up very well into his 50's. I wish I'd known back in my 20's to be more healthy....)
97. Glory 1989 (Morgan Freeman can do no wrong. Excellent movie)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley 1999
99. The Blair Witch Project 1999 (I lived in Southern California when this came out and I got to see it on one of those weekends where "the lucky ones" get to see it before it's released nationally... aka, before the world knew it was a hoax... and it was far scarier than most people who saw it later would have thought.)
100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut 1999 (yes, it's vulgar, childish and sophomoric... but it was also funny as crap and musically... bravo for brilliance!)

I may tell Senor Wallet to kiss my butt and go to the movies anyway!

Have a great weekend everyone!

TMI Tuesday....

Happy Tuesday everyone!

1. Do you believe anyone truly likes their job? If so, why?

Yes I do. I believe at the true core of that question, the answer is yes. I do, I love the job that I do. There are parts of it that annoy me, of course, but I do love what I do. Back when I worked in the ER I loved that job, but there were things and/or people that annoyed me. I guess it's easier to say that people like their job description... its the other bullcrap that can come with it that makes you wonder.

However, I can say with sad experience, that sometimes people have to take jobs they truly dislike to make ends meet. My heart goes out to these folks for biting the bullet and doing what needs to get done. Shovel that shit honey, it will get better!

2. Do you 1) live to work or 2) work to live 3) not see a difference?

Sometimes I feel both 1 and 2. Even with a job I like, sometimes it feels my life is a continuous cycle of get up, go to work, go home, go to sleep, get up, go to work.....etc. But ultimately I think/hope it's that I work to live.

3. How many hours do you work a week?

Usually 45 to 50 although it doesn't seem that much. I get in a groove and time escapes me. If I'm on-site at a conference it can go up to as much as 80 with 16+hour days.

4. What was your safety item (i.e. blankie) from when you were little?

I had a stuffed Cat in the Hat doll. He went everywhere even when I was in the hospital in a croup tent. The humidity of the croup tent wreaked havoc on his felt hands and feet so after a few visits he lost them and sadly was a 4 point amputee for a while. (I tried to find a picture of a croup tent but couldn't. Imagine a plastic drape over the bed where the air is kept humid and cool to help the respiratory tract heal. How I watched TV through plastic is beyond me....)

5. Have you ever used food during sex?

No. Best to keep those two worlds apart.... I wouldn't want my lover to get jealous of m&ms... :)

Bonus (as in optional):What is your guilty food pleasure?

Creme Brulee... and lots of it!

Rest in Peace and Laughter

If you know me you know I love Stand Up Comedy and dabble in it myself as a hobby. Many comedians have made me laugh so hard I cried and couldn't breath. Some comedians made me long for the 15 minutes of my life I'll never get back that I lost watching their nightmare of a set. And a very special few not only made me laugh, but think. This weekend we lost one of those comedic greats.

George Carlin passed away unexpectedly this weekend from heart failure. I'd like to think that it was Heaven calling him up for a live performance. Heaven just got funnier!

Here are some of his great one liners.

As I'm typing this and remembering some of George's material, I realized a strange connection in recent losses. A connection for me anyway. As I said, George Carlin's material often made me laugh and think. Politics was always a target for George, and not just the "Dubya Bush is a dumbass" comedy (that's too easy). He took the political scene and dissected it, baring it open for laughs, but made you come away thinking "yeah, he's right" (truth is comedy)

So while George Carlin taught me to question the bad side of politics, Tim Russert was someone who taught me a lot about how the political scene works. Tim Russert passed away June 13. While I'm no political animal, and I certainly never watched a politically oriented show (Meet the Press) for more than the length of time it took me to find the TV remote, I did learn from him through his appearances on shows like Today.

Where people like John McLaughlin are too intimidating and it is like learning from your cranky old preacher, Tim Russert seemed like a trusted neighbor who could talk with you, not at you. His smile and laughter that usually accompanied his appearances on the Today show made it seem that he was happy to share his world with you no matter your level of experience or participation level. I think these traits are sorely missing from the political arena.

Thanks to both of these guys for enlightening me in their own way to the real world around me.

I'm Voting Republican!

Thanks to my sister Sandy for forwarding this to me....

Dog fighting victims

Thanks to Lea from SC for forwarding this to me!

From the Main Line Animal Rescue website:

The Third Twin

When Oogy was four months old and weighed thirty five pounds he was tied to a stake and used as bait for a Pit Bull. The left side of his face from just behind his eye was torn off, including his ear. He was bitten so hard a piece of his jaw bone was crushed. Afterward, he was thrown into a cage and left to bleed to death.

I am not a religious man, but I can only conclude that at that moment God turned around and paid attention. The police raided the facility, found Oogy, and took him to Ardmore Animal Hospital, where Dr. Bianco stitched him up and saved him. This coincided with the last weekend of life for our cat, Buzzy, who was 14 at the tine. My sons and I had taken Buzzy to AAH for his last visit. The staff had gathered Buzzy in when out comes this pup to be walked that looked like nothing more than a gargoyle. He covered us with kisses. The boys and I fell instantly in love with him.

Life goes out one door and in another.

"This is one of the happiest dogs I've ever met" Dr Bianco said. "I can't imagine what he'd be like if half his face hadn't been ripped off." Then, Dr. B said, "I am not going to tell you the things this dog has been through". Dr. B's assistant, Diane, took Oogy into her home for several weeks to foster him and make sure he was safe and to crate train him. Once Oogy came into our house, for my sons, then 12, it was like having a little brother. Whatever they did and wherever they went, there was Oogy. Oogy had to get involved in whatever the lads were doing. He became known as The Third Twin.

Dr. B thought Oogy was a Pit or Pit-mix and would get to be about 45 pounds. By the time of his first check up, Oogy weighed 70 pounds. When we walked in the door for the visit one of the women who works at AAH exclaimed "That's a Dogo!" I asked, "What's a Dogo?" She said, "I'm not sure." We went on line and learned that the Dogo Argentina is bred in Argentina to hunt mountain lion and boar. Oogy can run about 30 miles an hour, all four legs off the ground like a Greyhound. His leg muscles are so strong that, when he sits, his butt is a half-inch off the ground. Dogos hunt in packs. Dogos hurl themselves against their prey and swarm it. Oogy has a neck like a fire hydrant to protect him when he closes on his prey. He is built like a Pit Bull on steroids, with white fur as soft as butter and black freckles. Fully grown, Oogy is 85 pounds of solid muscle, but he does not know this and sits on us. He absolutely craves physical contact. He is full of kisses and chuffs like a steam engine when he is happy. He has a heart as big as all outdoors. One of the traits of the breed is that they fully accept anyone their family does. It is not unusual to come home and find three teenagers on the floor playing a video game and Oogy sprawled across their laps like some living boa.

Oogy hated the crate, and would bark and bark whenever we put him in. This puzzled me because I had been told by people with crate-trained dogs that their pets love the crate and feel secure in its confines. When Oogy was about eight months old, we hired a trainer who also happened to be an animal "whisperer". We introduced her to Oogy and she sat on the floor for a full five minutes talking to him. We could not hear a word she said. When the trainer lifted her head her eyes were brimming with tears. "Oogy want you to know" she said "how much he appreciates the love and respect you have shown him." Then she asked about his routine. I started by showing her where he slept in the crate. She said immediately, "You have to get him out of that box". "Why?" "Because he associates being in a box with having his ear ripped off." It was a smack- myself-in-the-forehead moment. Oogy never went back in.

Given what Oogy endured and what he is bred for, people are constantly astonished that he loves animals and people as much as he does. Walking with Oogy is like walking with a mayoral candidate. He has to meet everyone. A number of people we encountered in the neighborhood early on told me they were afraid of Oogy because when they would walk or jog by the house Oogy would bark at them and trot parallel to them, and given his size and looks … But everyone falls in love with Oogy. By the end of their initial encounter they are rubbing, petting, even kissing him on the nose. Oogy kisses them back. Because of the way he looks, when people meet him for the first time they almost always ask if he is safe. I tell them, "Well, he has licked two people to death …"

For the first year and a half of his life, part of Oogy's face was normal and the other part looked like a burn victim's. People who saw him in passing could not grasp the duality. As Oogy grew, the scar tissue spread. He could not close his left eye, so it wept constantly; his lip was pulled up and back. Dr. B said Oogy was in constant pain. So, in January 2005, Dr. B. rebuilt Oogy's face. When all the scar tissue was removed there was a hole in Oogy's head the size of a softball. After removing the scar tissue Dr. B took grafts and pulled the flaps together and sewed Oogy back up. Now Oogy has a hairline scar, but other than that looks just like any normal one-eared dog.

An essential part of this story is the fact that AAH has never taken a dime in payment for anything they have done for Oogy. I never asked them for such an arrangement. When I went to pay the first bill I was told, "Oogy's a no-pay." I never asked why this is. Oogy is their dog. We are just lucky enough to look after him.

Because some of his jaw bone was removed in the initial surgery, some of Oogy's lower left lip droops and a repository for dust and dirt. It is second nature to us to pull the detritus off his lip when we sit next to him. One day I told my sons that when they tell their children about Oogy, they will remember this routine act of kindness. I think that, on some level, every day we try to atone for what happened to him.

Last summer Oogy had ACL surgery; his body ultimately rejected the steel plates and developed an infection so his leg had to be opened up a second time and the plates removed. When I went to pick him up following the second surgery, the Technician who brought Oogy out said, "This is a great dog, I really love him." I said, "Yep, we're lucky to have him". The Tech looked at me and said, "No, you don't understand. I see hundreds of dogs each week, and every once in awhile there is a special one. And you have him.'

When I related that story to Dr. B he said, "But we already knew that."

Oogy's name is a derivative. The first day I was told we could adopt him I was thinking, "This is one ugly dog." But we couldn't call him "Ugly." Then I went to a variation of that from my youth, "Oogly," and his name followed immediately. Two years after we named him we learned that Oogy is the name of the Ghost Dog in the film, "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

(actually, the dog's name was Zero, the bad guy's name was Oogy Boogy.... but I like the ghost dog analogy so don't get concerned with the error - Chris)

This is not inappropriate.

On a recent Saturday afternoon Oogy was curled up on the couch asleep, his head in my lap, and I was thinking about his life is now as opposed to the way his life had been before. Would he have sensed he was dying? Was he conscious when the police put him on a rubber sheet and took him to the Ardmore Animal Hospital? Oogy went to sleep in a world of terror and searing pain and awoke surrounded by angels in white coats who were kind to him, who stroked him gently and talked softly to him. Instead of people who baited and beat and kicked him, he was surrounded with healing mercies.

I realized then that Oogy probably did not know he had not died and gone to heaven. So I told him. I said, "Listen pal. It only gets better after this."

Vile Bile and endless word vomit

Over at Max's Dad, my namesake told a little tale about how Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church and his group of.... you know, I can't even come up with a word vile enough to describe these folks... anyway, these people were in Omaha yesterday picketing the funeral of a Boy Scout who was killed when the tornado hit their camp.

Did you catch that... they were PICKETING THE FUNERAL OF A CHILD! A Boy Scout no less. I know the Scouts have been under fire the past few years, but still. Both myself and my brother were scouts and I can surely remember that Scout Camp never had anything happen that would invoke the wrath of God! If it had our scout master would have had my ass before God had a chance to register!

I was trying to find a picture of Phelps for you and, sadly, I found this video instead.



In February 2002, when I worked for American Academy of Pediatrics, the AAP Committee on Adoption released a study finding that children adopted into a home with same sex parents could flourish just as well as a home with opposite sex parents. The study was to show that health care for all adopted children should be the same no matter the parents who adopted them. (oddly, there were physicians who would not treat children of same sex parents). This study in no way said that homosexuality was normal or gay marriage should be allowed. But you wouldn't believe the shit storm we had to endure in the month or so after that was released. Flash forward to October when AAP's National Conference was being held in Boston, MA. I'm the convention planner who was told that the Phelps group had obtained a permit to picket our conference because of the statement.
I always hate their type of propaganda because someone may, not fully knowing Phelps' stupidity and narrow mindedness, may actually follow on. However, amongst all the signs they held saying "God Hates Fags" and "AIDS Kills Homos" or "Matthew Shepard is in Hell" they had signs that said "Thank God for 9/11" and "Sept. 11 was God's punishment"
I remember the counter-protest by the GLBT Medical Association and the support we received from our attendees when they found we had re-routed the shuttle system to lessen their exposure to this rabble. But I mostly remember how absolutely pissed off he Boston Police were having to be present to protect the Phelps group. Gay Bashing you might be able to get away with, cracking on 9/11 barely a year after it happened... not going over well with Boston's Finest. In my fantasy mind, that police officer snuck over to Phelps' hotel room that night and sodomized him with his billy club.... and Matthew Shepard was giggling his ass off in heaven :)