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Post by Crowfan on Dec 21, 2012 16:48:47 GMT -5
Max stayed because dogs are loyal creatures and you'd have to assume the Grinch at least fed him. Once you feed a dog, it will never leave.
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Post by Crowfan on Dec 25, 2012 9:19:47 GMT -5
This is one of my favorite Christmas songs.
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Post by nondescript spice on Dec 28, 2012 17:44:58 GMT -5
^mine too. just because i'm on vacation, you think i'm going to quit boring you nerds? NEVER! i was going to continue with my favorite christmas specials & movies - because, you know, i know you all are DYING to know - but believe it or not, my dad's computer might be slower than my own. so you'll just have to wait. calm down! i said WAIT! i hope everyone had a good christmas. i got waaay more than i deserved.
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Post by Crowfan on Dec 31, 2012 16:53:50 GMT -5
Happy New Year, everyone.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 3, 2013 18:43:20 GMT -5
only because we are friends, crowfan, will i allow abba into my blog. spice's favorite christmas movies/specials extravaganza, part 4the nightmare before christmas was probably the best thing that happened to me in 1993. i first saw it at a co-worker's christmas party. i was as high as a giraffe's ass and completely tuned everyone out while i stared at her tv as it silently played out. i've been hooked ever since. jack skellington is extremely likeable, even though he's kind of an idiot. he lives in one of the coolest places on earth, but it bored with it. he has the adoration of the lovely patched up sally, but can't see it. he accidentally stumbles into the second coolest place to live on earth, christmas town, and decides to hijack it from santa. well, who wouldn't? i hear ya, man it's full of endless cool as hell characters, from the vampires that stroll around in daylight with umbrellas to protect them from the light to the extremely bipolar mayor who falls to panic or joy at any provocation. and the werewolf who looked like he came straight from the grunge scene in the early '90's was one of my favorites. they all follow jack's idea to steal christmas as fanatically as any mob, but only sally knows the deal of what will happen. i hear ya, sista it is by far one of my favorite burton movies. when i once worked at a video store - yes, kids, they did used to exist - i got chewed out by a woman because i highly recommended it to her - she came back furious because she said it scared her little boy. what a candy ass! it also has one of the coolest bad guys - the oogie boogie man - his song is my favorite in the great soundtrack to the movie. i don't care what you think - the final song between jack and sally is just too sweet for words. shut up! a christmas storyi hate it when someone says they don't like a christmas story, or they have never seen it; like they are way too cool or know better than to watch it. it's funny that it wasn't that big of a hit when it came out in '83 - i don't know when it turned around - if it was when tbs started running it 24 hours beginning on christmas eve. but it became a tradition in my family to watch it after we finished dinner, while the kids opened some of their gifts. it's got such a great, simple story. ralphie's goal in life is to get that damned bb gun. that's it. but he's beaten at every turn. and it's his dad - his crazy, bumbling father who is able to see what his son really wants. the scene when ralphie finally gets the gun and opens it while his father watches is one of my favorite scenes in any movie, ever. there are a couple of moments that i always look for. one - when ralphie is stunned that santa claus turns out to be like the rest of the adults who gives him the you'll-shoot-your-eye-out line and slides down the slide into the fake snow - he just lays there, beaten. it cracks me up in the next scene when his parents find him still there, his brother sitting next to him, giving the idea they have been like that for some time. the other one is after ralphie goes out to play with the gun and you see this quick scene where his dad sneaks into the kitchen to steal some turkey, but the mother catches him and barks, "STOP!" and he just scrambles to run away. i crack up every time. ^that's another one - ralphie, entranced by the leg, can't keep his hands off it is just too funny. the whole leg lamp scene was great, i thought. i was going to buy one for my dad, who loves this movie, but they are always sold out when i try. i TRIPLE DOG DARE YA! it takes place in a time i wish i had lived in and known; i was born too late. i like watching it because it reminds me of what christmas was like when i was young enough to really enjoy it and not dread it as i usually do now. sorry baby jesus, it ain't about you.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 4, 2013 18:44:52 GMT -5
spice's favorite christmas movies/specials extravaganza, part 5it's been a few years since i've last seen the ref; i keep meaning to buy it but i never think of it when i'm getting movies. but i love it. it was the first time i'd seen dennis leary in anything but his stand up. i've watched a few episodes of rescue me on fx, and i was pretty impressed with him in that as well. but as gus, the cat burglar, i don't know why he is so stressed. whatever small town this is, they have the most bumbling police force since the keystone cops. he takes caroline and lloyd hostage, played wonderfully by judy davis and kevin spacey - a constantly bickering couple on the verge of a divorce on christmas eve, when they are about to host a family christmas eve dinner. to further complicate things, their pissy, spoiled troubled son is coming home from military school. none of the family gets along, mostly thanks to the horrific mother that uses her money to keep them all in line. but it's caroline and lloyd's constant arguing and gus's mounting frustration - which eventually turns to empathy - that is really the focus. as it turns out, he helps them more than all the marriage counselors they've seen in the past. go fig. my favorite extra is christine baranski, who plays lloyd's sister, connie. i've always liked baranski and she was great in the ref as an overbearing, pushy wife and mother. it has a feel good, but not too good ending and is perfect for anyone who must endure hellish family dinners during the holidays. the polar express has turned into one of my all time favorite christmas movies. i didn't think i'd go for it that much when it came out, but i went to the theater to see it and thought it was amazing. i still catch it on tv every year and it still holds up for me. so tom hanks is doing five or six roles a film now? and i'm surprised, why? i don't give a crap what you think of hanks, i love him and have been a fan since i used to watch bosom buddies every week as a kid. he was magnificent in polar express. he is the BEST santa claus, imo. not all pissy like the one in rudolph, not like the wimp in the year without a santa claus, not the goofy image that never stops his ho-ho-ho'ing in countless shows and commercials we've seen over the years. i love the polar express's santa because he seemed real as well as a dream. he always had this hazy, ethereal mist around him, and instead of being waaay too jolly, he was more serious and solid. but kind. loved it. imagine making santa stand out by making him more human. i loved the boy's journey - his doubt, his fear, his bravery and his eventual belief in the spirit of christmas - not just santa himself, but in things he could not see. now, you can bet if i'd been along that night, i would have been exactly like that nerdy little kid no one liked that bugged the crap out of everyone. but the boy, with help from what i can only assume was condoleezza rice as a child, handles himself very well. aside from santa and..and well, the conductor, the hobo was one of the best characters hanks did in polar express. he had that creepy wise thing down. and he was also in the most exciting part of the movie, when the train loses control. the song the girl sings with the poor kid was a little cheesy for me, but i thought the cheese factor was pretty low for the most part. oh, and when the boy realizes the bell is missing! even though i knew it would have to turn up, i still got a lump in my throat. again, if i had been the one who got to ask for the first gift of christmas, i would have gotten the quadruple level barbie mansion with every accessory ever made, but the boy chose the bell. what maturity! then the little dumb ass loses it - but you still feel terrible for him. it was beautifully done and i thoroughly enjoy it every year. take that, rankin bass santa!
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 6, 2013 22:26:01 GMT -5
spice's favorite christmas movies/specials extravaganza, part 6it really was a wonderful life for george bailey. but the ingrate just couldn't see it. i hear that. where's MY angel? where's my pudgy, bumbling little clarence to show me how stinkin' good i've got it? anyway. yeah, it's a corny movie, but it stands up. i didn't like it much when i was younger because there wasn't much christmas in it until the very end. i thought it was boring. but i grew to appreciate it as i have slowly turned into an old curmudgeon. i loved donna reed in it. she had one of the single best lines in movie history: "he's making violent love to me, mother!" even though i think james stewart (aside from chaplin) was definitely the hottie of his time - before he got all leathery and started doing westerns - he was one cranky guy i couldn't imagine anyone wanting to snare into marriage. helllllooo, mr. stewart it's amazing to think bedford falls could have turned into a cesspool of debauchery if george bailey had failed to exist. but when he finally gets his sh*t together and learns to appreciate his life, it's just like ebeneezer scrooge having his christmas morning epiphany. i usually watch it every thanksgiving. my mom got me the dvd years ago, kind of as a joke because she is open about how she does not like it. i have to admire that. hee haw! i used to watch the hell out of the muppet christmas carol when i smoked pot! i loved it. muppets are awesome, i don't care how old you are or what kind of sobriety you may or may not have. michael caine was a great scrooge. i used to wonder if during the middle of a scene did he ever stop and think - i am michael caine! i starred in alfie! the man who would be king! now look at me, acting with a bunch puppets! i liked what jason segel said about the muppets after the movie he starred in with them in 2011. the characters were great - sam the eagle - it is the AMERICAN WAY! *gonzo whispers in his ear* sam: ahem...it is the BRITISH WAY! tiny tim was too cute to be true. miss piggy...yeah, the less i know about her and kermit, the better. but i did love the part at the end when she's chewing scrooge out and just slams kermit in the wall to get him out of her way. the narrators in gonzo and rizzo the rat were fun - light the lamp, not the rat! light the lamp, not the rat! yeah, good fun. my roommate and i would watch it from a haze on our respective couches, deeply invested in both the movie and our munchies. the only part we didn't like was the two hour song scrooge sings with his lost love, whatsherface *quick check to imdb* belle. it goes on forEVER. i think that was the part where i'd take a quick nap. i loved it - i can't watch it now without jonesing for some doritos. and how could you not love this guy??
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 7, 2013 11:43:01 GMT -5
spice's favorite christmas movies/specials extravaganza, part 7i'm bummed i never watched scrooged this year. i love it and even though bill murray has done some pretty amazing movies since then, it's one of my favorite murray movies ever. it's very '80's - a perfect time for a christmas carol movie with a scrooge who is obsessed with money and material possessions. we were all material girls back then, after all. all the elements and characters are there - bill murray, as frank cross, sacrificed everything, including the love of his life, claire, to become a hotshot television executive. he is in charge of producing a horrible christmas special full of violence that has zilch christmas spirit in it. among other shows in a really funny scene, john forsythe serves as the harbinger for cross's journey of self discovery, something that had not yet been invented in the 1980's. another great cameo was robert mitchum, the head of the company, who introduces a smarmy guy to help frank with the christmas special, who is mainly after frank's position. but forsythe was great. it was one of the best things i ever saw him do. totally made up for his wussy performance in kitten with a whip. i always felt bad for the first ghost, the ghost of christmas past in every christmas carol i've ever seen - they have the hardest time convincing the poor dope that this isn't a dream and they better wake the eff up. but the first ghost in scrooged might be my favorite ghost ever. after showing frank his pathetic childhood, he shows him how he met and fell in love with claire; how happy they were together before frank dumped her for his career. frank is a slow case - he is more worried about the christmas special and keeping the smarmy guy from usurping his job than his soul. but then if everyone had carol kane as their own personal ghost of christmas present, we'd all be better people. i've always loved her and that role had to be written just for her. she was fabulous. she shows him how everyone thinks he's such a tool, especially his overworked secretary and her poor family. and you meet possibly the most heart wrenching tiny tim ever, mute since his father's murder. frank eventually begins to see what a douchebag he has been to everyone and falls back in love with claire, who is the complete opposite of him now. i hear ya, man the ghost of christmases yet to come is of course, the scariest one. and it is a pretty grim realization for old frank. he sees the tiny tim character's future: as well as his own, which actually is pretty freaky, at least it is for me if it's been too long since my last confession. but of course, frank wakes up and realizes he doesn't want to be a jerk anymore. he has to make up with the bob cratchet of the story, elliot loudermilk, a meek, canned employee who turns horribly disgruntled and wants to shoot cross, played by bobcat goldthwait. but it all works out as frank interrupts the christmas special to witness to everyone how he is now a changed man. he wins claire back, evidently doesn't lose his job or get shot, and gets a christmas miracle to boot - murray christmas!
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 8, 2013 20:21:32 GMT -5
whew, it was fun when i started, but i'm glad i finished the christmas special extravaganza crap. let's move on. but first, allow me to say how much i hate photobucket, especially since they "upgraded" their site. it is impossible to size a picture, so i apologize for the huge ones that refused to cooperate. i'll share a few pics from my trip down to florida for christmas. i've never spent christmas anywhere but in either tennessee or maryland, so this was a new experience for me. i flew there on allegiant air - another new experience. i usually fly u.s. air. i had never heard of allegiant before - they are a little cheaper than the other airlines - so much so that i was half expecting everyone to be strapped into a cargo plane with a parachute, but it was cool - very uneventful, just like i likes it. my parents are leasing a house for now, but i'm pretty sure they are going to stay down there. i couldn't get over how manicured everything was. it made me wonder - do i really live in a dump or is this place that nice? ^this is just some random yard i took a picture of while out walking one day, but i just couldn't get over the landscaping in every yard. it was a great place for walking - some days i took my mom's bike out and rode around, which was cool and sad. sad because i can't remember the last time i rode a fricking bike. but i found this walking park about half a mile from their house i went to several times. i figured it wouldn't be a big deal, but it wound around for half a mile in a jungley path. i'd see signs of the local wildlife and plants - ^seriously? i can see a new dead possum on the street i drive to work on every week. i don't need to fly to florida to see one. you better believe i quickened my pace after seeing that. it was good motivation to power walk. but after a while i felt so turned around i couldn't figure out which way was out. i knew i was going to have to call my dad and tell him to come find me in this rattlesnake/possum infested maze, but i eventually made my way out. i may live in the south, but i am NO nature chick. ^i took that pic in someone's yard - it cracked me up. first of all, it was just weird to see christmas decorations in that climate. secondly, i had to laugh at how that was placed. that egret or heron or whatever it was, looked to be a part of the nativity. like he tagged along with the wise men, or something. we took the boat out on christmas day - it was awesome. it's been too long since i've been on my dad's boat. i learned my way around a boat before i learned how to drive a car up in maryland. we went around the canals and out into the open water for a bit. the highlight was seeing a guy in shorts wearing a santa hat and beard in a kayak. aside from that, the only other picture i really took on christmas day was this: my brother and s-i-l sent a fruit bouquet to the folks, so every time someone opened the fridge, we'd eat more of it. but no one touched the chocolate covered snowman, out of deference, i suppose. anyway, he was the last remaining treat. on christmas morning, i saw it sitting on the counter - the snowman alone with a half chewed arm. my mom confessed to trying to eat him, but she said it was hard pineapple beneath the chocolate, so she gave up. it just cracked me up - how he looked like an impaled victim from a war in the middle ages with an arm half gnawed off by genghis khan or something. poor fella. on christmas eve i went to mass at sacred heart - maybe the biggest church i've ever seen. there was 400-500 people there, easy. i had to take a picture of the ginormous mural of jesus on the wall behind the altar. it was quite impressive and jesus's eyes followed you wherever you went. while i was there, i had the pleasure of meeting spackle for lunch. we met at a place called boca grande, a little resort town, at a place called the loose caboose. she's the second person i've met from this board, and i have to say it went much better than the first. we had a few beers, got drunk and ripped every one of you guys to shreds. nah, not really. we didn't get drunk. we walked around the shops and took in a view of the gulf - we went back to the loose caboose for more beer and eventual coffee. i had a swell time and hope we can get together again. my folks took me to the place where they ate thanksgiving dinner - the ragged ass saloon. not strictly a biker bar since it's a little touristy, but it definitely had a biker vibe. ^my parents. they crack me up. i will say this, they served a hell of a lunch and had my favorite sam addams beer on draft. ^i called out to the slightly rough looking guys at the bar there to wave for my picture but they all completely ignored me. "or not," i said. good to know i still got it. ^that was one of my favorite spots - the celtic ray, an irish pub. i LOVED it. it was a big place, two stories. we had dinner there; they serve only authentic irish food, so between the three of us i think we ate an entire field of potatoes and drank our weight in beer. a guy named paul duffy sang traditional irish songs and i just fell in love with him. he was incredible. i asked him to play whiskey on a sunday, but didn't get to hear it because my parents were ready to split before he could play it. i wish we could have stayed longer - i loved it there. ^that was what i was really looking forward to - my mom got us tickets to see the nutcracker performed by the russian ballet. i have never seen a professional ballet before, so i was very excited. i knew i might find it incredibly boring, but i still wanted to go. fortunately, i did not. find it boring, that is. my dad did, i'm sure. i found him by the bar during intermission, buying the three of us a glass of wine. i said, "you're waaay too republican to enjoy this, aren't you?" and he said, "that's why i'm at the bar." but i thoroughly enjoyed it. i've always loved the music to the nutcracker, so seeing it in dance was definitely an experience i'm glad i had. my parents walking hand in hand to the car after the ballet we went to the farmer's market the day before i left. i wanted to buy everything i saw, but i only had so much room in my suitcase, so i had to show some self control. punta gorda is a cool little town, though. my parents have a pool - it was strange to see a house down there without one - but it was really too cool to swim. though i did get in one day - i was determined to do so. but i didn't stay in long. it was warm enough to wear shorts and sandals, but not to swim in an unheated pool for very long. i got very attached to the gecko i named chico, who often hangs out at their pool. but it seemed like no time passed at all before i had to pack up and head back home. the weight limit on my suitcase was 40 pounds and i made it through with 38. it was the first time on this trip that i got felt up by security, too. i was going to ask the woman who patted me down in knoxville if she wanted to get a drink later, but she seemed to be all business, so i didn't. i'm just happy they let me on the plane. head in the clouds, as usual.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 10, 2013 15:51:21 GMT -5
^i knew i'd forget something up there. after the plane touched down in knoxville, the stewardess got on the mic and said, "how about that landing, everyone!? wasn't it great?" WTF?? i asked the woman seated next to me, "why does she sound so surprised?" it was like she was expecting something totally different. yeah, i know christmas is over. though i had a great time in florida, i'm kinda glad. didn't put the decorations up this year because like i said, i just wasn't feeling it this year. but i did have fun new year's eve. normally, i do nothing on new year's. i never really have done a big party type celebration on new year's that i remember. some were more fun than others - i remember ones that sucked - like racing across town to a party after i got off work and spent 12 am at a liquor store, or a party i attended years ago once where a chick threw up in the host's freezer. she earned the name "freezer queen" after that. there's a picture of her somewhere of her half passed out, sitting on a couch with a trash can on her lap and a party hat on her head. in more recent years, there have been the ones where i fell asleep before i could get to midnight. yeesh, preferable to this, i'd say but my girlfriend came over - she used to be a member here, i think i've mentioned before, gypsygurl - and we made champagne cocktails and played '80's trivial pursuit. ^that's the little wooden turkey my dad made when he was a boy - i took this picture to include him in the festivities. we had a blast. turns out i remember very little about the 80's if it didn't have to do with michael jackson, neon colored leg warmers or who madonna was screwing. i am not much of a cook, but i tried making these zucchini chips from a recipe i got off pinterest. here's what they were supposed to look like - here's what mine looked like - thankfully, we also had cheese and crackers. gypsygurl brought me one of those toy things you put in a bowl of water and it grows THREE times its size. it was rudolph. so i decided to document it. i took several pictures and wrote down its progress. the further down you go on the paper, the worse my handwriting gets. 7:28 p.m. - first submerged 8:29 p.m. - no change 9:45 p.m. - no change 10:31 p.m. - pliable, a bit bloated (as was i by then) 1:05 a.m. - a bit larger a year later 2:15 a.m. - no g.d. change! what kind of rip off is this, anyway?? 1:49 p.m. too hungover to discern any growth, leave me alone 6:33 p.m. - might be a bit bigger, or maybe i'm a bit smaller - i've been watching the twilight zone marathon all day. i left it in the bowl for over two days before i finally saw it was noticeably bigger. not much. what a gyp! well, here's to 2013, anyway.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 12, 2013 22:28:13 GMT -5
found the picture of rudolph i took after i released him from his watery prison. i should have taken a before shot, but here is after. trust me, there's not much difference. i know you all were dying to know. he was still a bit waterlogged there. we also took a picture of one of the bottles of champers we had not yet opened. we thought it was hilarious at the time. looks like a scary tutorial for oral sex or something.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2013 10:20:53 GMT -5
Well, I'm late to the game here as it takes me forever to getting around to looking at other parts of the forum but just wanted to say I'm enjoying all your posts.
A couple of things:
If I ever had to go to a Walmart that you described and pictured, I figured I'd reached all nine circles of hell.
And yeah, what WAS wrong with that doll in Rudolph (no nose?). I always like the spotted elephant. Sometimes when the situation is appropriate I'll utter the "Forgotten again" line.
And you forgot Alistair Sim! Sacrilege!
You are blessed to have great parents.
Keep up the great work!
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 17, 2013 9:56:33 GMT -5
thanks, bud. you are right about alistair sim. i should have mentioned him. but if i mentioned him, i'd have to bring up george c scott, reginald own, patrick stewart, barbie, scrooge mcduck...it would have been more work than i'd be willing to put in. btw - i love your avatar - one of the best ones on the board.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2013 13:50:17 GMT -5
Thx!
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 17, 2013 18:26:23 GMT -5
it's snooooowing!!!the weather has been crazy here this week. first of all, last weekend? it got up to 70. it's been pretty mild all january, really. then the rain started late sunday night and has hardly let up since. schools closed yesterday because of flooding. there were evacuations near me. i lost my umbrella somewhere around tuesday afternoon. it hasn't been this bad since the flood we had in 1998 - 7 people died and the devastation was in the millions - and i slept through it. but that's a story for another day. ^i took that after the rain switched to sleet and snow, around 4:15 ish. everyone at work took off and i was the only one there all afternoon, taking cancellations down, announcing them on the air and freezing my butt off in our drafty building. ^that was taken after i got home, around 5:30. the parking lot and roads were white when i locked the office up and i had a helluva time getting home. i figured it would be just wet roads because it was a wet, heavy snow - 34-35 degrees - how bad could it be? pretty bad. even in low gear, i slid all the way home. still coming down. i'm hoping for a big one, because i turn into a 10 year old every time it snows. but depending on who you listen to, we're expected to get anywhere from 1 to 8 inches. *crosses fingers*
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