journey of life

Do the chickens have large talons? Yes, here’s Matt, decked out as Napoleon Dynamite for Halloween.

And I was Deb, Napoleon’s friend. For the past few weeks we have been quoting lines from the movies (to get in character, of course), cracking ourselves up in the process. The costumes were pretty easy to put together. Matt already had a “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt, jeans and boots and we bought the wig and glasses to complete Napoleon’s look. Deb’s outfit was thrown together from items out of my closet. Thing is, I had clothes that looked just like what Deb wears at one point in my life. We had a lot of fun pulling it all together. So, for all those loyal Take A Guess readers, the correct answer was A!

It looks like Hollywood has gotten the message. You can actually have a good screenplay, great actors and voila! an exceptional movie. And Fox Searchlight seems to be the leader of the pack. After Little Miss Sunshine had such success, actors are willing to stick their necks out (and often take a paycut) in order to do something REAL. This shift may be shortlived, but it has me so excited.

One of their newest releases, Once, has gotten very positive reviews.

And, blowing everybody away at the Sundance festival wasJuno. Now, we just have to wait until December when it is released.

But the Darjeeling Limited, which I am sure will be a winner in my book, comes out this month!

The comment at the bottom states: In case anyone feels the need to comment on the 4 seemingly “random” bell-tones in the middle of the song, here’s what it stands for: they are 4 different clusters of 8 tones, all together, 32. Its our composer, Jim Sochinski’s dedication to the victims of 4.16.07.

Thank you Phyllis for the link.

When I found The Greencards were playing at Artscape in Baltimore, Maryland (for FREE), I jumped at the opportunity.  Now, I guess I can consider myself a groupie now…I have been to two Greencards concerts and would gladly attend many, many more.  And as much as I love outdoor concerts, the atmosphere, although very entertaining, wasn’t conducive to showcasing their talents as musicians.  But you can’t beat free music.  And, since I am now a groupie, I’d go see them just about anywhere.

A friend of mine from high school is working his way into the movie business. Currently, he is trying to raise his “Starmeter” on the International Movie Database (IMDB). A “Starmeter” is an analysis of how many times an actor is searched on IMDB and casting directors and producers DO pay attention to who’s on the rise.

Recently, he went from being ranked just under 37,000 all of the way up to 22,717…in ONE week…and would like to see how far up he can go. He has moved up a couple of spots on the credit list for “Love Lies Bleeding” with Christian Slater, slated (no pun intended) to be released in 2008.  If you’d like to help, go to IMDB and search “Chris Ashworth”. Three Chris Ashworth’s will come up. He’s number two (II). Or you can search for him under the following movies/shows: “The Wire“, “Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows” or “The Lost Room“.

If you like live music, but hate going home smelling of cigarette smoke, check out Jammin’ Java.

Why? Because…

- It is a smoke-free environment. In our book, this is a big winner. We don’t do the bar scene because we don’t want to be exposed to second hand smoke or go home smelling of cigarette smoke. For this reason alone, we are going to go back for more.
- It’s family friendly. Go ahead, bring the kids.
- Decent food. Their menu isn’t extensive, but they’ve got some great dishes. We sampled the following:
House Salad - Spinach, toasted almonds, dried cranberries and our house dressing.
Chicken Salad - Our homemade blend served over mixed greens.
Hoofless Blackbean and Mushroom Chili - Chunky mushrooms, blackbeans, red peppers, white corn, tomatoes and fresh green beans.
- Decent drinks. Full bar, beer, wine AND gourmet coffee drinks.
- Music. Great music in an intimate setting.

I love all types of music, but bluegrass is one of my absolute favorites. I guess it speaks to my Appalachian roots that I dig the twangy tunes. But I wasn’t always a fan. I remember traveling to Cherokee, North Carolina for vacation and being incredibly embarrassed when my grandfather started flatfooting IN PUBLIC. I was horrified. But I was also 13. As a freshman in college, I heard the sweet voice of Alison Krauss and I’ve been hooked ever since.

It’s been several years since I first learned about The Greencards, but I’ve been a fan for several years now. These Aussies (and one lonely Brit) are great musicians and songwriters, now living in Nashville, Tennessee. So, when I checked their tour schedule and found out they were going to be close by, I convinced Matt and his dad to go see them live at Jammin’ Java. We all loved the performance, even Matt. My favorite song of the evening? The cover of Paul Simon’s, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover“. I can’t wait for them to come back around. If they are reading this, I want them to know if Bob and Mary don’t have room for them at their house, we will put you up for a night or two!

Yes, this really exists.  See video here.

While we are on the subject of music… You probably heard this song recently for Saturn and Big Lots commercials.

And to think… Mah Nà Mah Nà didn’t really originate with The Muppets. It came from the soundtrack of a softcore pornography movie.