still another picture from space
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To All: Have a Happy & Safe New Year
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Now I'm off to work :)

more from space ... cool

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

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From Take the Lead:

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"The people that get what they want in life

are the people who show up to get it."

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(the picture above is from the Hubble space telescope)

Six Word Stories

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I believe it was Dom who steered me to this article a couple months ago. Wired Magazine asked for six-word stories for a contest. This was based I understand on what Hemingway considered one of his best stories (all six words of it). “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

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I decided to play. Didn't enter though. Below are a few six-word stories I came up with. Feel free to critique, ignore or add your own.

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"It's alive! Then cat saw it."

"Yes, be very afraid. Or not."

"Alien envoy arriving. Wants Starbucks franchise."

"Defuse bomb. Cut blue wire ... oops!"

"Damsel training -- nightgown, high heels required."

MOVIES-AND-PRODUCT-ADVERTISING

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The other night I watched The Devil Wears Prada. It was an amusing little movie with wonderful performances by Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. Afterwards I started wondering about product advertising (I know my mind takes weird and sudden turns that have nothing to do with what I’m doing.) I know there have been movies before with products in their titles. I recall a godawful film called Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and a pretty good thriller called Southern Comfort. But we could definitely take this idea to the next level and re-imagine Hollywood films with Madison Avenue advertising.

Angels with Clearasil Faces
A Clockwork Orange Julius
Gone with the Winnebago
House of Bikini Wax
Night of the Living Bra
North by Northwest Airlines
Once Upon a Time in America-on-Line
Starbucks Wars
3 Days of the Viagra
Tootsie Pop

Merry Christmas to all
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(it's getting crazy around here and I have to work all weekend
so I'm sending out well wishes today ...
be back after Christmas)

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from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation:

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Clark: Our holidays were always such a mess.

Clark Sr.: Oh, yeah.

Clark: How'd you get through it?

Clark Sr.: I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels.

Joseph Barbera

1911-2006

"Thank you, sir, you and your partner, William Hanna, were part of my childhood."

THE WORST MOVIES OF 2006

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The Da Vinci Code

(cool idea that ended there ... didn't like the book either ... for a fun "puzzle" movie watch National Treasure -- PS -- I actually nodded off a couple times during the film)

The Break-Up

(just not funny ... for a good "break-up" movie watch The War of the Roses)

Snakes on a Plane

(could have been fun but wasn't ... watch Tremors to see how to do this type of film right)

Mission Impossible III

(don't know why I keep seeing Cruise films ... he hasn't made a good movie since Risky Business ... Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, and War of the Worlds are not good movies)

16 Blocks

(remake of Eastwood's The Gauntlet which wasn't any good either)

Annapolis

(remake of An Officer and a Gentleman with all the good stuff left out)

The Hills Have Eyes

(lame characters and holes in the plot I could drive my SUV through ... I did enjoy the part where the German Sherpherd turned Charlie Bronson and went after the mutants ... okay, the whole film is lame)

MOVIES 2006
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The films listed below are ones I haven't seen yet (but really want to):

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The Prestige

The Departed

Invincible

then

Night at the Museum

The Pursuit of Happyness

The Devil Wears Prada

and (maybe)

Blood Diamond

Holiday

Turistas

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(coming soon will be the worst films of 2006 and the films I have absolutely no interest in seeing)

MOVIES 2006

MY FAVORITES OF THE YEAR (of the ones I've seen so far)

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CASINO ROYALE

THE DESCENT

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

CARS

TAKE THE LEAD

(and I kinda liked)

INSIDE MAN

FIREWALL

BRICK

(coming soon: the worst of 2006, the ones I haven't seen yet but will, and the ones I will never see ever)

THE WORST CHRISTMAS MOVIES

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At the Maxim site, they have listed the top 14 holiday movies they think are the worst. http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/index.aspx?slideId=2733&imgCollectId=136 Included on the list are Jingle All the Way, Christmas with the Kranks, and It's a Wonderful Life. I'm going to debate Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (a favorite from when I was a kid) and Scrooged (it's twisted and over-the-top and funny). Personally, for the worst all you have to do to click on Lifetime or the Hallmark Channel in December and you'll see a top contender.

NOT ENOUGH TIME

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The day was too short. Way too short. Got grocery shopping, gas in car, laundry, dishes, one bathroom semi-cleaned, bills paid, one Christmas package ready for the mail, a few decorations brought out of storage, and one movie review completed. Still wanted to read more of the novel, Metered Space. Start on my second review. Work on a new story idea. Reach someone in Tech Support at msn. (I was on hold for an hour and finally hung up.) My day needs to be longer. Need sleep, too. I finished the day by fixing dinner then watching Shakespeare in Love. I like that movie. Time for bed. Tomorrow begins at 4AM. Goodnight all.

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First, I need to email my nephew and try to get a Christmas list from him.

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I wonder if the Grinch would like a partner.

WHO AM I GOING TO LOOK UP TONIGHT?

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From Yahoo: The 2006 winner for the most downloaded personality in their search enigine is: Britney Spears. Okay, I'm becoming an old fart. I use Google quite a bit. The other day I was searching for articles on the constellations and pictures of lumps of coal (sidebar: I have no idea where the Christmas stocking and lump of coal in the blog below disappeared to). If I was going to look up movie stars or "personalities" it sure wouldn't be Spears or Hilton or Lohan. If I never heard another thing about these women, it would be just fine with me. I'm irritated that I know who they are and what their latest exploits are. I couldn't even get myself to download a photo of her to put at the top of this blog. One last thing and I'm gone ... is "look up" a phrase I should be using when talking about Spears?

Opening Christmas Presents Early

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In South Carolina, a woman had her 12-year-old son arrested for opening his Christmas presents early. See story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16064380/&GT1=8816

There's more to it than Scrooge picking on Tiny Tim but still I have to wonder which family member will be getting a lump of coal in their stocking this year.

3:10 to Yuma

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I read the other day that they are remaking the 1957 western. Russell Crowe will play the Glenn Ford part and Christian Bale will play the Van Heflin role. It is a lean pyschological suspense tale based on a story by Elmore Leonard.

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It looks right in black-and-white. The landscape is dry and bleak from a long drought. As the story progresses it seems that the people living here deserve these conditions -- their morals seem bankrupt and ever-changing.

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An outlaw, Ben Wade, is captured after a stagecoach robbery and murder. The stage owner offers $200 to any man who will help take the outlaw to the authorities to Yuma. A struggling rancher, Dan Evans, takes the job. The money will purchase six-months worth of water rights for his dying cattle.

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Part of the story is traditional. Will the Wade's gang break him free? Will Evans prevail and deliver the outlaw to the authorities?

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What isn't traditional is the by-play between Wade and Evans. The outlaw plays a mind game with the rancher. Charming one moment, blunt the next. You can see Evans struggling within himself. At first, he takes the job for the money but it becomes more than that. He has to do the right thing even if he is killed attempting to do it.

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The dialogue is sharp and cool. I haven't read the Leonard story but I have to wonder how much was his. Evans talks to his wife about how good things will be once it rains and their land turns green. "Maybe," he says, "we won't be so tired all the time." One line can speak volumes. Later Wade attempts to bribe Evans and when it doesn't work he turns cruel. "Your wife was a beautiful woman, wasn't she? Until she met you." The remark cuts like a knife and the pain on Evans' face is incredible.

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While the ending is a little weak in some aspects, it still rings true for the characters. This is a good movie. I truly wonder if the remake can be half as good. I also wonder why two non-Americans were cast in the lead roles for a western. Then again, American actors have played every nationality around the globe. I'll shut up now.

LITERARY SCAMMER SENTENCED

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Martha Ivery, who also used several aliases, was sentenced to 65 months in Federal prison for defrauding and bilking over 300 aspiring authors. For more of the story go here: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2006/11/victoria-strauss-martha-ivery.html

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Sometimes the bad guys get what they deserve.

IT'S THE HOLIDAY SEASON

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I need to finish my list, I need to go shopping, I need to brave the mall... wwwaaahhh, I'll be good! Don't make me!

OVER AT THE OL' AMAZON SITE

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I'm surfing the net. Checked out some movie reviews, saw what Dink and Howard are writing about on their blogs, played a little computer Texas Hold 'em, then cruised over to the Amazon site. I was checking out the new Crichton. I don't know why because I've never read any Crichton novels but I was. Then I checked my own name. For Rebel Nation I noted that it was listed as Top Seller #1,149,514. I have no idea what that means. None whatsoever.

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I just started reading M.D. Benoit's novel Metered Space. Pretty cool and trippy opening. A private detective, Jack Meter, is on a major bender after the death of his beloved Annie. Some aliens (yeah, aliens) beam him up and dry him out. They need his detective expertise. I think this is one novel I'll finish. Now, if I can just find some time to read. But that's another story. A long boring story.