Monday mash

Daily Grouch: The guy who was blowing his horn at me as I sat in my traffic lane waiting for the light to change to proceed on. He was behind me and wanted to be in front of me. Guess a bike doesn't belong on the road. He squeezed between me and the curb and presented certain hand gestures as he went by so I gave him my best 'whats a matter you?' hand gesture back to him. What a grouch!

My playlist for this morning' commute: Blondie, Moody Blues, Johnny Cash, Jewell, Moby, Kansas. Pretty eclectic stuff. 'Dust in the Wind' has to be just about the most profound pop song ever written.

I saw 'Gran Turino' yesterday. It was a very good movie but sad. It is probably Clint's last movie and if it is, it is a good finale for his career. For a 78 year old he can still handle an M1 rifle like a 20 year old. Go Clint! Here's two other end of career movies:

"The Shootist" with John Wayne. He was dying of cancer in the movie and in real life. A very poignant movie made even more so since his life would be ending soon.
"Father Goose" with Cary Grant. Cary decided he was getting too old for the romantic leading man type movie so he made this one as his good by to the movie world. Lots of fun and highly recommended.

Speaking of movies, here are my movie guilty pleasures. Don't tell anyone that I have seen them over and over again:

Conan the Barbarian: Written by John Milius and Oliver Stone - what else needs to be said? Armold was perfect as the somewhat dim bulb barbarian who 'became a king by his own hand'. Magnificent scenery, music, and dialog. Conan decking the camel with a single punch to the nose is a treat. Any movie with James Earl Jones has to have some redeeming qualities.

The Gods Must Be Crazy: My wife and I saw this not long after coming back from a visit to South Africa. The African setting was instantly familiar. There was about 4 other people in the theater and I laughed so hard during the movie I couldn't breath. A classic of modern slapstick. It is almost as funny the 10th time as the first.

Big Trouble in Little China: This droll send up of monster/kung fu/Tong war movies with another dim bulb hero in Kurt Russell is just way too funny. The mistake is to think it is serious. The only thing serious about it is how fractured it is.

Robinson Crusoe on Mars: Sure the science is wrong and the lucky breaks that the stranded astronaut gets just at the nick of time (at least three times) are way too convenient, but for me this movie has a sense of wonder, excitement and can-do spirit that I have always found to be uplifting. Astronaut Kit Draper is stranded on a Mars with an (almost) breathable atmosphere, crashing meteors, sub martian flowing water with edible plants and best of all, another castaway to do the heavy lifting. Still and all a fun movie. I saw it at the East Hills cinema in 1964 and I was hooked!

The Lost World (1960s version). Another hokey movie with iguanas standing in for dinosaurs. Claude Rains, Jill St. John, Fernando Lamas, and David Heddison vs the dinosaurs of the lost world. Add in some irate natives, flowing lava and diamonds as big as your fist and you have all the ingredients for a cracker-jack midnight TV chiller theater presentation. Another first run at the East Hills cinema for me and my friends. When the roaring of the dinosaurs got too loud for us we ran into the lobby and bought more candy until things quieted down.

Raising Arizona: Ok, the critics actually like this one but I really like this one. It is one of the few movies that I actually like Nicholas Cage in (Peggy Sue Got Married is the other). He is the loopiest non juvenile delinquent ever seen in a move. It is a hoot.

Dont Mess With the Zohan: This has to be the most non appropriate movie I have seen in quite a while and one of the funniest. This is a true guilty pleasure. I don't think I will watch it over and over but the one time I did watch it I laughed out loud more than once.