Highlights from My 100 Things To Do List

My good friend Moviezzz who was himself a blogger (when I checked his blog a few weeks ago, I had not seen an entry since June) once told me that he loved my things to-do lists.

As it turns out, due to unexpected life circumstances---and, sorry, we don't get too personal here except that I will personally admit to despising the mid-80s Mister Mister (they were actually a three-hit wonder)#, I decided to actuallty write a 100 Things To Do List. And, I may time to tackle some of these things. But, as a close confidant told me: "You really should just focus on a few things first." I'm sure Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the 2010 self-help book phenom "Switch" would agree.

But, nevertheless, here are some highlights from the big list:

1. (# 12) Tweek Resume

2. (#15) Take pet bengal tiger to the vet (actually, I am refering to our beloved family cat, but taking a bengal tiger* may be easier)

3. (# 19) Eat at Bergama Cafe, the new Turkish restaurant in Durham, NC (that's the reason for the image of man making doner kebab)

4. (#27) Try to check out the book "The New Frugality" from a library (Even now, I'm not sure I have time to read all these self-help books!)

5. (#33) Possibly re-examine e-dating possibilities (so much for trying not to be too personal)

6. (#37) Actually use Facebook for something productive, like finding a great, cool job.

7. (#54) Read the four issues of "Rolling Stone" that are piling up on the kitchen table, especially the one with Larry David on the cover.

8. (#71) Do the laundry.

9. (#73) Research the brain and try to figure out how it works; of course, this might involve reading more self-help books.

10. (#97) Watch more PBS...."Antiques Roadshow" airs at 8:00 p.m., eastern time, tonight!

*-Image is of a bengal tiger at a zoo in India.

#- While looking for info about Mister Mister on Wikipedia, we discovered that the band has reunited! I actually saw them open up for Tina Turner at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Va., in high school. At the time, I actually liked the band's signature song "Broken Wings."

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Chico and the Man

Before I post today's musings, I must profess that my good friend Moviezzz, and we do really know each other, is MUCH better at tv commentary than I am, and one can see that on his blog talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com

I don't know much about what's going on with tv, except when I overhear people talking about how disappointed they are that "Lost" is over with or who sang what on "American Idol."

But, as a kid, I watched tv day and night, and one of my favorite shows was the sitcom "Chico and the Man" (1974-1978), which appeared on my Christmas gag list (referring to dvds of the show). Like many sitcoms of the era, such as "Sanford and Son," the show had an urban setting and dealt with inter-racial issues.

"Chico and the Man" took place in a rundown garage in east LA, and featured the late Freddie Prinze, who would be Sarah Michelle Gellar's father-in-law if he were alive today, and the late Jack Albertson.

Alas, Prinze comitted suicide at age 22 after a bout of drug addiction and depression in 1977. Amazingly enough, the show continued for one more season without him.

The theme song was composed by Jose Feliciano, who is on the radio a lot this time of year for his yuletide song "Felix Navidad." Another singer Tony Orlando once appeared in an episode as Chico's look alike.

Scatman Crothers and Della Reese were also members of the regular cast.

Six episodes of the show, which has seldom been shown in reruns, are available on a compliation dvd through Netflix.

It Was a VERY Bad Day...

Yes, things did not go according to plan at all today. Though I am thankful that I made a two-hour trip from North Carolina to Virginia in Labor Day traffic without running into a tree or a right-wing fanatic with pro-life and Sarah Palin '08 bumper stickers.

In short, it was to be a day in which I wanted to get a lot accomplished, but....in the end, only two things on my 40 Things To Do List got taken care of, and one of those was to check my Twitter account!

I also want to congratulate my friend Moviezzz on the fifth anniversary of his Movies blog http://www.talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day and one in which we can find a chance to post our Weekly Top 10 list.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today....Hot as You-Know-What in Richmond, Va.

On Twitter, this p.m., we learned that Richmond, Va., which is relatively close to the zip code I'm in right now, is literally hot as hell.

According to the Twitter site RVaWx (Richmond, Va., weather), the state capital of the Old Dominion is 95 degrees today. There are winds coming into town from the northwest at 14 MPH with mostly cloudy conditions.

The relative humidity in the city where Dave Matthews used to play for five dollars a night (semi-true story!) is at 44 percent.

In other parts of the world, it is about 82 degrees in Bursa, Turkey, 81 degrees in Puebla, Mexico, and 84 degrees in Billings, Montana (wow, it sure is hot out west too!).

SIDEBAR: We were joking the other day about the ambassador to Syria being on "The Charlie Rose Show" the other night. But, the joke was on us as we found out through Google that there is apparently no official American ambassador in Damascus at the moment, but Chuck Hunter is the Deputy Chief of Mission there. Imad Moustapha is the current Syrian ambassador in Washington, DC. Tonight, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be on Charlie Rose.

SIDEBAR TWO: Kudos to our good friend Moviezzz for taking a vacation. He will not be blogging for a while, but we highly suggest that any of you interested in developments in tv or film take a look at his back catalogue. By the time, you're done, you should know which seasons of "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" are available on dvd. *

*-Ok, it's seasons one and two.

50 Beers From Around the Globe- Tecate (Mexico)

We were going to delay this new series "Beers Around the Globe" until August 1st, which is our beloved tuxedo cat Gizmo's sixth birthday!, but we honestly couldn't think of anything better to post today.

Since Tecate Beer, which brewed near the California border in Los Cubas, Mexico was brave enough to air a commercial en espanyol on ESPN-2 during "Friday Night Fights" a few weeks ago, we thought we'd start off with an entry for their beer- if only because they might be the first brewery to make Glenn Beck's head explode!

According to Wikipedia, Tecate is popular in California and it is best with a lime and some salt on its top.

You may be able to find the beer at Junior's Tavern in Salt Lake City, Utah, which also has jazz and blues performers as well as at Los Tres Magueyes Mexican Restaurant in Cary, NC (Raleigh. The small two-state chain also has establishments in Wake Forest, NC, and Danville, Va., among other locations.

SIDEBAR: Get the TiVo out for the vintage 1981 film "Gregory's Girl," directed by Bill Forsyth. The Scottish director also helmed "Local Hero," which is a favorite of my friend Moviezzz's. "Gregory's Girl," which is also a great film (haven't seen it in over 25 years though!) airs on TCM on Thursday night at 11:45 p.m.

Last Ten Films I've Seen---Three with Bruce Dern

Three of the last ten films I've seen, "The Trip" (1967), "Psych-Out" (1968) and "Coming Home" (1978) feature the great character actor Bruce Dern (father of Laura Dern, pictured here) who turned 76 on Friday. Dern recently played Frank Harlow in the hit HBO series "Big Love," which still may not play well in Provo, Utah (since it's about fundamentalist Mormons with lots of wives).

"The Trip" also featured Dennis Hopper, who died last week. He had also just turned 76 some two weeks before his death. "The Trip" which also featured Peter Fonda was a precursor to "Easy Rider."

Even though "Watermelon Man" (1970) was made by a black filmmaker in Melvin Van Peebles (Mario Van Peebles' father), I'm not sure it would get made today as it deals with a racist white man who becomes black overnight. Sadly, the star of the film Godfrey Cambridge died at age 43 in 1976 while on the set of a tv movie with Kirk Douglas in which he was to play Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Here are the films:

1. "Watermelon Man" (1970. dir-Melvin Van Peebles)
2. "Personal Best" (1982. dir- Robert Towne)
3. "The Trip" (1967 w/Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. dir-Roger Corman)
4. "Psych-Out" (1968 w/Jack Nicholson. dir-Richard Rush)
5. "Friends of Eddie Coyle" (1973. w/Robert Mitchum. dir-Peter Yates)
6. "Coming Home" (1978. w/Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. dir-Hal Ashby)
7. "The Girl Can't Help It!" (1956 w/Jayne Mansfield. dir-Frank Tashlin)
8. "The Special Relationship" (2010. HBO TV movie about Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. dir-Richard Loncraine)
9. "Dog Eat Dog" (Colombia. 2008. dir-Carlos Moreno)
10. "It Happened One Night" (1934 w/Clark Gable. dir-Frank Capra)

SIDEBAR- There is a great blog entry by my good friend Moviezzz about the very short-lived tv show "Tales of the Golden Monkey" (1983-84). At the time, all of us thought it was a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" rip-off, but as it turns out the producers had submitted the idea for the show before the epic film came out in 1981!

Ahhhhhhhh! We Screwed Up!

Hmmmmmm.....yes, this entry was supposed to about my status update.......oh well, it is getting very late! I think this might be a character from "The Muppett Show." I need to ask my friend Moviezzz (http://www.moviezzz.blogspot.com). He could tell me when "Shaazam!" was on the air off the top of his head! (My guess is 1972-75).

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Vote for Me!

This image was apparently taken somewhere here in North Carolina, but I don't see any signs here for my friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, who ran for a local school board vacancy. Though he lost the election, Knight ran an over-the-top Star Wars-themed ad which made it to Vh-1, E! and the now-defunct "The Jay Leno Show."

I would like to nominate Knight's blog (http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com) as well as my friend Moviezzz's blog (http://www.moviezzz.blogspot.com) to a BBC contest in which listeners suggest unique blogs that are actually worth a person's time, but alas I can not find the link to the contest anywhere on the freaking web!

Of course, having said that, we'd like to promote our blogs as well (The other one is 'Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time').

I could not think of a better way to promote myself than to have a silly photo with campaign signs (I have no idea if any of these people won, but presumably some did!).

This reminds me of a low-budget documentary I saw on The Sundance Channel entitled "FrontRunners," which I actually saw for sale at a Target store in Danville, Va.!

Perhaps, one can see such films at this year's Full Frame Film Festival in Durham, NC, which opens April 8. The opening night film is "Kings of Pastry" by veteran filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

I have no idea if I'm going to this year's fest or not, but I did attend the Full Frame Festival in 2005. If I had the talent and equipment, I would make a short doc about our local maniac street preacher who rants and raves for five or six hours at a time. The irony is that I'm agnostic, but that would make me perfect for the project, right?!

Celebrity Tweets- Cheryl Hines

Since I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. to watch the entire sixth season of the HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthuiasm" a few nights ago, we thought we'd go with some actual tweets from the 'real Cheryl Hines.'

The Ben Affleck cameo was mentioned on an entry from my friend Moviezzz on his blog.

Anyway, we need to make this quick so I can have lunch at the Green Bean Coffee House in Greensboro, NC, well actually that's an hour and a half from where I am at the moment!:

"Did anyone notice Ben Affleck in the background on "Curb Your Enthusiasm?" He happened to be in Banana Republic that day." (posted Nov. 12)

"'Serious Moonlight' won Best Film in the Orlando Film Fest! YAY!!!! My family partied like rock stars."

"I'm on Letterman tonight. love him. his blue eyes were sparkling," posted Oct. 26.

Silly Photo to Fill Space_ "Alf"

I ran into my friend Christopher Knight by chance yesterday, and he told me that he actually reads my blog?!

Knight of Reidsville, NC, not to be confused with African-American comic strip artist Keith Knight ("The Knight Life") who_(like Chris Knight)_ is also a Facebook friend of mine, is best known for making an over-the-top "Star Wars" themed ad when he ran for the Rockingham County (NC) school board in 2006.


The fact that Knight actually lost the race has not kept the ad from becoming a cultural phenom. Last week, it even made "The Jay Leno" show! It has already been featured on E! and VH-1.

Since Chris likes things with aliens, I thought I would post this photo from the Reagan era tv sitcom "Alf." I don't exactly when it ran, or if the whole series is available on dvd (I presume it is). But, my friend and blogger Moviezzz is on top of all these things. In fact, he just posted a great entry about "Ally MacBeal" (1997-2002)finally getting a dvd release which was held up due to music copyright issues.

And, I should mention that another blogger friend of mine Joe Scott of Greensboro, NC, will be screening the film "Aliens" at the Carousel Luxury Cinemas in the Gate City (local slang for Greensboro) on Thurs., Nov. 5 at 7:30 and 10p.m.

I would write more, but I actually have work to do.......?!

Silly Photo To Fill Space: "Three's Company"

Today, we are featuring photos of silly '80s sitoms although "Three's Company" actually debuted in 1978.

If you want to know when the 14th season* will be available on dvd, check out my friend Moviezzz's blog (see links section!)_I don't know how he keeps up with such things.

*- Yes, I know "Three's Company" was not on the air quite that long. It just felt like it.