How I Spent My Vacation: Part Too

Continuing from my last post, here is the rest of how I spent my vacation.


Thursday:

I woke up early again today. I am still undecided on the issue of waking up early or sleeping in. It is nice to sleep in. But if you get up early, you have a full day ahead of yourself. I brewed myself a cup of coffee and brushed my teeth. I poured me a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch. By far, one of my favorite cereals. I sat down and turned on the television. Oh, look. “Dutch” is on. I haven’t seen this is ages. I can’t say it’s a movie I love watching but since it was on and was something I haven’t seen in years, I watched it. I was surprised to see ‘Christopher McDonald‘ in it. He played the evil father. This guy seems to always be typecast in every role he plays (or at least to me he does). He’s the a-hole in an Adam Sandler movie. An a-hole in this movie. And an a-hole in Dirty Work. Look him up. Eff it. Here’s a picture of him. He looked the same back than then he does now. The movie ended and I went into the computer room to read some emails and look on yahoo. The TV was still on and it said the movie, “The Invention of Lying” was on next. Oh, I haven’t see that. I’ll watch it. I enjoyed it. Not a big Jennifer Garner fan but I liked her in this. Not to mention, it had some pretty big names attached to it. Some were just bit parts but I always enjoy a movie when you see cameos like that. Lastly, it had Edward Norton playing a cop with a cocaine habit. One of my favorite actors. The movie ended. I jumped on my PC…again. I was planning on moving the desk around, you know, do a little rearranging. I ended up listening to music. After a bit, I decided to take a nice nap. Not sure how long of nap it was but it was nice. I had a dream. I cannot recall much but what I do remember was I was in Ireland. I assume it was there cause the people talked like they were Irish. I complained to the guy working there about the cold I just got. Was mad because I am never sick. I blamed the cold on me getting out of my house and being around people.

I woke up and checked my email. Another work email. I gave my opinion and hung up the phone. I made lunch and enjoyed a refreshing soda. It started to rain. (thanks, Ollie!). I finally got the energy to move my furniture around. I brewed a cup of coffee. I got it set up, turned it on, and my heart sank. But it was gone! Gone! All gone! No turkey!

No turkey sandwiches… Gone! All Gone! Whatever happened, all my files were missing. Okay. Not really missing. I had to explore around the PC and found it all. I transferred the files to my external drive. What made me even angrier was the fact that Outlook was back to nothingness. All my notes, all my food logging was gone. I was pissed. 8 months into this and all of it for nothing. After the files were moved, I rebooted and the angels sang. My files were back. I don’t know what happened. Whatever it was, it’s fine now. Another trip out of my apartment for a beer run. More drinking. I finished number 5 and headed off to bed for a good night sleep.

Friday:

I awoke on Friday a little before 7am. Again, I made myself a cup of coffee. I enjoyed a blueberry yogurt and watched some TV. I caught the last few minutes of Casper. My channel has been set to HBO and all the other 20 channels they offer. I did some channel surfing and found Joe Vs. The Volcano. I opted on watching that. After the movie, I left the house (again) to pay a bill and take care of an urgent errand. I came back home, effed around on the PC a bit till I found myself back at the TV. Look. ‘The Mask‘ is on. Not the movie with Cher or the 80’s cartoon. I’m talking about the one with Jim Carrey. I am not a huge Cameron Diaz fan but it’s been ages since I’ve seen the movie. I stopped midway through (which I set up the DVR to record the rest) and left the house to see a movie. I have been wanting to see, “Inception” since it came out. I just never got around to it. My store director hated it. Another person said it was amazing. I figured I would take my chances. I splurged and got myself hot tamales and a thing of nachos. It was a one time thing. I don’t think I’ll ever get nachos again. Movie was good amazing! Ending is something that leaves you thinking. It’s diffidently one of those ‘you have to see again’ movies to catch what you overlooked. I arrived home. Paid the remaining two bills and finished watching The Mask. Parenthood was on. I watched a bit. Another good movie. I don’t think I have watched this much TV since I moved in here. The rest of my day consisted of eating, another cup of coffee and switching up the music on my iPhone. I debated on if I should go out tonight. Which is looking like something I’ll do. Better shave.  I went to the bar expecting to meet up with a group a people. I don’t know if they were there or not. I never looked. To my surprise, a group of other people I know were. I sat and drank with them. I controlled myself and didn’t drink excessively. I arrived home to see a strange car parked in my normal spot. Could be anyone. But don’t like when people take my parking spot. I know it’s not really “my spot”. But it’s where I always park. So in way, it is my spot.

Saturday:

I woke up off and on during the night. I had a dream. All I can recall was getting stabbed. I didn’t feel it in my dream though. Wish I could recall the rest. My mind is trying to recollect the memories of the dream but sadly, nothing is coming to mind. I made myself a bowl of cereal and enjoyed a cup of coffee. Watched yet another movie. This was a British film titled, “Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.” Surprisingly, it was good. Anna Faris from the “Scary Movie” series starred in it. If I were a Brit (<-funny video), I probably would have known all the other people in it. It’s okay. I liked it no matter. I spent the majority of my afternoon and early evening working on my blogs. I ate and poured another cup of coffee. While I blogged, I finished laundry and dishes. After completing two blogs, I watched a little TV. Caught the tail end of “Monsters vs. Aliens.” Meh. Didn’t see why it was such a great movie. Back to my PC to blog a little more. I chatted up with an old online buddy. Drank some beer. I know I swore to not have people over but I did invite a friend over. After 20 minutes of waiting for him to reply if he’s coming or not, I asked. Guess not. I guess that was a good thing. I don’t want to break a third rule. Tonight isn’t a good night. So as of now, I am brewing a pot of coffee. I figured I would watch some TV and fall asleep to it. After tonight, comes Sunday. That means it’s the end.

Sunday:

The final day of my vacation before I had back to work. Am I excited? Yes and no. I woke up about 7. Maybe a little before. I made more coffee and ate some yogurt. I purchased, “Date Movie“. It was funny. Better than I expected. I do like both Tina Fey and Steve Carrell. I finished the movie and grabbed a lass of orange juice. I sat at my computer and tinkered with a few blogs before heading off to grab some lunch. I was planning on having a nice turkey and ham sandwich but I am out of cheese and miracle whip. I was sure I had them in the fridge. I was mistaken. Since I had the bread already out, I made a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After eating, I finished up another blog and set it up to post early tomorrow morning. It was my way of still blogging (no. I didn’t break the twitter, facebook, blog rule). I have a few blogs ready to post throughout the day of Monday. Sadly, I will have to break the rule tonight before bed. So I guess what I am saying is, I will have broken 3 of the 4 rules. I almost broke all but since my friend didn’t come over, that rule stuck. Kudos to me for keeping at least of the rules intact. I decided to make some delicious Peanut Butter and Jam Bars. I had to run to my mother’s house to grab some butter. I could have gone to the store but I don’t need that much butter. Once I pulled up to my apartment, a friend called. He wanted to meet me at The 54 for a few drinks. I went and shared a few drinks and some stories. Coming back at home, I finally get around to finishing the bars. They turned out nice. I brewed a cup of coffee to get rid of the alcohol taste. Besides all the blogging, I ended my day with “True Blood”. Off to bed. A good end to a decent vacation.

Review:

It was a good vacation. I enjoyed my time away. I didn’t blog as much as I wanted. I drank more than what I expected. I watched a lot of TV. I even got myself to bed early every night except last night. I was up till about 2am. But I was a little tipsy. I needed to sober up before bed. The coffee helped. Sometimes going to bed tipsy is a pain. It’s better to pass out than try and sleep after a night of heavy drinking. I am still holding on to another full week of vacation and two more personal days. If I do get forced to take the last week, I’ll probably be a little more active than I was this time around. Being the recluse I was, well… Wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be. It was nice. It was nice to just be alone and think. Not that I thought much. Just nice. Going out Friday night was so-so. I had fun. Being around people was weird. I still managed. I hope when you have a vacation, I hope it is as exciting and lazy as mine was.

How I Spent My Vacation: Part Jaun

I am a workaholic. I have always been this way. I find more joy being at work than sitting at home doing nothing. My days off aren’t anything amazing. A normal day off consist of me either sitting on the couch watching movies or sitting at my computer fiddling with twitter, facebook, or my blog. When I am at home, I think about work. I wonder what jobs aren’t being completed. I wonder what chaos I will walk into the next day. There never really is. Things run smooth without me there but I beg to differ. No matter how perfect the day went, I’ll still find something wrong. I’ll complain, “I should have been here. If I was here, this would have gotten done.” It’s just how I am. I hate to say but I love work.(?) How many people love work?

The last time I took a vacation was back in March. It wasn’t for rest and relaxation. I was in the process of moving and having a week is better than trying to move all in one or two days. Work is pretty busy. We service a total of five schools for their lunch. The total number of kids was 1800. Since we recently renewed, the total number is 2200, give or take a few. Since it is the summer, the kids are out. That means we get a break too. It was a well needed break for everyone. We did a bang up job with these new accounts. Sure we had our share of goofs but it’s expected. We came out champions. So with these schools being out, it meant we’re on vacation too. Holy hell! I thought I was out of school. It’s summer vacation all over again!

Week after week, employees were taking their well needed vacation. Being the true go-getter I am, I held off. Honestly, I was trying my best to avoid it at all cost. I didn’t feel the need for me. Two days off is fine with me. Hell, even one day off is fine. It gives me time to do laundry (if I could gain access to the laundry room), clean house, or if I had to, run errands. Sadly, I was “forced” to take vacation. If I had the chance, I wouldn’t have taken it. But, I did.

I had no desire to leave town. I just wanted to stay home and be a recluse. I had a few rules.

Rule 1: I cannot have people over.

Rule 2: No twitter, no facebook, no blogging.

Rule 3: Don’t answer the phone. Don’t text.

Rule 4: Don’t leave the house for any reason.

These were and are very simple rules. I mean, look at them. They are easy. I can do these. I have will power. I have the strength of twenty, no! Twenty-one men! It was going to be hard to do it. But I have to put my foot down. Shut the world off. Show them I don’t need to human contact to survive. After I left work on Sunday, I went home. I showered and took a small nap. I went back to the bar (54th street) to meet up with some people. Of the three, only one made it. One had to make it to the hospital. The other basically effed me over. I am not upset. I still drank. We chatted. We laughed. We left. I went home and watched some TV. I had a few drinks and watched True Blood. I headed to bed shortly after. It’s strange. You’d think I would stay up all hours because I didn’t have to work. But my body was and is still set on the normal bedtime schedule. I closed my eyes. It was the start of 7 days of doing nothing..

Monday:

I woke up Monday around 8am. Since this is my vacation, I rolled back over and slept till about 1pm. I will admit. It was nice doing that. I didn’t have to worry about getting up at 5am or 6am. I looked at the clock and said, “eff it. I’ll sleep more. I got all week to do things.” That was nice. I really enjoyed that. Like I said, I got myself out of bed at around 1pm. I get out of bed. My phone was turned off the night prior. I really wanted to keep it off but I use my phone for music. I can’t play the stereo in my apartment. The Ghost of Carlos gets angrier than Bruce Banner. It’s annoying. I cannot play the stereo. I can’t play music though my computer. He pounds on the ceiling telling me to turn it off.  I turned my phone on and took a nice hot shower. Oh, look. I have a text and a phone call. It was work. I swore that I wouldn’t answer or reply but I said earlier, I am a work addict. It was my manager. He wanted me to call. It must be urgent. Lord, this place cannot run without me. I get a phone call from work almost every day. It’s stupid crap too.

Hi. Can you not bother me? Use your damn brain and figure it out.

I know I say I am a workaholic. But it gets tiresome when you get a call every night. Let me have one night off. That’s all I am asking.

I answered his question and went about my way to do nothing. Rule 3 is broken. Guess that’s okay. I still have three left. I noticed I had no food. I planned on buying food on Friday but I went out drinking. Didn’t do it Saturday or Sunday cause again, I drank. I even had a water bill to pay. The bill isn’t late. I just wanted to get food and pay the bill before I went into hiding. So I traveled to the grocery store (not the one I work at) and purchased some food for the following week. I got home and put all the food away. Allah Dammit! Broke another rule. That’s rule 4. Okay. Two out of four isn’t bad. It’s strange having a fridge with more than just beer in it. I had to pinch myself just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. To be sure that I actually purchased food for me to eat. No Golden Arch of the King this week. I have real food! Eff you, fast food! You lose this round.

I sat at home and watched some movies. I love Netflix. I watched, “The Boondocks Saints II” and a craptastic movie titled, “Townies”. Townies was bizarre. All I can remember from what I watched was a man peeing on a chick to cleanse her. There was also a mute gal who kidnapped a boy and a dumpster driver who found a dead body and made love to it. I quickly jumped to IMDB to look it up. I was surprised to see it was made recently. From looking at it, I thought it was from the early 80’s. Whatever. It was horrible. Don’t watch it. I was hoping for it to be like, “Freaks“. Now, that is a movie you should watch.

Gooble Gobble…

When the night came, I enjoyed some alcohol. A friend texted me. Crap. I’ll respond. She ended up calling me. After our call, I drank more then headed off to bed. What a fine start to a wonderful week.

Tuesday:

Tuesday, I woke up earlier. It was up about 6am. I made a cup of coffee and turned on the television. A Robin Williams stand up was on.  Here’s a clip. Funny crap.

I watched that.  I then spent the next 3 hours of my day working on a excel spreadsheet for work. That was a pain in the rear. My old manager created it. He was a whiz at Excel. I don’t know jack about it. After finishing it, I noticed I ruined the formulas he set within the documents. So I had to manually cut and paste them all back in. From what I can tell, I did it just fine. But who knows. We’ll find out when we order for the first time. Again, I love work. I offered to work on the file many weeks ago. I just never got around to it.

After I finished it, I emailed it back to him. A triumph for me. I rewarded myself with some video games. I recently downloaded “Civilization: Revolutions” for the iPhone. It was free, courtesy of “Free App A Day”. I dusted off my xbox and played some it. I played more and more. My brother called me. We talked. I did some laundry. I ended up doing it all throughout the night. I started late. Eventually, I turned it off and drank. I sat at my computer and browsed the web. Do you know how hard it is to not use twitter, facebook, or any other social networking site when you normally use it umpteen times a day? Pretty damn hard.  I love to social network. My brother and I, along with some of his friends, had an idea to use social networking as a viral media tool. It never got off the ground. Be nice if we could get it running. I think it was a fantastic idea. To keep me busy, I’d get on yahoo and then go about and click and click, till I end up on sites I never knew about. The same friend from the night before texted me and we replied messages that really shouldn’t be said by anyone. I cannot and will not repeat what we wrote to each other. It was just banter between to grown adults. But wow. I had to take a shower after the things we wrote. I finished my last beer and took myself to bed.

Wednesday:

I woke up to finish off my laundry. I started my morning with a cup of coffee and watching some HBO documentary about the McCain/Obama election. It was ‘wow’. There are some people in the south who are still living in the wrong era. It was a great documentary. I don’t know where I sit on the fence. I don’t know if I am more republican, democrat, or liberal. I agree on views on each side. But to watch these people who support McCain, they are the worst people I have ever seen. I voted for Obama. Do I think I doomed the country for what i did? No. I just agree with his views on things more than McCain’s views. This isn’t a blog about my political views. This is a blog about how I spent my vacation. Sorry about going off track. After the show, I went to Bob Evans. This was my second time leaving the house.  I was sort of forced into going. I mean, it’s Bob Effin’ Evans! I can’t pass that up. Besides, it was my mom’s turn to buy.  I get home and play some video games. I made some lunch and got an email from work. Oh, look more questions. I love work. He agreed I have a problem. But it’s cool. It’s what I love. I finish up another project. I found myself sweeping and cleaning the laundry room. I have to say, it is wonderful to not have the lazy laundriers living next door anymore. Full freedom!  I browse the web again and come across a movie called, “Exam”. It’s on Indemand!? Let me look! Awesome! I’m watching this. It was a good movie. The reviews I read were split. Some hated it. Some loved it. Don’t care what they think. People hated, “Snakes on A Plane“. Some people don’t know what a good movie is. Watch it.

8 people are trying out for this amazing job. They enter a room with no windows. The room has 8 desks. On each desk is a sheet of paper and a pencil. They are give a few rules. They are told to answer the question. The turn over the sheet of paper and it’s blank.

That is the beginning of my vacation. I’ll post the rest shortly.

How Did I Effin’ Forget This!?

soapHow on earth did I not put this on my top ten action movies!? It is my all time favorite movie. I shouldn’t really say, “all time favorite”. Saying that will just put the whole purpose of a top ten list to rest. There would be no reason for it. It is up there as one of my all time favorite movies. Sure the movie is campy, sure it’s not a blockbuster movie or close to being “Citizen Kane”. But come on? It’s Snakes. On a effin’ plane! Take two things people fear the most and mash it together. Some folks fear zombies and planes. No need to worry. They covered that too! Both movies were great. I was psyched for this movie (SoaP) well before it ever came out. There was a site, (www.snakesonablog) that kept all fans informed about news, parodies, and his mission to get to the premire.  deadplane

Snakes on a Plane starred Samuel L. Jackson as, FBI Agent Neville Flynn.  He was transporting a passenger to California to testify in a case against crime boss, Eddie Kim. The witness, Sean, is the only one who can put Eddie away for life. Kim cannot have that. He devises a plane to keep Sean from talking. Flight Pacific Air 121 is loaded with passengers. We have the sex crazed, put smoking youngsters, the “Paris Hilton” type chick,  rapper, 3 G’s (He can make your booty go thump) and his posse, the angry business man, the sexy foreign single mother and baby,  the newlyweds on their flight back to the California, a kickboxing champion, and a couple of kids traveling without their parents. The stewardesses help make the cast a well rounded group. Claire is quitting and moving on to bigger and better things. Grace is retiring, but had to give it one more go. Ken is the only male steward on board. Him and his girlfriend are big fans of kickboxing. He tries to show his moves to the kickboxing champ but hurts himself in the process. Tiffany is the last flight attendant. She’s all hot for Sean. She sneaks up to see him, assuming he’s a felon, being transported by the feds. There, she finds out he’s to testify against Kim.

The flight takes off. Flynn walks around the cabin, checking on things. He runs into Claire who isn’t to happy about them comadeering the plane. After a brief encounter and a quick understanding, they become instant friends. 3 G’s spots Mercedes (Paris Hilton chick). He quickly offers her a role in his next video. The flight hits the point of no return and then, the real action starts. Deep below in the cargo hold, a timer reaches zero and the door to a large crates busts open, releasing hundreds of venomous snakes. The pot smoking couple, decide to join the mile high club and sneak off into the bathroom. Inside, they light up a joint, yanking out the smoke detector. Unbeknownto them, slithering above them, is a deadly viper. We are treated to snake night vision. We follow the snake as he makes his way to the open hole in the bathroom.He hangs above them, before he drops and sinks his fangs into the women voluptuous breasts. Panic insues. Outside, Grace and Ken hear them. “Oh, he’s good.” Then silence. She scoff and adds, “well, maybe not that good.” They continue on, totally oblivious to what really happened inside.

The snakes continue to slither around the plane, sneaking in purses, barf bags, going up dresses and hiding beneath passengers seats. Inside the pilots cabin, co-pilot, Rick fends off a snake that found its way to the controls. The pilot meets an untimely death, while trying to fix a mechanical issues below deck. Before long, Rick is scared to find more snakes slithering about the controls. He grabs a clipboard and beats the snakes. Unfortunately, he hits a button and releases the oxygen masks. With no other way to go, the snakes begin dropping down, falling on the passengers. Panic fills the plane. People begin getting bit and bit some more. From that point on, we see some passengers, meet their untimely end. But the others have one way out. His name is, Samuel L. Jackson. He tazors snakes, grabs them with his hands and beats them, and some, he just tosses about like rubber toys. The movie started with a PG-13 rating but fans wanted more. Jackson is known for his love of the phrase, “mother f**ker”. With a lot of asking and nagging, David Ellis, director of 3 of the Final Destination films, went back and added, more gore, nudity, and that phrase we all wanted to hear.

The movie created such an online buzz, it was popular well before the movie even came out. DC Lugi, created spoofs about the movie. One of my favorites is, “Early SoaP Auditons”. We’re treated to some great impressions like, Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken. Even, musical group, Cobra Starship got in on the act and released a song just for the movie. God, that song is great. Everyone got in on the act. People created cafepress shirts. I bought two. Hell, I had to. I had to show my support for the epic movie. I do have an offical shirt and hat. A soapmanfriend attended the annual Comic Con and snagged me a set. I was crazy about this movie and mentioned it where ever I went. I went opening night.

The movie means a lot to me. I’ve seen it at least two dozen times and will make it four dozen times before 2010 is up. Should I claim this as my number one movie? Should I have said this was my all time favorite action flick? I don’t know. It is a great movie but now that I think about it, Die Hard, Wanted, Terminator, and all the others, have more action than SoaP had. Maybe SoaP will be lucky enough to spawn a sequel. Will it happen? Not likely. But one can dream.

I highly reccomand you see this movie. I have seen movies way cornier than this. Movies with worst acting and a terrible plot. Those movies could be better if they had Samuel L. Jackson. He’ll make any movie a hit.

And now, some music!

Action Packed Top Ten

What makes a good action flick?

Kicking Ass?

Check.

Blowing Shit Up?

Check.

Being A Total Badass?

Check.

Who doesn’t love a good action packed movie? How will I pick just ten? Let’s just get right to the list shall we?

10. Conair/Face-off

It’s a tie between these two. Nicolas Cage used to be a good actor. When he decided to do Wickerman and Bankok Dangerous, he became as popular as Steve Guttenberg. Conair has an amazing cast. Shit blows up, people fight and bodies fall from the sky. Faceoff is stylized with doves flying and passion for peaches. “Peaches? I could eat peaches for hours.” You decide. Which one should reign supreme for the number 10 slot?

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/Vlg-VRc6TbY

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/fWq-S1_1vnc

09. Mr. and Mrs. Smith

The ending scene, the car chase, the hits, the house fight= bad ass flick! Did I mention Vince Vaughn is in it too?

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/YP5JzWDWcoo

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/jmD9sgto60U

08. Air Force One

Best. Line. Ever.

httpv://www.youtube.com/v/UJMxtvm-O5s

07. The Matrix Triolgy

Being that the whole series is one big action orgasm, I figured I’d put all three at number 7. Sure Keanu Reeves is a shitty actor but the movie was great. The rooftop scene, the car chase, the shoot-outs, and more shoot-outs. Ignore the whole, “we live in the matrix” story. Just go see the movie for the violence and the ass kicking. That’s all that is important. But, Kirk? If the story isn’t important, why is this movie on the list?

This is why.

06. The Terminator Series

I have yet to watch the 4th one. But I’ll assume its good. T2 was my favorite, then the first, and Rise of the Machines last. RotM only gets top prize because of the nukes going off. I love watching the world burn. I need to get a top ten End of the World flicks on here soon. More videos below of some kicking ass scenes.

05. Die Hard

He kicks some series ass. Shit is always blowing up! Classic catch phrase too. A plane blows up, a building blows up, and how many people take on a jet fighter with their bare fist?

Yippie-Kai-Yay, Mother F**ker!

04. The Dark Knight

I really don’t like Heath Ledger. I didn’t think he was the great actor everyone made him out to be. Being a gay cowboy doesn’t make you great. I will give him credit for his take on The Joker. He did a great job. This was a badass movie. Batman is by far, the greatest comic book hero ever. I do hope Mr. Nolan continues on and makes a third one. I’d like to see them redo The Riddler. He’s my favorite villian.

+1 for blowing shit up.

03. Wanted

Another flick where Angelina Jolie is an assassin. She was born for this kind of role. I don’t know who James McAvoy is or where he came from but he kicked some serious ass at the end of this flick. Senseless violence is the best part of an action flick.

02. Taken

Don’t eff with Liam Neeson. He’ll look for you, he’ll find you, and he’ll kill you.

The best action flick…..

01. GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra

I’ve loved this cartoon since I first laid eyes on it. I was worried about the movie being lame and cheap. I was wrong. It was everything I could have hoped for.

I could have explained more about the movie and why I loved it but they’re action flicks. The only thing about them are the explosions, chase scenes, and lots of ass kicking. I’ll have more fun with my next list. I just felt I needed to rush another top ten out quick, I don’t want to slack on these. I promise, comedies will be next.

Promise.

Top Ten Deux

westsideI am jumping to a completely different genre now. I should blame my mother for bringing musical theatre into our lives. She did influence us kids with music. We would take family trips often. Now, not so many. During our trips, we would listen to music. Since it was her car, the music was her choice. Each trip we took, we listen to the same Cd’s. The Monkees, Kenny Rogers, John Denver, and Camelot. For Mr. Rogers, we declared the CD (or cassette back then) the title of “20 hour tape”. It was his twenty greatest hits but it seem to last forever. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know why it was name that. Figured I would explain it to you still. Those family trips were the greatest. You pile six kids in a van and crank us the music. The van was a Mazda MPV. Since my mother likes to read my blog, I better state the color. It was not grey. It was not just “silver”. It was a color called, “winning silver”. She liked to correct us if we called it different.

The list below is based on musical films. I hope you enjoy it. I would reccomand to those not into this kind of music, give it a try. You’d be surprised how amazing it truely is.

TOP TEN MUSICAL FILMS

10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

By far, my favorite Disney movie. Best music? No. Great music? Yes.  I was taking French class the year it came out. I thinks that’s why I love it more than anything. I had a connection with it. My sister likes “Beauty and the Beast”. My moms favorite movie is, “Robin Hood”. I feel bad for Disney. Since CGI became the new way for animation, you don’t see many hand drawn, classic looking Disney movies anymore. I am aware they are doing “The Princess and the Frog”. I plan on seeing it. My favorite song in this movie has to be, “Hell Fire.” Frollo is pinning after the gypsy girl. I think I have some obsession with gypsies. If they make my list again, I will seek help.

Best songs in the movie.

09. Bedknob and Broomsticks

Another Disney movie to make the list. Can I take it back and say this my all time favorite Disney movie? The “substitutionary locomotion” song is my favorite part. The soccer game was memorable. Then the whole ending! OMG! A Disney movie has an all out war. Fantastic! I really need to get to watching this again.

08. Mary Poppins

Cheese and Crackers! Another Disney movie. They did put out some good movies. Do I switch titles and make this a Top Ten Disney Films?

I always love when people make these “recut” trailers for movies. Do I wish this was a real movie? Yes!

I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith. What’s the name of his other leg?

So many songs to list..

  • Step In Time
  • Let’s Go Fly A Kite
  • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
  • Chim Chim Cheree
  • A Spoonful of Sugar
  • The Penguin Dance Number
  • Love To Laugh
  • Jolly Holiday

07. The Music Man

Finally. A non Disney movie. Con man, Harold Hill comes to town with an offer. He offers uniforms and to train the boys marching band then skip town with the good people’s money. But nothing ever goes as planned in movies. He catches the eye of the librarian, Marian. The movie was redone with Matthew Broderick. I haven’t watched it, so I cannot give you my opinion on it.

06. Fiddler On The Roof

ah…the Jewish people. Nothing makes your miserable life better than a little a song and dance. I remember watching this movie in grade school. I enjoyed watching this more than watching the crapfest people call, “Grease”. My hatred for “Grease” started in grade school. Every time it rained or there wasn’t anything to study for, we (the students) were given the opportunity to relax and enjoy a movie. What did everyone pick? Yep. They picked that horrible movie. I watched Midway and enjoyed that more. When I come across “Grease” on TV or someone brings it up, a little piece of me dies. “Fiddler on the Roof” is a classic. Topol dancing about, clucking like a chicken, I never saw Travolta doing that. His dream is a great number too. All around, great music. If that ever comes to town and plays somewhere, I’ll see it. I always say that. I never go though. Mazel Tov!

05. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

Stop. Don’t judge me. It may not be a classified as a musical but it has numbers, singing, and dancing. So if I was to be technical, it is a musical. A great one in my opinion. South Park is a funny show. The movie still makes me laugh. Kyle, Eric, Stan, and Kenny plan on seeing the new “Terrence and Phillip” movie. After seeing it, they learn some naughty words. Kyle’s mom then blames the country of Canadia. How many movies can you say have Satan and Saddam in a love affair? You have to give the movie credit. It even got nominated for an Oscar with it’s musical number, “Blame Canada.” Best R rated animated movie ever.

“sweet…”

04. Newsies

Ha. Disney again. A bunch of newsies dance around trying to save their jobs. Bill Pullman, Max Casella (Doogie Howser MD), and Christian Bale star in this 1992 flick. Can you believe that Bruce Wayne, Batman himself sings and dances? Kind of wish they put down Crutchy. I never liked him. He got on my nerves. Since I mentioned Max Casella, this leads me to my number 3 movie on my list. Strange how my top ten almost works like “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” “South Park” was co-written by, Trey Parker. There is an actor with the same name in Newsies. Coincidence?

03. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

Maybe not a movie but still makes my list. It stars the ever fantastic, Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia, Day, and Nathan Fillion. NPH of what TV show? That’s right! Doogie Howser MD. And who starred in that? Max Casella! Six Degrees for the win! Dr. Horrible’s is a love/world domination story. NPH is Billy aka Dr. Horrible. He wants to join the Evil League of Evil. He needs to commit a crime. His first attempt not only fails, but gets the woman of his dreams, Penny,  to meet up with his arch nemesis, Captain Hammer. The video was available at the Dr. Horrible website to watch but has been taken down. You can purchase the music on Itunes or visit amazon to purchase the movie.

02. Chicago

Who would have thought that Richard Gere could sing? Two girls, one act. Sounds kind of dirty if you ask me. But Roxie Hart wants to be famous. What’s the only way to be famous? Kill someone. Get the best lawyer and the rest is front page news. The movie has a great cast, great music, and an all around fun feel to it. I’ve never seen it on stage but if the musical itself is anything like this, then I need to buy my ticket ASAP. Funny story about this movie. My friend and I were watching this movie and waiting for a pizza. When the pizza came, the pizza man said to me, “I love this movie. Good choice.”

And now…the number one Musical Film of my choice is……

01. Oliver!

I just love this movie. Nothing to explain here. It’s just a great movie with great music.

The top ten list thing is harder than I thought. So many movies and so many genres. Trying to figure out what genre a movie will fall in, is going to be the hardest part. I plan on doing, “Top Ten Comedies” next. Keep a look out for that one. I am sure I’ll miss many movies. Picking just 10 will be a job in itself.