So, here we are again.
Yeah. That's, uh..that's kinda weird, isn't it? I thought this was supposed to be kind of a one-shot thing.
*shrugs*
Okay. So, uh, what do you want to talk about?
Thanksgiving?
Good call. My family and I went to St. Louis for a week to spend Turkey Day with Kim's family. Parents, grandparents, sisters. My nephew was there, too. The side of the family won't get to do Christmas together this year because two of the ladies are nurses and are working on Christmas, so we made Thanksgiving a big deal. It was nice. The boys did SO well on both flights, thank God! I was really worried about, for instance, trying to keep Isaac calm while we stood in line for the security checkpoint. Thanks to the iPhone and classic Beatles, though, everything went fine.
Beatles?
Yeah. Isaac is a huge Beatles fan, apparently. He walks around singing "Love Me Do" and "Eight Days a Week." And with prompting, you can usually get "Yellow Submarine," "Hey Jude," and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" out of him. It's incredibly cute. Isaac just loves to sing, though. It's not all Beatles stuff. He just likes to learn new songs and walk around singing them, banging out the rhythm on his own tummy. He probably gets that from me.
I'm sure he didn't get it from Kim.
Well, yeah.
How's about your 365 project? You should be done with that now, right?
Ha! Yeah, actually, I should be. Actually, I was due to post my last pic today, but it didn't happen.
Um....
I know. Sad, right? Thing is, I'm working on my last pic, and I know what I need to do to finish it, but somehow I lost my camera AFTER unpacking it when we got home from vacation. And for this particular picture, I can't just use my iPhone, which is what I've been doing for a lot of my shots recently. My camera probably went hiding because it's jealous of the iPhone.
How about those Top 7's you mentioned last time? Any progress there?
Well, I wanted to do a "Top 7 Boss Battles (in Movies)" list because the other day I rewatched the Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock fight on the train and the whole sequence was just awesome. I mean, yeah, Spidey gets hit by a train and bounces RIGHT back at one point, and yeah the whole thing starts with Spidey and Doc Ock falling dozens of stories and landing on a moving train, then getting up and wrasslin', so it's a little far-fetched. But if you can let that stuff go, it's just a sweet fight scene. A lot of times, the best "boss battles" (I'm using video game terminology here, of course) are the ones in the middle of the film, not the ones at the end. For example, the battle with the cave troll in Fellowship of the Ring is more epic than the battle against Lurtz (the leader of the Uruk-hai) at the end of the film, though the fight with Lurtz has more emotional impact. So I wanted to look at my favorite fight scenes, which is kinda funny because I don't get into a lot of the movies that are hailed as being the best fighting films. (Tarentino films, in other words) Of course, lack of credibility on the subject matter has never stopped me in the past!
So what happened?
As you know, I like to include video clips embedded in my Top 7's, and a lot of these fights are hard to find in decent quality on Youtube. Copyright. Go figure. So I never really got into the list-making stage. Off the top of my head, though, some of the ones I was thinking about are the two I listed above along with Hulk vs. The Abomination from Incredible Hulk, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs. Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, Rocky vs. Drago in Rocky IV, Indiana Jones vs. the huge muscle-bound Nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Incredibles vs. the robot in The Incredibles, and Scott Pilgrim vs...well, pretty much anybody in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Your Top 7 lists totally show off your limited scope of pop culture.
True. I could restrict it to top comic book movie boss battles (or more easily, most disappointing comic book movie boss battles), but eventually I want to to a Top 7 comic book / superhero movies list, and I'd hate to be too redundant.
You know what else I love? Melee battles in movies. Helm's Deep, the Battle for New York in The Avengers, the storming of Fort Wagner. The end of Slap Shot (kidding). When I was a kid, I LOVED the Lost Boys' attack on the pirates at the end of Hook. That's one of those films I'm scared to go back and watch again because it's probably not nearly as good as I remember it.
Hey, maybe that'll be a fun list someday. "Films I Love and am Afraid to Watch Again for Fear That They Actually Suck."
Read anything good lately?
Yes! I picked up Les Miserables, but then I lost it. Several times. I don't know how you can lose a 1,600 page books multiple times in one week, but I did.
Sensing a theme here...
Yeah, it's hanging out with the camera. Anyway, I picked up a book I've been borrowing from a friend for a while (and that could be any number of books) and finally finished it. But now I'm excited for the second annual Christmas Book Month!
That didn't go so well last year, did it?
What are you talking about? That romantic comedy about the cat that tried to hook the firefighter up with the lady from the pet store was GOLD!
Any surefire hits this year?
You know what, I just put about four or five books with "Christmas" somewhere in the title on my hold list at the library. I don't even remember what I'm getting. Hang on a sec, I'll go check. Let's see...I've got a Christmas murder mystery, a historical romantic fiction, a book on Christmas philosophy, Scaredy Squirrel, and a story about a stray cat who brought love into the life of an autistic child. And those are all the ones I'll fess up to.
Any recommendations?
Yes. The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry. Laugh-out-loud funny and a surprising amount of heart. Also, for nonfiction fans, The Man Who Invented Christmas by Lee Standiford is about Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (obviously), how it came about (an interesting story!), and the effect it had on English society at the time. Those were two gems picked out of the rot last year in Christmas Book Month.
Well, it's getting late....
True. I'd planned on going out to see a movie tonight, but the baby went to bed so late it didn't pan out. Just as well, I'd probably better get to rest. Got a whole day tomorrow with no running water at home.
Awesome! It'll be just like Little House on the Prairie!
Um...yeah.
What? I've always wanted to live in Little House on the Prairie.
Really?
Everyone's always so happy!
Dude, there was a major trauma every other episode!
Whatever. I'd be buddies with Pa Ingalls. Ain't nothin' that man can't handle.
You do have a point there.
Plus, I had a crush on Melissa Gilbert growing up.
I knew it!
You did, too?
No! But pretty much any guy who says he liked LHOTP growing up had a crush on Melissa Gilbert.
Hey, did you know there's a Little House on the Prairie stage musical?
What? No, I didn't. I thought we were wrapping this interview up...
Do you remember the episode where Mary went blind? I cried!
This is getting weird. I'm going to go to bed. I don't know why we're talking about little house.
Okay, okay. One last question, and then we'll be done.
All right.
Who would win in a fight: Laura Ingalls or Anne of Green Gables?
Goodnight.
