Happy Halloween

Not really my favorite holiday but Megan LOVES it. She had our costumes picked out by September 3rd. (no joke)

Of course the reason this isn't that big of a holiday for me is because we never celebrated it as kids I guess.

Oh well....hopefully I won't be home tonight having kids nag me for candy.

Have a good one folks!

Novemeber Movie Review

Holy crow! Almost didn't realize the month was coming to an end already! So let's get to this!

 Bohemian Rhapsody

Megan wants to see this one but I'm just not feeling it. I like the band but don't see the excitement of making a movie about them. I'm skipping it all the same.

 Creed 2

Hoping this movie will be good in what's been a lackluster year for movies in my opinion. The first movie was good and by the looks of it, I think this one could be better. Really excited about seeing this one.

 Dr Suess' The Grinch

This look HORRIBLE! Give me Jim Carrey's version any day, this one looks like trash!

 Fantastic Beats: The Crimes of Griswald

I fell asleep watching the first one. How often do I do that? Once....in my life. Needless to say this one I'll happily skip.

 The Nutcracker in the Four Realms

Megan wants to see this....anyone want to go with her? Looks terrible to me.

Ralph Wrecks the Internet

Another one to hit the "snooze" button on. This one looks like Disney put ZERO effort in making it good. Skipping this one as well.

Any others I missed?

The Three Musketeers (Review)

After watching Robin Hood Megan and I decided to see another great 90's movie with this one! Tim Curry plays the evil bishop and is once again fantastic! But the Musketeers themselves were brilliant!

SO many quotes in the movie I'd forgotten. In fact, I don't think I'd re-watched this movie since seeing it in theaters so many years ago!

This is another great 90's classic movie you've gotta treat yourself to when you find the time. It's well worth it! Even prompted me to re-read the novel! (Review for that coming shortly)

Have a good day folks!

Bor-ring

After 4 excellent Series we finally get a stinker.

To be honest, I didn't like either team to win but the Dodgers played pathetic! Seeing how the last few years were super entertaining to watch, this one was a crap sandwich.

Boo!

Coco (Review)

Heard a lot of good things about this movie, finally got to see it today. Not bad. Much better than I thought it would be. Worth your time if you haven't seen it yet.

Guess who's back?

Had my first one last night! GO GET YOU ONE!!

Robin Hood Prince of Theives (Review)

Last month Megan and I decided to watch this again. For me it'd been probably 20 years. THIS movie holds up well!

I was surprised at how entertaining it still was to watch. Alan Rickman however was the scene stealer of the entire movie! I didn't realize how funny he played the Sheriff of Nottingham. I found myself enjoying him more each scene he was in!

If you have the time, you should watch this one again. And if you've never seen it.....you're doing yourself a disservice!

Have a good weekend folks!

Supersound Driver!!

Remember this toy?! My parents got my little brother one years ago and we'd bring it with us on trips. I remember sitting it in my lap and pretending I was driving too.

It's a little weird for me to know that if this thing was available on Ebay I'd be half tempted to get it. Nostalgia's a nice thing but it can lead to some wildly unnecessary purchased online!

......just checked Ebay, they have one for sale but it's in bad shape. (whew!) Dodged a bullet there!

Beren and Luthien (Review)

When the first novel "Children of Hurin" came out, I waited years until buying it. This one was almost the same case. It's been out for a while but I just recently bit the bullet and purchased it with a gift card from Amazon.

It's not worth it. Reprinted material from the History of Middle Earth novels. I was hoping it would be more like "Children of Hurin" a more put-together story from the Lost Tales but it's hardly that and I went ahead and canceled the 3rd book in the "series" that came out last month.

I should have learned my lesson with "The Story of Kullervo" which showed my Christopher Tolkien has nothing new to show us from his fathers unfinished works.

Collect the History of Middle Earth novels if you want to get it all. All this book is, is a prettier reprint of material already released.

Bilbo's Last Song (Review)

As you know, I love me some Tolkien! And his Middle-Earth series is what I love the most! While online (bored) one week, I came across this novel written by Tolkien to his secretary before he passed away, then later released.

It's supposed to be the last thing Bilbo wrote before he crossed the sea in the end of Lord of the Rings. I checked all the supplemental material I had and didn't see it so I purchased a copy with my gift card.

Low and behold it took me 1 minute to read through it. It's that short. Sure, it's ok, but I wish they would've included it in the History of Middle Earth books back in the 80's. To print it on it's own isn't worth the price.

Oh well, it's part of my collection now and I'm keeping it on the shelf!

Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas

I grew up watching Saved by the Bell like every kid my age back in the 90's. I followed the show all the way to the end and even watched their College series as well as their Hawaiian movie. But the one thing I never saw was the final movie they made where Zach and Kelly get married.

By then interest in the characters had died down but I was still interested in seeing how it would end. I remember I was working at the mall that night and had forgotten to tape it on the VCR.  I regretted it that night and never thought about it again.

While cruising on Hulu for something to fill my time, I came across it and decided to give it a go.

It's pretty bad. Thankfully there's no forced laugh track as in the TV show but out of the hour and half of footage, you really should tune in to the last 8 minutes to enjoy it.

Jessie arrives at the tale end of the movie to make a cameo for the wedding and have the whole group together one last time. They also show characters from the College Years as well as Mr Belding, so as to tie the series together.

One thing I thought was good was the montage of young Kelly and Zach growing up together on the show. I'm sure back then every girl was gushing over this movie and has fond memories of it today. I remember some of my friends telling me it was much better than the Hawaiian movie that had come out earlier.

Weird story that a 19 year old finds it very important to go ahead and get married to his true love. That's a story you won't see done today and is one of the movie's few saving graces.

If you were a fan of the show....meh, it's up to you. Maybe invite a few friends over for drinks and socialize as you watch it, thinking back to the good ole days of TV when you thought this was good.

Seinfeld (Review)

Finally finished Seinfeld and after seeing all 170+ shows I can safely say that...it's really good. Incredibly funny! My biggest worry was that it wouldn't live up to the hype and I was wrong!

The show is super witty, invites it's own humor and has deep continuity throughout the entire run. Shocking really. There's no question to me why this show was #1. Hard to believe Seinfeld turned down 5 million an episode for Season 10 but as they said in the last season "Leave'em wanting more!"

This is the best reason to get Hulu. Really glad I did so. Best series I've watched on the platform so far.

Now to cancel my subscription and go back to Netflix.

Have a good weekend folks!

Scariest Moments (11)

Busted

As a kid my brothers and I used to write letters to our cousin. They were chalked for of insults, curse words and roasts for just about anything concerning him. They were all in jest and my cousin always returned them with the same R rated flare as before.

The end of each letter always read the same: "BURN THIS LETTER"

We always followed through with our end of the deal, burning each letter quietly in our back yard and scattering the ashes. Our cousin however....did not.

So eventually his Mom came across the letters while cleaning his room and our next trip down to see him ended up with the door to his room shutting as our Uncle revealed the letters.

We were busted.

The first few minutes were the most frightful. All I could think about was my Uncle delivering the letters to our Mom and that being the end of our childhood.

Instead, my Uncle gave us a lesson and how you speak and the words you use and how we should be more aware of the impact they have on others. He knew the letters were in jest but taught me one of the most important lessons I had as a kid about using words responsibly.

A lesson that's still stuck with me today.

But oh man, if my Mom would've found out.....I may not be here today.

Scariest Moments (10)

Atlanta Test Drive

When I was 16 a buddy of mine got me a job with him, moving this ladies furniture from Monroe all the way to Atlanta. Unloading it there and driving back. It paid $500 and I was in!

We stopped for the night, just short of Atlanta. The next morning my buddy was sick and couldn't drive so I had to do it.

Thing was...I didn't have my license yet. Driving through morning traffic that day was a nightmare. I hated Atlanta for years afterwards until I drove through Dallas (my new #1) But we made it to the apartments without an incident and he drove us back home that afternoon.

Not a good way to start you're first impromptu driver's test!

Scariest Moments (9)

First Night Alone

When I moved out of my parents house and into an apartment for the first time I was scared to death. My other roommates weren't moving in until the next day and I was there by myself. I locked the door to the apartment and my room and couldn't sleep the whole night.

Every creak, click and knock woke me up. One of the worst nights in my life.

These days I've slept with the hotel door slightly cracked without knowing (or caring). How the times have changed!

Scariest Moments (8)

First Flight

The first time I took to the "friendly" skies was with my Dad. He was traveling and took me along. After take off, I saw how high we were getting. I am scared of heights so you can imagine what was going through my mind.

Thankfully Dad didn't look panicked and that's the only thing that stopped me from having a total freak out in the air.

It only took a few more flights for me to get over the fear of flying and since I do it all the time now, I'm used to it. But it's that first flight that I'll always remember.

Coming Soon...

Just to let you know, the next Dinner Theatre I'm directing at the Strauss comes out next month. It's going to be a fun one and I'm really looking forward to it!

If you're in the area you may want to check it out!

Scariest Moments (7)

The Girl in the Haunted House

We used to have a Haunted House attraction in town that I'd always visit. It was more jump scared than anything else but I remember one time I went into one of the rooms and there was a girl with hair over her face standing in a corner.

The lights in the room were going on and off in 3 second intervals. I tried to make it across the room when the lights went off. I counted down and the light flipped back on...she was standing inches away from me.

How she did it that quick without bumping in to me, I'll never know, but it surprised so bad I let out a "Woah!" The lights went back off as I said "You're good, you got me"

The lights flipped back on and she was right back in the corner to where she started. What a pro.

Scariest Moments (6)

While working in Baltimore for a few months I worked with a construction crew a buddy of mines brother owned.

One job had me climb a 30 foot ladder to screw in a light bulb in a warehouse.

I'm terrified of heights. I was petrified to do this. I shook as much as the ladder as a went up step by step. I broke out in a sweat after I made it down and blamed my excessive shaking afterwards on the cold weather....though I'm sure it didn't fool anyone.

Still today this is something that would scare the mess out of me all over again if I had to do it. 

Scariest Moments (5)

The Grudge

I've already spoken about the scariest movies I've ever seen. True this one is at the top but it scared me so bad after seeing it I not only had to sleep with the lights on (for the first time ever) But I also couldn't go up in an attic for weeks afterwards as well.

Don't know why, I've never been that spooked from a movie before but this one really got me!

Hmmm, maybe I should I should watch it again for Halloween?.......or do I want to sleep?

Scariest Moments (4)

Grass Snake

When I was a kid living in Forest, MS I went biking around the neighborhood and came across (what I thought) was a rubber snake. We used these all the time as kids, scaring other kids, so I thought someone has left theirs in the road and it'd be a perfect addition to my collection of gags.

But when I bent down to pick it up....it moved.

I jumped so bad I was on my bike FLYING back to my house. Panicked that the snake was right on my tail, I ran inside, into my room, shut the door and watched out the window to see if it was coming after me.

For some reason I thought it had caught my scent and was coming for me! I must have sat 10 minutes in my room until I thought it was safe to leave the room....but I stayed in the house for the rest of the day just in case.

Scariest Moments (3)

Burning Dozer

When I graduated High School, Dad told me it was college or off to learn a trade. I chose the latter and went to work that summer for a Land Surveyor in town.

The job contained long hours, hard work and hot weather. Not fun. One such job however had a customer loan us a little bulldozer to push our way through the underbrush. We were rolling through the forest until the dozer caught fire and we had to bail. We waited a few minutes to see it hit the gas tank. After 20 minutes my boss told me we couldn't wait any longer and I had to go back over to the bulldozer to get a measurement before we moved on to the next job.

I thought he was kidding but soon realized he wasn't. I went over to the burning wreckage scared to death it would blow at any minute. It took them longer to establish the shot because I kept shaking while holding the reflector. Finally they got the shot and I went running back....right before the gas tank blew.

To be honest, it was only a little flame and not what you'd see in the movies, so I doubt I would've been injured but even the thought of being so close to it scared me enough to join college that fall.

Forest, MS (3)

Forest, MS (2)

Forest, MS (1)

TWINS!

By now I'm sure most people already know but just in case you haven't, the Mrs and I are expecting Twins!

Very exciting time for us. Can't wait till next May to have not one but TWO little ones crying their heads off. : )

Scariest Moments (2)

"Damn it"

This one's more funny than scary, but for a moment it did give me a start.

While in high school I mowed lawns for cash. One such lawn was Mrs. Davis'. She was a cat lady who had several cats she kept inside.

One day after paying us we walked away with the check only to here her yell out "Come back her Damn it!"

We both jumped. Shocked she'd even said such a thing to us. My buddy inquired what was wrong and Mrs Davis look embarrassed. "I wasn't talking to you boys, I was talking to my cat. That's his name... Damn It"

"You named you cat Damn It?" My friend replied.

"Yep" She said "When I first took him in he scratched me and that's the first thing I said, so I decided that was his name"

Weird lady. Scary but funny moment for us both.

Have a good weekend folks!

Scariest Moments (1)

Meh! Tis the season of October. Halloween is coming up so I thought I'd recall some of my most scariest moments.

Sunken Canoe

In highschool and all the way up through college a few of my friends used to go canoeing in Jackson along a river. We had a great time every year when doing it and now that I'm writing this, I actual miss it.

But there was one time it was raining and no one would let us on because the river was high and running a little too fast for novices.

.....Then there was one guy who couldn't say no to the money, rented us canoes and dropped us off. We raced down the river in record time, having a blast. The rain never stopped, we were soaked but having a great time.

Then my canoe hit a mini whirlpool in a side pocket along the bend, sucked my canoe right under and us right with it. We were able to hold on to a branch and pull us up into a low hanging tree but for those first few seconds it scared the mess out of the both of us. So much so, that our shakes morphed into laughter as we both realized the other had been just as terrorized.

More to come tomorrow. 

Everyone needs a little wisk

My grandmother died a few years back. She was 96. Before she passed away the last gift she gave me was this little piggy wisk.

When I opened it up she leaned over to me and said "You always need a little wisk"

Years afterwards, I found out how right she was.

I use this wisk ALL THE TIME! Making eggs, sauces, you name it! It's one of the most used utensils in the house! And every time I use it, I think of how right she was.

If you don't have one in your house, I think you should consider going out and buying one. (Piggy version is optional)

Sci-Fi Book Club

 Remember when you could get 5 sci-fi books for a dollar?

The deal later dropped to 4 but I took advantage of the deal several times during my college days and while looking at my bookshelf the other day, I noticed several of them were from the club.

Well I decided to go back and take a look at their website to see if there were any other books there now that I would like to read. And the new deal? 2 books for $10 EACH then pay cover price for the others.

What the heck kind of a deal is that?! Can't believe in this day and age of Amazon that their deal would get worse over time!

Ok, that's all I have for my "old man" complaint of the week.

Fantastic Photos

 When making my FF review a while back I forgot I had pictures of some of my favorite moments in the dreadfully boring comic. Like the way this dress falls as the lady is held upside down. Guess she used a lot of starch. Why they even had her upside down in the first place is never explained.

 Is this why they call him Mr Fantastic?

 Their son Franklin sleeps with a stuffed Ewok? My kind of guy!

Ha! Gotta love the inside jokes they had when sales were bad for the series!