Random Acts of Thursday - Spy on Spy Action!

A few weeks ago we spent all our spying energies on James Bond.  Well, on Bond girls, but still. 

There are so many other spy films out there, I figured you could do with expanding your NetFlix rental list a bit.  Below are twelve spies, eleven from film and one from television.  Identify which movie or show each spy belongs to.  Remember to show your work, kids!

• Louis Salinger
• Number Six
• Joe Turner
• Harry Tasker
• Emmett Fitz-Hume
• Ethan Hunt
• Jack Ryan
• Alex Leamas
• Tom Bishop
• Chuck Barris
• Annabella Smith
• Derek Flint

Enjoy yourselves, and go back and answer the Bond quiz as well.  Never hurts.

No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to quiz!

I know quizzes normally happen on Thursdays, but it's been far too long since I've quizzed you, my childrens.  I'm here to resolve that and not make you wait another whole week.  You're excited, I can tell.

For that matter, it's also been far too long since I've entrenched myself in a Bond movie marathon.  I love the James Bond franchise, and while I'm generally a fan of the official (Eon Productions) films, there have been others made to feature 007 as well, with varying success.  I'm looking at you, Never Say Never Again....  In lieu of that, getting you to answer questions about the great and powerful Bond is some comfort.

Put on your thinking caps and get Googling, my little spylets!

• Which actor has starred in the most Bond films to date?
•  
• Which Bond character has been played by the most actors in the franchise history: M, Ernst Stavro Blofeld or Felix Leiter?
•  
• Which of those characters was played by more than one actor in a single film?
•  
• Name two actors to play a different role in a subsequent film than in their original Bond appearance.  (Check the CDS archives for this one, kiddoes!)
•  
• Of the many makes and models of car James Bond has driven, and given his history of destroying anything he drives, which car has featured in more films than any other?
•  
• What children's author wrote the screenplay for one of the film adaptations of Ian Fleming's novels?
•  
• What non-Bond film did said author screenwrite based on an Ian Fleming story?
•  
• Which film featured more actors playing Agent 007 than any other?
•  
• Of those actors, who is the only one to act in one of the 'official' Bond films? 
•  
• Who was the best Bond girl ever?  Discuss.  Unless you think it was Halle Berry, in which case you're wrong.  Even Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist exhibited better acting skills.  And by acting skills I mean acting skills.  Get your minds out of the gutter.

Remember to show your work, kids!  Spelling counts.  When you're done, check this out at LOTD.

Answers here.

Random Acts of Thursday - Wherein I bare my soul to the movie gods

Some of you may have figured out I'm a bit of a film nerd.  Some of you may recall that I keep a list of the films I've seen, which currently numbers well over 700 (and I keep finding films I forgot about seeing until they cross my path again....)  It suggests that I've seen a new movie every 2.5 weeks since birth.  An impressive waste of good time, and that doesn't count the films I've watched ten times over or more, like most of the James Bond oeuvre, 'Mad Max', any Eastwood western or Dirty Harry film, and 'The 39 Steps'.  It's a wonder I get any sleep at all.

However, this is my list o' shame, films that I want to see, or probably should see, lest I be called out on my total lack of film nerdiness.  I've seen bits and pieces of a few of these, but never start-to-finish.  And that's just sad.  Worse, even if any of these show up on IFC or AMC, I'll be forced to sit through commercials and that's not happening, kids.  Even the ol' DVR can't get me past those breaks in continuity.

Vanishing Point
Be Cool
From Dusk til Dawn
Citizen Kane (it's been saved on the DVR for months)
Natural Born Killers
Blood simple
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
North by Northwest
Rear Window
The African Queen
Chinatown
The Two Jakes
Evil Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Pennies From Heaven
Paper Moon
Gypsy
The Rose

There are probably more, feel free to mock my unworthiness below.  Also, gift subscriptions to NetFlix are quite welcome, feel free to click on the 'donate' button to the right.

Random Acts of Thursday - Bad Assitude

Hollywood doesn't make actors like they used to. (Prove me wrong, kids.  Prove me wrong.)  I lived to watch 'old' movies with my father on Sundays, anything with car (or horse) chases and lots of shoot-em-up action, and wishing I was more like their characters.  I've mentioned more than once that I wish I was more bad-ass. 

Sure, there are actors who did some one-off action work among their comedic stylings (see also 'Last Man Standing'), but few men exhibited that true grit of a hard-ass like those listed below.  Pick the movie that made their mothers proud, pilgrim.

Steve McQueen
Harrison Ford
Chuck Norris 
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne
Humphrey Bogart
Sean Connery
Burt Lancaster
Charles Bronson 
Lee Marvin

Rio Bravo
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Death Wish
Bullitt
Gunfight at the OK Corral
The Big Sleep
Good Guys Wear Black
The Enforcer
The Dirty Dozen
Thunderball

Yes, some of the actors were in more than one of these films, so choose wisely.  Half of these have been on television in the last few weeks, and I watched as much of them as time would allow.  How about you?

Speaking of bad-ass, I decided we're long overdue for another ever popular Dead Wrestler Trading Card (an NFG Worldwide exclusive!)

Karl Von Hess
1919-2009

Karl Von Hess, born Frank Fakety in Michigan in 1919, made his name heading to the ring in a full-scale Nazi guise in the years following World War II.  He would enter arenas in a Waffen SS coat and a "Sieg, Heil!" salute. As a result, Von Hess was shot at, stabbed, attacked, and burned en route to becoming a white-hot heel in the late 1950s.

"Karl Von Hess was absolutely wonderful," said Ted Lewin, wrestler-turned-author and illustrator in The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels. "He was very special because he didn't do a heck of a lot to make people angry at him. All he had to do was kind of keep turning and looking at the audience, and the audience would boo, and then he'd turn and look at them again."

Before achieving fame (or infame), Von Hess was a lifeguard and swimming teacher, then entered the navy in World War II to serve in the Underwater Demolition Corps. Upon his discharge, he worked the carnival circuit for several years, then worked in various regional wrestling promotions before gaining national noteriety as the bad guy everyone loved to hate.

Beeeeeeeeep....(do televisions still make that noise?)

We're experiencing some minor difficulties - technically, anyway.  Your regular blog-reading experience will return shortly.

I remember getting up early, early early, very very early on Saturday mornings sometimes, expecting to get a jump on my cartoon-watching activities.  Some mornings, I'd catch the farm report.  Some rare days, I'd get a screen much like the one above.  The television would just 'squeeeeeeeeeeeee' at me like so much alien technology, mocking my cartoon-deficient life.

Kids today have it easy.

Random Acts of Thursday - Shhhmokin'

Other than a cigar on rare occasions, I don't smoke. I am personally put off by residual cigarette smoke. When bars went smoke-free, it was a positive change for me.



However, cigs and smoking are iconic. In old film, in song, even in early television, what would we have made of it when WC Fields showed up, a la Kojak, with lolly in hand in place of his cigar? (Or Winston Churchill, for that matter. I always get them confused. Drunk and wearing a hat? They could be brothers. Wait...WC? Winston Churchill? Hmmmm...)

Okay, that went a direction I wasn't expecting. Sorry about that. Damn brain cloud...

Now, my little quizlings, dance, dance!

1) What actor starred in a Disney film under the alias Paul Mall?


2) Name the television show that featured a character named Salem?


3) What iconic ad man did Don Johnson usurp for a 1991 film?


4) What brand of cigarettes does Bruce Willis smoke in Die Hard?


5) What about in Pulp Fiction?


6) What Acadamy-award-winning film is set in Newport, RI?


7) Name the brand mentioned by Billy Joel in an iconic 80's song.


8) What series of code phrases does James Bond use to identify a fellow agent?


9) In which film did Clint Eastwood light a match on the face of his opponent?


10) What is my favorite Kool and the Gang song? (Hint - it's featured in one of the films listed above.)
 
Bonus:  What brand did my favorite author notoriously smoke his entire life?

If you think you've got them all, check here for the answers.

I see bad movies showing...

I see trouble on the way...

Or is that dead people?  Nope, I just see bad movies.  Often.  At least more often than I should.

Despite being a movie geek, I do not watch the Oscars.  The Great and Powerful Bev does, however, from the alley behind her hotel this year.  It's not as seedy as it sounds, really.  

I have mentioned in the past that I am continually attempting to catalog the films I've watched over the years.  At present count, it seems I watch a different movie every three weeks.  Around 18 unique films a year.  That makes the assumption, of course, that I started watching films at birth.  And it doesn't take into account those movies I've watched five or ten times or more.

Surprisingly few of those films are bad.  And by bad, I mean nearly unwatchable.  Films that couldn't be improved by gratuitous nudity.  Films I will avoid on television if there's anything, including the home shopping channel, to watch instead.  And I like my television.   

Sure, some of those films were endured for the sake of our daughters, but I watched them nevertheless and I'll never get those 99 minutes back.

I only bring this up because Judge Dredd was on the teevee last Sunday.  And not only did I watch it in painful entirety, but a) it wasn't the first time I'd seen it and b) I actually used my beloved cable provider's rewind feature to catch up on parts I missed.  What might be worse?  It's entirely possible I paid money to see it the first time.

And somehow the film didn't seem any better this time through.  Great actors like Max von Sydow, Jurgen Prochnow and Joan Chen were apparently made offers they couldn't refuse, appearing in such schlock.  Rob Schneider?  Expected.  Completely expected.

Loser has to watch The Hot Chick...

And sure, everyone is allowed a clunker now and again, as long as they've made quality cinema the majority of their careers.  But somehow Sly Stallone is bordering dangerously on that bad actor lifetime achievement award.  Rocky XXVII? Lock Up?  Tango & Cash? Oscar? Rhinestone? The thespian stylings of Lieutenant Marion Cobretti?  No amount of Rocky or First Blood can undo the crapfest that is Mr. Stallone's career as a whole.

Could be worse, though.  If I hadn't subjected myself to this, my other option was Billy Madison.  And I just couldn't endure that. 

For a fifth time.

Random Acts of Thursday - Picture in Picture

I remember when I bought my first television, it came with Picture in Picture technology.  Oooh, fancy.  Now I could watch two shows at once, as if my attention span needed the encouragement to swap between shows.

It seems the same is true of film.  I am sick of 'remakes'.  True, without remakes, we wouldn't have gotten Airplane!  But I don't need to see Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son remaking 'Karate Kid'.  I don't need to see Adam Sandler in 'The Longest Yard'.  Nobody needs to see Marky Mark in 'Planet of the Apes'.  And I love the Coen Brothers, but I'm so conflicted about their remake of 'True Grit'.  However, a number of films pay tribute to those who came before without imitation. 

Below are twelve films that have been flashed on screen in later movies, a way for directors to pay homage to classics without needing to lift the script and hand it to some ham to destroy while the original directors roll cartwheels in their graves. 

Your job?  Name the film that shared the original with brand new audiences.

• Rambo
• Casablanca
• Rio Bravo
• Touch of Evil
• Goldfinger
• Spartacus
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Captain Blood
• Watership Down
• Myrt and Marge
• It's a Wonderful Life
• Gilda

Name two movies that feature video stores, though no actual film footage is ever seen.

Name two movies that feature fake films as part of the main film's plotline.

Name two movies that feature 'themselves' in the film.

And really, kids, I can't say it enough.  If you don't recognize these, get out and watch some more movies. 

Random Acts of Thursday - The Fun Fact Fat Guy Film Finds Foodipalooza

Merry Christmas, kids!  Happy holidays, as well, should you not be of the Christmas ilk.  Winter is upon us and it's time once again for our annual trivial trivia giveaway!  We're currently driving to Wisconsin to be among family and friends for the holiday weekend.

Last year, Nej took top honors and in return, wrote a stellar review of her prize.  You could be next!  Just be the winner of the following scavenger hunt of facts and you could soon be the proud owner of greatness.

This year, first prize is one of a selection of fine art photographs, matted and framed, by Lori Mason Photography.  These works have a retail value of $75, but a current overstock due to our recent relocation means we can offer one of these to you to display proudly in your home or office.  There are a lot of different images, and if you win we'll send you a preview gallery to choose from.    

Second prize is your choice of classic films, all discussed at some point here at Ye Olde CDSe.




First, Leone's classic 'A Fistful of Dollars', a remake of 'Yojimbo!'.





 










Second, one of Hitchcock's pre-Hollywood films, 'The 39 Steps'.












Or, you can choose 'The Station Agent', one of my modern favorites.













Finally, third prize is that ever popular meat candy, BACON.  Just because it's third doesn't make it less important.  This year, it's Hungarian smoked bacon, enough for two beautiful BLT's or a hell of a lot of bean soup.  You could also opt for Wisconsin-made Nueske's if you'd like your bacon pre-sliced.  This stuff is great under the broiler, and has the true bacon flavor that seems to be missing from many of the store brands.  I fried some of this up to add to a cremini-cheddar risotto last weekend, good stuff.

Now, on to the quiz.  We grade on a curve here at CDS Enterprises, and some of these questions will take some work and creative thinking.  Since many of the questions relate to the previous answer, working in order might be better for all involved.

1) Name two films that featured two future state governors.

2) Name another that featured one future governor and a chimp.

3) Hal Holbrook has never been a governor.  Hal Holbrook has never been president either, but he's played two on TV as well as helping to topple a third in film.  Name two films where his good-guy role turns out to be a front, and he's exposed as the villain (Scooby-Doo style, if you will.)

4) Speaking of Scooby Doo (in an offhand sort of way), explain the significance of September 14, 1985 in music history.  (It has to do, marginally, with the Pointer Sisters and one of their 'upbeat' songs, if that helps.  It went to eleven.)

5) Also on that day, one of the greatest premieres in all of television occurred.  The theme song was originally released by Andrew Gold in 1978.  Name two films to feature Gold's previous hit, 'Lonely Boy'

6) Now that you're all sexed up thinking about the television show mentioned above, maybe thinking about baseball would help.  Who followed Jimmy Blake to the plate, possibly in Massachusetts but just as possibly in California, depending upon who you believe?

7) Speaking of geography, how far is Winnipeg from Montreal? 

8) Who told you that distance?

9) Why is that distance in miles instead of kilometers?  Burma!

(Sorry, I panicked.  I'm not Doctor bloody Bernofsky, you know.)

10) What do they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in France?

11) Finally, which actress was born on the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, and became a global sensation after starring in one of the great films written and directed by the late Blake Edwards?

Ten questions would have been enough, but this quiz goes to eleven (like the Pointer Sisters).  Eleven answers would be impressive, eleven correct would be even better! 

To keep things fair and above-board, please email your answers here to avoid anyone using your answers to better their cause.

Winners will be announced January 1st, so get cracking!  (No pun intended, I just liked the picture...)

Monday Night at the Movies - Couldn't care less about the five nine I'm blowin'

As many films as I've seen through the years, it has become increasingly rare for me to see them in an actual movie theater.  Now with the DVR, I'm even less inclined to go pay $9 to sit in an uncomfortable chair while wearing pants and abstaining from alcohol.  However, my local theater is actually local now, just a few minutes up the road instead of half an hour or 28 stop lights away, and apparently Mondays offer matinee pricing all day.  I might be able to sit through a few more films if they only cost me $5.

We saw RED on Saturday, and while I hoped for more, it was still enjoyable.  And I suppose, what kind of depth of character should I expect from a comic book?  I'll take character development if they want to give it to me, but I certainly don't expect it.

It was an overwhelmingly fun movie weekend for me, besides our little outing to the theater.  Caught an old Agatha Christie suspense film yesterday morning, and followed it up with the Rodriguez/Tarantino 'Grindhouse' double-feature that I recorded off of IFC past my bedtime Saturday night.  Gory, yet amusing.  And it included a 'trailer' for Machete, with Johnny Trejo.  That trailer was made in '07, and Rodriguez has now actually made the movie.  It's on the must-see list. 

Slightly more depressing is the news that Mad Max 4 has been pushed back indefinitely.  This makes me sad since it was to be shot in the same outback hills as Mad Max 1 and 2, and I was waiting impatiently.  They've modified the Interceptor a little, but that just makes it cooler.

And we really need a new movie quote.  Since we haven't done this in months, it's only fair we review the rules, right, children?  Your goal is to guess the original source of the quote below.  No Google or other web searches, you should know the quote by yourself. This is specifically to identify the original source of the quote as well, no characters quoting other movies, and certainly no movies within movies. Should you guess the quote correctly, you'll win the people's fame and ovation forever, along with the title of 'Iron Quote Guesser', along with all associated accolades. Now, onto the quote of the week:

Our survival hinges on one thing - finding someone who not only can fly this plane, but didn't have fish for dinner.
(Which is technically two things, I think, but that's how the quote reads.  Can't help it if it's wrong.) 

Allez guessing, mes enfants!

Random Acts of Thursday - I had to work a double shift at Cinnabons

Oh, October, how do I love thee?  I love the mist in the mornings, the wind overnight, the smell of fallen leaves, fine seasonal beers and the re-appearance of pumpkin pie in the grocery store.  Given proper funding (see button at right) I also have some wonderfully gruesome, children-wetting-themselves Halloween ideas that need to be played out at some point. 

And this weekend, Lori and I will be attending a masquerade ball themed around Poe's Masque of the Red Death.  Among the tarot readers, headless horsemen and the "Guess who's Death" game, I found a new musical genre that just cries out to be loved:  Goth-a-billy.

I'm already a fan of rock-a-billy and psycho-billy, and despite having never worn black nail polish and a floor-length black coat, I love The Cure.  This just screams to be downloaded for my listening pleasure, I'm sure.

The band playing at this little soiree is named Cult of the Psychic Fetus.  If it wasn't already a band name, Cult of the Psychic Fetus would be a GREAT band name.

Speaking of macabre little pagan holidays, I must say I'm rather disappointed in Food Network even more than normal.  As if it isn't bad enough that Sandra Lee gets a Halloween special, last weekend we watched the Food Network Horror Cakes Challenge.  Judged by Leatherface himself, these were kindly little cakes with little actual horror.  Mock horror, perhaps.  Horrificomical?  Maybe.  But the judges were looking for gumpaste intestines dripping with raspberry blood, the glint of some medieval torture device sawing limbs from exchange students.

And really, who isn't?

And speaking of medieval torture devices, I've noticed an alarming number of dead blogs in my random trolling of the web.  People who clutter the limited disk space of the worldwide web with pages that haven't been updated in three or four years or more.  Sure, pages like MyDeathSpace can tell us when someone's page isn't updated for a reason, but how many people just forget their passwords or lose interest with no sort of sign-off? 

I'll do my best not to do that to my readers.  What I will do is leave you with the award-winning costume Lori made for me a number of years ago.

Now, your turn.  What's your best Halloween/Autumn memory ever?  And for my readers in the southern hemisphere, Spring memories work, too.  Until then, stay out of the daylight.

Random Acts of Thursday - Howard's End

(or, From Mr. C to Mystery)

October 1, 1927 — October 19, 2010

The world lost an icon this week.  Tom Bosley passed away at age 83, an American icon and a better father than Cliff Huxtable could ever hope to be.  I'm at least certain that Howard Cunningham could kick Cliff's ass around the block, given the need.

Certainly he was a better father than Danny Tanner.  And even Joanie Cunningham could kick his ass.

I grew up watching Happy Days, fictionally based in my home town and therefore riveting to an eight-year-old me.  However, my favorite Mr. C memory came later in life, watching the Christmas episode where Howard was going to drive Fonzie to Waukesha to see his family for Christmas, and wouldn't be back for many, many hours.  I lived in Waukesha at the time, and even without the Interstate, there's no reason it should take two hours to drive from ANYWHERE in Milwaukee to Waukesha. 

That Mr. Cunningham, he's good people.

Any other Happy Days memories you'd like to share?

Adjective Noun Day of Week - Interjection! Pronoun verb possessive pronoun adjective verb.

Verb noun conjunction verb.  And you didn't think I could nerd the place up any more.  Interjection, verb pronoun.

I seem to be in a mood lately, moreso than normal.  It means I'm quite sensitive to the verbal and written gaffes of other people.  I did well in English class in school, with the exception of that paper I failed to write on Camus.  That's okay, since Sartre is smartre, anyway.

What I don't seem to recall is diagraming sentences.  I remember seeing sentence diagrams on television and in movies, but, though I'm certain we must have done these in school, the memory of it has escaped me. 

I remember Schoolhouse Rock, with its Conjunction Junction (not as exciting as Petticoat Junction...), Lolly's Adverbs, and that depressing little Mr. Morton wandering about, but I don't remember ever actually applying what I learned on Saturday Morning television to my schooling. 

I suppose between Grammar Rock and The Electric Company, there was a lot of education snuck into my entertainment, like the school lunch programs that added pureed prunes to their hamburger patties.

Because really, would you have watched if you thought it was good for you?

Random Acts of Thursday - Still Old After All These Years

I am old.  What's worse, I feel old.  Until this week, I've been able to live in grand denial about my age, 39 being one of the mystical non-ages.  I ignore my crotchety old man tendencies, and still don't leave the house in shorts and black socks, I'm not perfecting a comb-over, and I rarely yell at those damn kids to stay off my lawn.

And I'm not a pop-culture junkie when it comes to celebrity news and such, not at all concerned about LiLo's 24-hour suicide watch or what Mel Gibson has to say to you, me, or the mother of his child.

But I had to shudder when I saw the most recent cover of AARP magazine.  Valerie Bertinelli looks good.  Very good.  One might have a difficult time believing she's 50.  (One might also have a difficult time believing she used to be married to Eddy Van Halen...)  She was one of my few childhood celebrity crushes, and I'd watch 'One Day At A Time' religiously, probably not understanding most of the jokes, but really, really liking Barbara.

 

These types of crushes are not people you want showing up on the cover of AARP magazine.  Not even on the swimsuit issue.

I know, you just shuddered at the thought of that issue.  Or at least I did.

AARP magazine should be featuring active seniors like Betty White, Orville Redenbacher and Morgan Freeman.

See?  This looks right.  But not Valerie Bertinelli.  Can't accept it.

Bo Derek?  Maybe, since she's been an adult the whole time I've been aware of women, but I don't see her lining up for the early bird special or wintering in Sun City, Arizona.  But Valerie?  Certainly not.  No, Valerie should remain ageless, thus allowing me to imagine that I am ageless as well, that I have all my hair and that the paunch isn't nearly as pronounced as it looks from this angle.

 

Other crushes are rapidly approaching the half-century mark as well.  Phoebe Cates? 47.  Kristy McNichol?  Almost 48.  Tatum O'Neal? Nearly 47.

I guess I just need to take this 'old age' thing one day at a time.  Maybe that swimsuit issue isn't as far out as I thought...

The SPITWAD Chronicles - Bridging the Gap

A while back, I wrote about Todd Bridges, and how I was amazed that he was still alive. I wouldn't have called it. Honestly, if you'd asked fifteen, twenty years ago, I would have picked Lloyd Bridges to outlive Todd Bridges.

Even with the glue sniffing.


Now, as we mourn the passing of Arnold "Whatchoo talkin bout" Drummond, aka Gary Coleman, security guard extraordinaire, (and we are mourning...mourn, damn you!) I have to ask once again, did anyone really expect Todd Bridges to be the sole survivor of the original 'Diff'rent Strokes' cast?

And okay, Charlotte Rae, born in my hometown of Milwaukee, is still out there making movies, but at 84, I still think Todd might be in the running. Conrad Bain, 87. Not doing much of late, might even have died and nobody noticed. Anyone?

But if you ignore the facts, (and take the good, you take the bad...) you'd think Todd Bridges was selling the souls of his castmembers for eternal life.

(Speaking of eternal life, that Golden Girls reunion is looking at a change of venue...too soon?)

Alas, poor Arnold. We knew him, Willis.

Random Acts of Thursday - Road Trip Randomosity

As I may have mentioned, I had a lot of time to myself in the car on the drive from Florida to Ohio. This meant lots of time to devise quiz questions for the lot of you while taking advantage of my 90-day free trial of XM radio. Show your work, kids!



1) Name four songs about Ohio

2) We drove through a lot of other states on our way here from Florida, but only one of those states features in 'classic' song lyrics (meaning song lyrics I've heard, or song lyrics that WEREN'T first released in the last year.) Name two songs that feature this state in the title.


3) Name three other states mentioned by name in song lyrics.

4) Name three television shows based in Ohio.


5) If you didn't come up with CSNY's 'Ohio' as one of the answers to Question 1, shame on you. This song commemorated a tragic event that passed its 40th anniversary on May 4th. What university is referenced in this song?

6) Speaking of four dead in Ohio, my new state is referred to as 'The Mother of Presidents', having produced eight out of 44 US presidents. All eight are dead. Name four of them.


7) One of those men was president while the events portrayed in the film 'Young Guns' took place. Another later president shares his first name and middle initial with an artist whose song sampled the film. Name the artist and song, along with both presidents.

8) Because the pinnacle of success for any musical artist should be a fine luxury automobile, name three songs that center around Cadillacs.


9) Which Ohio-born former president is the namesake of the elementary school in a holiday classic filmed, in part, in Cleveland, though based in another state entirely? I've told you once.  Go ask Mjenks, he knows.

10) Which movie based in Cleveland and featuring one of the stars of Young Guns was filmed, in part, in my home town of Milwaukee?


As always, I grade on a curve. Partial credit will be given for partial answers. No credit will be given for smart remarks, unless they're really funny.

This is not a lending library

In my brain, I have a happy place. This place is permanently recorded in a 1974 Architectural Digest stored in my personal archive, of a nook filled with overflowing bookshelves, more piles of books on a steamer trunk, a soft silk loveseat, Flocati rug, reading lamp and dappled sunlight. Some day when we settle down, I'll have a nook like this.I love books. I love their heft, the way they feel, the way they smell, the various fonts, the flow of a story, fiction or non. Between Lori and I, we have a small fortune tied up in the literary arts. With as often as we've moved since our wedding, it's tough to keep track of everything we own. However, I still know when I'm missing a book. When I arrange them alphabetically, fiction before non-fiction, I know when something isn't where it should be.More recently, I acquired a Sony Reader, allowing me to carry 100 or more books with me whenever I travel. Since I am a voracious channel-surfer, it should come as no surprise that I also read four or five books concurrently. Doing so when traveling was tiresome when I had to carry them with me, buy another when I finished, and cart them all back home. I don't find the reader a poor substitute for the printed word, since I still have other books I read in their traditional form for the rush that musty pages bring. The reader, in addition to solving the issue of transport, of accessing free and reasonably priced digital editions, and gaining some space in our home, also means I can't lend a book to someone once I've finished my first read.

I never want to be one of those 'Indian givers', if you'll forgive the potentially politically incorrect term, but I get nervous any time I loan a book out, knowing the likelihood that I'll ever see the book again is slim to none. I get just as nervous, knowing friends who have loaned me books that still show up in our collection despite having moved 1300 miles from their rightful owner, knowing that they'll likely never be returned at this point.
Lisa, I'm sorry I still have your hardbound edition of 'The Stand'. I never made it past chapter one. I'm pretty sure you have my 'Skinny Legs and All'. Leah, I'm sorry I have your 'Letters from a Nut', or at least I did. I might have a Shel Silverstein of yours, too, I don't know why you left these at my apartment. Holly, you have my 'Me Talk Pretty One Day'. It's probably still on your old desk in the corner of the office. Sarah, I don't know if I ever gave you back your 'Fish Fries of Wisconsin' book. If not, I'll get it to you. Kathy, you have 'Bone in the Throat', I hope you're enjoying the read, it's a fun story, no? I really don't expect to get it back.

"Neither a borrower nor a lender be", spoke Claudius to Hamlet, in Shakespeare's play about the Danish prince. Sadly, I don't have my own copy of this play, it's one we never read in school. Could I, perchance, borrow yours?

Random Acts of Thursday - Home Sweet Home

As (1) we will soon be visited by a Realtor to list our sun-dappled Florida home, and (2) as we are on the quest for temporary-to-permanent housing elsewhere, and (3) as I had you identify many television home-away-from-homes a few weeks back, I thought it only appropriate to show a selection of movie and television homes, places that warmed your heart and mine, no matter what Thomas Wolfe may have said about it. Your job is simply to place the house in its proper setting.

With that in mind, some of these are simpler than others, I'll admit. Two of these are from movies I've never seen start-to-finish, one is from a film I've never seen at all, and the final one should be considered a bonus, since the photograph is modern, but the film is from 63 years ago.

So? Have at it, quizzlings!

1)2)
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Bonus points if you identify both directors who have two films in this list.

More bonus points if you're willing to help me move. Anyone?