Julie, Julia, and JustRandi

Last weekend The Brain and I watched the movie Julie and Julia.  Of course I loved it. I knew it was a movie about cooking, because  - hello?  Julia Child, right?  But I had no idea it was also a blogging movie!  Nobody tells me this stuff.  Or at least if they do, I don't really listen.
So if you haven't seen it, here's your newsflash -- a lot of the movie is about blogging. And how could any of us not love a blogging movie?  My heart even skipped a little beat when she got her first comment.   Ahhhh, the memories.

But blogging aside,  the second most interesting thing to me about the movie was Julie's relationship with Julia.  They never meet in the movie.  But several different times, Julie talks about how close she feels to Julia there in the kitchen as she cooks her way through 365 days of recipes.  And I kept thinking - - really?  You really think you "feel" Julia there with you?  

But then again... why not?  Not only did she spend hours and hours with that cookbook, and doing exactly what Julia told her to do, but she also read other books about her, and even found Julia Child rerun shows to watch.  And when she was done taking in information and acting on it, she spent the evenings writing about her experiences, sharing them with anyone who wanted to listen.

It sort of made me wonder what would happen if I used some of those same ideas to study the life of Christ. You know... read The Book, do what it says, find conference talks to watch, read books others have written about Him, and then actually spend some time thinking about it, and write about it in my journal. 
Would I feel closer to Him?
Wait.

Did you hear that?

I think that was the sound of the teachings I've heard for the last 40 years finally sinking in.

I wonder if Glenn Beck will miss me...

Shining

Ever wonder what The Shining would look like as a romantic comedy?
(Yeah, me either. But this made me laugh.)

Friday Flair - You Knew I Had To, Right?

I'm not here.

I mean, this morning I am seeing Twilight with some rational friends who actually value their sleep as much as I do. (As if that were possible!)
My girls enjoyed it last night, though, and highly recommended it - - with as much enthusiasm as they could muster at 5:30 am for family scripture study before they headed out the door to seminary. I think they got about 3 hours of sleep.











Aww, I'm not slamming Twilight - - I just thought some of these were kinda funny.

Why I Don't Recommend Movies

Waaaay back in 1985, Pee Wee's Big Adventure hit the theaters. And I, along with most of America, I think, thought it looked really, well, bizarre. And not bizarre in a fun, wacky way, but more like a freakish-is-this-guy-for-real? sort of way, as only Pee Wee pulls off so well.

And might I add, this was BEFORE all that other unpleasant business. You know, when we only suspected - based totally on, well, how he looked and acted, that he was headed for having his life summarized on a misdemeanor rap sheet.

But anyway, my dad and I were talking to my cousin, who had recently seen the Big Adventure, and who could NOT say enough about how funny the movie was. Really completely hilarious! Apparently my (deranged) cousin started laughing at the beginning of the movie, and did not stop until well after the credits had gone to bed for the night.

And somehow, he convinced us to go pay REAL MONEY to see that movie. In the theaters. Not even at the matinée price. And so our whole family sat there in the darkness and we waited for the funny.

You guessed it.

The funny never arrived. But I don't need to tell you that, because no doubt you saw it too. Only I'm sure you were smarter than me and you waited until it was on tv on a Saturday afternoon and you were just hanging around folding laundry and had absolutely nothing more interesting to occupy your brain.

And most people I talk to about that movie enjoyed it about 48 times more than we did. In fact, right now you might be saying to yourself, "Well, it wasn't On The Waterfront or anything, but it was a cute little unusual adventure." Right? Aren't you saying that?

And I attribute the difference in our opinions here completely to the fact that I expected to love the movie, and you expected nothing more than a short diversion to keep you from having to match socks, other than on the commercials.

And that, my friends, is why I have completely stopped recommending any movies or books. If I liked it, the best you'll get from me is a short, "Well, it was pretty good."

The secret is, it's all in the expectations.

I was thinking about it this morning reading over at Sue's blog, where she's been busy stirring up trouble... polarizing the blogging community... having an interesting discussion about her less than stellar review of the Twilight series. (Love ya, Sue!) I think Sue was a victim of all the hype about Twilight. She expected it to rock her world, and who could blame her?

I've noticed that the people who like the book the best are those who read it before most of the hype and excitement started. I mean, it wasn't Anna Karanina or anything, but I thought it was an entertaining premise, and really, I never expected it to be anything but a quick summer read of a young adult fantasy book. I really enjoyed it.

Pee Wee vs Twilight. Now there's a comparison you won't see on any other blog. But you totally get the connection, right?

Happy Fourth Everyone!

Randomness~~~~~~~~

The Brain came home yesterday, and the first thing he said - even before "hi" was

Anne of Green Gables!

25 Shrutebucks for The Brain. You'd be surprised what you can redeem those Shrutebucks for at our house! Nancyface gets the credit on the blog though, because she was the first to officially comment it in. That was fun - thanks for playing!

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The only movie on the list I haven't seen recently was Karate Kid. But I would like to see it, and I don't think any of my kids have seen it, so it sounds like there's some Forced Family Fun coming up.


I know - you wish you were invited. Tell you what - bring sugarfree caramel corn and I'll see what I can do.

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The Brain also mentioned that he thought for sure I would have included my all time favorite movie quote on there, but he didn't see it. Weeeelll, that's because I haven't seen that movie in - well it's been awhile. It's not my favorite movie, but I like it, and the quote is so funny in context.

I feel I was denied critical, "need to know" information!

Anyone?

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Last night we went to a fireworks show that was supposed to be 30 minutes long, and turned out to be only about 10. Maybe it's the economy. But don't worry, during the show we got rained on twice and the sprinklers in the park came on. So at least it FELT like 30 minutes.
(naa, it was actually pretty fun!)

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Happy Independence Day!

Go Ahead, Make My Day!

Just for fun, and maybe to get our minds off, um , all this other unpleasantness...
Here's a movie quote quiz - all but one from movies I have seen within the past oh, 18 months or so.
NO CHEATING!

1. Are you crazy? The fall will kill you! Wiz
   
2. Take your stinking hands off me, you dirty ape! Bee
   
3. You mean, you'll put down your rock, and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try to kill each other like civilized people? Bee
   
4. What we have here, is a failure to communicate. Bee
   
5. You are evil, and must be destroyed. Wiz
   
6. I'm trying to use the phone! Jill
   
7. First learn stand, then learn fly. Nature's rule, not mine. Bee
   
8. You're gonna need a bigger boat. Paul
   
9. Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no stinking badges. Paul
   
10. Tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper! Lauren (and Paul, although Lauren gets credit because it's the movie I actually saw.)
    
11. They're here! Bee
    
12. I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights. Paul
    
13. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it. Kristen
14. Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical. Wiz
    
15. Is this a game, or is it real? What's the difference? Wiz
    
16. We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that. Reverse it. Paul (sorry Melissa, it was the first one...)
    
17. It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. Amy
    
18. It's good to be heckling again. It's good to be doing anything again. Lauren
    
19. This is the most tragical thing that has ever happened to me. NancyFace
    
20. Missed it by THAT much! Paul
    

Ready, go!~
(Rather than scoring every answer, I'm just gonna put the first person to get it by the quote)

And The Winner Is....

This was SO fun!! Thanks everyone for playing!
And the winner of the Movie Line Quiz is..................................

The WIZ!

Most right and most first answers.

And in case you're still wondering about the shark quote - it was from Annie Hall. (That was a romance movie? I guess I never saw it, but does anyone think of it that way?)

Just send me your address by email (my email is in the sidebar) and I will mail you your fabulous one-of-a-kind

Target gift card for $5!!

Now, I know that $5 is barely enough to buy a pack of Archer Farms Macademia Nut Chocolate Cookies, but the real beauty of the prize, see, is the EXCUSE to go to Target. ( Like you need one, right?)

"Honey, I had to go, I had a gift card I needed to use before it got lost."

You're totally welcome.

Potterisms

I like Harry Potter!
Remember when the first book came out and there was so much controversy over the "evil influences"? Buddy wanted to read it SO badly, and I told him I would read it first and then we'd talk about it. I loved it and I still do!

I think its GOOD to teach children that there is good and bad all around us, and for them to have role models (both real and fictional) that deal with it well. How else will they learn that their mission is to follow Christ even when there is bad all around us. We somehow choose and defend the good, partly because we've been taught by example.

Here are some of my very favorite quotes.
(Interesting that my favorite quotes come from just 2 characters...)

Sirius Black:

"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

"We have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we chose to act on. That’s who we really are."















Dumbledore:

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

"We are as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

"Time is short, and unless the few of us who knows the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any of us."

Oh, the Hardship

Mimi and I were riding in the car today, and out of nowhere she asked

Do you think Gone With The Wind ever played in movie theaters?

I smiled and said Yes.
Then she asked

What about Fiddler on the Roof?

Yes, that one too.
At which point I explained that most movies made anytime before she was born, were pretty much made for the theaters. None of this straight-to-video thing that they sometimes do now. And when I was growing up, there were no VCRs, DVDs, or DVRs.

So basically, anytime you wanted to see a movie, you had to go to a theater?
(Pause for me to nod.)

That sucks!

I haven't told her yet about growing up without a remote control, nor about having only 5 channels to choose from - I'm waiting for a time when I can really milk it.

Somebody Stop Me!

Could somebody please stop me next time I order a large popcorn at the movie theater? I love popcorn. Which is the problem. It's the one snack I never get tired of, and it never fills me up.



Today about halfway through Harry Potter I looked down and our tub was almost empty. And I was the only one still eating it. Mimi asked if I would like a refill, and I actually considered it!

Truth be told, movie theater popcorn is my second favorite kind. If I want the best, I go for the air popped with real butter over it. And don't hold back on the butter.

Is it just me? Or do other people have a food for which there is no kill switch? No off button, whatsoever?

Tomorrow I'm going to have to run extra long. But it was worth it.