anyone who knows me, knows how much a role music plays in my life. it always has and always will. even at my ripe old age, last week i went to three live shows, in three nights, in two cities. first up was tom russell at the all good cafe in dallas. his songs have been covered by the likes of joe ely, jerry jeff walker, johnny cash among others. here's a couple of videos
next up is my favorite band son volt i've been following them since their first record trace and as driving miss dallas knows the lead singer jay farrar is my personal god. they played the granada in dallas as well. here's a couple of you tube videos from the actual show i went to although the sound is not great.
the next night driving miss dallas was supposed to drive down with me and see them in helotes, texas at floores country store which is near san antonio. i stayed with a friend of ours and he went to the show as well. it is my absolute favorite place to see a show. this was the second time i've got to see them there. here's a couple of more random videos of them.
both times i've got to meet jay farrar after the show. i was as nervous as a school girl. i'm such a fanboy. but hey it could be worse right?
11.16.2009
11.11.2009
11.06.2009
people do love lists
with the baseball season officially over with the new york yankees winning their 27th world series title, i can get back to some serious blogging. with the first decade of this millennium coming to a close, i present to you a series of my best of the best. starting with movies. in order by the year they hit the theatre. my top twenty-five best movies from 2000-2009.
1. memento (2000)
2. ghost dog (2000)
3. high fidelity (2000)
4. o brother, where art thou (2000)
5. donnie darko (2001)
6. the royal tenenbaums (2001)
7. kill bill vol. one and two (2003, 2004)
8. lost in translation (2003)
9. city of god (2003)
10. eteranl sunshine of the spotless mind (2004)
11. hotel rwanda (2004)
12. cache (2005)
13. history of violence (2005)
14. the squid and the whale (2005)
15. the departed (2006)
16. the last king of scotland (2006)
17. half nelson (2006)
18. no country for old men (2007)
19. juno (2007)
20. once (2007)
21. there will be blood (2007)
22. the dark knight (2008)
23. where the wild things are (2009)
24. the hurt locker (2009)
25. wendy and lucy (2009)
bonus:
26. old joy (2006)
your thoughts?
1. memento (2000)
2. ghost dog (2000)
3. high fidelity (2000)
4. o brother, where art thou (2000)
5. donnie darko (2001)
6. the royal tenenbaums (2001)
7. kill bill vol. one and two (2003, 2004)
8. lost in translation (2003)
9. city of god (2003)
10. eteranl sunshine of the spotless mind (2004)
11. hotel rwanda (2004)
12. cache (2005)
13. history of violence (2005)
14. the squid and the whale (2005)
15. the departed (2006)
16. the last king of scotland (2006)
17. half nelson (2006)
18. no country for old men (2007)
19. juno (2007)
20. once (2007)
21. there will be blood (2007)
22. the dark knight (2008)
23. where the wild things are (2009)
24. the hurt locker (2009)
25. wendy and lucy (2009)
bonus:
26. old joy (2006)
your thoughts?
8.29.2009
we are still stuck with the texas heat and some new poetry
briefly i've been lazy about blogging, watching baseball and applying for a job in chicago i didn't get but here is some new bad poetry for your edification:
the ledger reads zero
having written less than emily dickinson
in three months than she did in her lifetime
all the pages have been left blank in the cafe poetry halls
i succumb to what i know the best
having a fragile ego
never being able to rhyme legionnaire with frigidaire
a televisions pale glow of a baseball game
lighting the windows of a darkened house
rusted-out 1930's A.M. radios
and old highways revisited
sin city and bar floor of my memory
as a cab driver points out hotels along the famous strip
he says, remember something while your here
and after you're gone
losers built this town
happy hour doesn't end
until the barbacks are mopping the floor
there's two-day hangovers
three dollar steaks
and lonely has too much to drink and picks up strangers
the ledger reads zero
having written less than emily dickinson
in three months than she did in her lifetime
all the pages have been left blank in the cafe poetry halls
i succumb to what i know the best
having a fragile ego
never being able to rhyme legionnaire with frigidaire
a televisions pale glow of a baseball game
lighting the windows of a darkened house
rusted-out 1930's A.M. radios
and old highways revisited
sin city and bar floor of my memory
as a cab driver points out hotels along the famous strip
he says, remember something while your here
and after you're gone
losers built this town
happy hour doesn't end
until the barbacks are mopping the floor
there's two-day hangovers
three dollar steaks
and lonely has too much to drink and picks up strangers
8.07.2009
don't you forget about me
i've been absent for a while but a couple of weeks ago i asked the question, what was your favorite john hughes movie? i came home yesterday and told my lovely bride who is 10 years my junior, john hughes died, (she enjoys his movies as well). her response, "i know, i saw." i tried to explain to her what john hughes movies meant to me. i am right in the demograpic where my adolescent days were at this time when he was at his peak as a filmmaker. so the death yesterday of the man who knew how to sum up teens better than anyone hit me a little hard. john hughes has been out of the spotlight for some time now, choosing to be a recluse but his movies are timeless. generation x lost one of it's icons yesterday. thanks to paste magazine for this article that could sum it up better than myself. now excuse me while i play the soundtrack to the breakfast club.
the breakfast club
Brian Johnson: Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed.
Essence of the '80s: The 10 Best Movies John Hughes Ever Wrote
By
Steve LaBate on August 7, 2009
For anyone who grew up during that singular era of the 1980s, filmmaker John Hughes was damn near a prophet. He didn't talk down or pander to teenagers; he didn't have to because he understood them so well. At times, he understood them better than they understood themselves. It was as if his films, although fictional, were deep-cover documentaries about who we are and how we interact.
Hughes directed eight features in his heyday, and wrote and produced many more classics along the way—movies that defined the time in which they were crafted. Tragically, Hughes—only 59 years old—died yesterday of a heart attack. To pay tribute to this talented filmmaker, we have compiled the following list, which ranks the finest movies he ever wrote.
1. The Breakfast Club
(1985)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Most Memorable Song: “Don’t You” - Simple Minds
Classic Quote: “Sweets, you couldn't ignore me if you tried. So... so. Are you guys like boyfriend-girlfriend? Steady dates? Lovers? Come on, sporto, level with me. Do you slip her the hot beef injection?”
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, Edie McClurg, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein
Most Memorable Songs: “Danke Schoen” - Wayne Newton; “Twist & Shout” - The Beatles; “Oh Yeah” - Yello
Classic Quote: “Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
3. Vacation
(1983)
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Christie Brinkley
Most Memorable Songs: “Holiday Road” - Lindsey Buckingham; “Chariots of Fire” - Vangelis
Classic Quote: “I think you're all fucked in the head. We're 10 hours from the fucking fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our godamn smiles. You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're assholes! I gotta be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose. Praise Marty Moose! Holy Shit!”
4. Sixteen Candles
(1984)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling, Haviland Morris, Gedde Watanabe, Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack, Paul Dooley, Blanche Baker, Carole Cook, Max Showalter, Liane Alexandra Curtis, Deborah Pollack
Most Memorable Songs: "If You Were Here" - Thompson Twins; “Sixteen Candles” - Stray Cats
Classic Quote: “No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food.”
5. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
(1987)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy
Most Memorable Song: “Mess Around” - Ray Charles
Classic Quote: “Those aren’t pillows!”
6. Christmas Vacation
(1989)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Randy Quaid Most Memorable Song: “Here Comes Santa Claus” - Gene Autry
Classic Quote: “Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer…”
7. Weird Science
(1985)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton, Judy Aronson, Robert Downey Jr.
Most Memorable Song: “Weird Science” - Oingo Boingo
Classic Quote: “So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?”
8. Uncle Buck
(1989)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffman, Macaulay Culkin, Amy Madigan
Most Memorable Song: “Bust a Move” - Young MC
Classic Quote: “Do I have to talk dirty to you? Come on! Open up for daddy! I'm gonna shove a load into you! Here we go! Come on, it's nice and easy. Come on, here we go! Take that! Take that! Come on! You don't want the crowbar, do you? Come on! OPEN UP! I'm gonna shove my load into you whether you like it or not!”
9. Pretty in Pink
(1986)
Director: Howard Deutch
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, Andrew Dice Clay
Most Memorable Song: “If You Leave” - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Classic Quote: "We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room!"
10. The Great Outdoors
(1988)
Director: Howard Deutch
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening
Most Memorable Songs: “Yakety-Yak” - The Coasters; “Land of a Thousand Dances” - Wilson Pickett
Classic Quote: “Why do you think we have these sharp things for? To scratch our asses with?”
HONORABLE MENTION:
European Vacation
Mr. Mom
She’s Having a Baby
Home Alone
Dutch
the breakfast club
Brian Johnson: Saturday, March 24,1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois, 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did *was* wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed.
Essence of the '80s: The 10 Best Movies John Hughes Ever Wrote
By
Steve LaBate on August 7, 2009
For anyone who grew up during that singular era of the 1980s, filmmaker John Hughes was damn near a prophet. He didn't talk down or pander to teenagers; he didn't have to because he understood them so well. At times, he understood them better than they understood themselves. It was as if his films, although fictional, were deep-cover documentaries about who we are and how we interact.
Hughes directed eight features in his heyday, and wrote and produced many more classics along the way—movies that defined the time in which they were crafted. Tragically, Hughes—only 59 years old—died yesterday of a heart attack. To pay tribute to this talented filmmaker, we have compiled the following list, which ranks the finest movies he ever wrote.
1. The Breakfast Club
(1985)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy
Most Memorable Song: “Don’t You” - Simple Minds
Classic Quote: “Sweets, you couldn't ignore me if you tried. So... so. Are you guys like boyfriend-girlfriend? Steady dates? Lovers? Come on, sporto, level with me. Do you slip her the hot beef injection?”
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey, Edie McClurg, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stein
Most Memorable Songs: “Danke Schoen” - Wayne Newton; “Twist & Shout” - The Beatles; “Oh Yeah” - Yello
Classic Quote: “Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
3. Vacation
(1983)
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, Eugene Levy, John Candy, Christie Brinkley
Most Memorable Songs: “Holiday Road” - Lindsey Buckingham; “Chariots of Fire” - Vangelis
Classic Quote: “I think you're all fucked in the head. We're 10 hours from the fucking fun park and you want to bail out. Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much fucking fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our godamn smiles. You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're assholes! I gotta be crazy! I'm on a pilgrimage to see a moose. Praise Marty Moose! Holy Shit!”
4. Sixteen Candles
(1984)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling, Haviland Morris, Gedde Watanabe, Anthony Michael Hall, John Cusack, Paul Dooley, Blanche Baker, Carole Cook, Max Showalter, Liane Alexandra Curtis, Deborah Pollack
Most Memorable Songs: "If You Were Here" - Thompson Twins; “Sixteen Candles” - Stray Cats
Classic Quote: “No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food.”
5. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
(1987)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy
Most Memorable Song: “Mess Around” - Ray Charles
Classic Quote: “Those aren’t pillows!”
6. Christmas Vacation
(1989)
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Randy Quaid Most Memorable Song: “Here Comes Santa Claus” - Gene Autry
Classic Quote: “Oh, the silent majesty of a winter's morn... the clean, cool chill of the holiday air... an asshole in his bathrobe, emptying a chemical toilet into my sewer…”
7. Weird Science
(1985)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: Anthony Michael Hall, Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Kelly LeBrock, Bill Paxton, Judy Aronson, Robert Downey Jr.
Most Memorable Song: “Weird Science” - Oingo Boingo
Classic Quote: “So, what would you little maniacs like to do first?”
8. Uncle Buck
(1989)
Director: John Hughes
Starring: John Candy, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffman, Macaulay Culkin, Amy Madigan
Most Memorable Song: “Bust a Move” - Young MC
Classic Quote: “Do I have to talk dirty to you? Come on! Open up for daddy! I'm gonna shove a load into you! Here we go! Come on, it's nice and easy. Come on, here we go! Take that! Take that! Come on! You don't want the crowbar, do you? Come on! OPEN UP! I'm gonna shove my load into you whether you like it or not!”
9. Pretty in Pink
(1986)
Director: Howard Deutch
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, Andrew Dice Clay
Most Memorable Song: “If You Leave” - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Classic Quote: "We don't have none of this stuff in the boy's room! Wait a minute! We don't got none of this... we don't got doors on the stalls in the boy's room, we don't have, what is this? What's this? We don't have a candy machine in the boy's room!"
10. The Great Outdoors
(1988)
Director: Howard Deutch
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening
Most Memorable Songs: “Yakety-Yak” - The Coasters; “Land of a Thousand Dances” - Wilson Pickett
Classic Quote: “Why do you think we have these sharp things for? To scratch our asses with?”
HONORABLE MENTION:
European Vacation
Mr. Mom
She’s Having a Baby
Home Alone
Dutch
7.30.2009
ballpark observations
tuesday night i was out at the ballpark for the 3rd time in a week and noticed two things:
-a saw a man combing his hair with an actual comb. does anyone really still use those?
-and last tuesday when i was out there i sat behind a man who kept offering me and my lovely bride some of his peanuts. again tuesday i ran into this same man but in different seats. am i really being followed by the government?
-a saw a man combing his hair with an actual comb. does anyone really still use those?
-and last tuesday when i was out there i sat behind a man who kept offering me and my lovely bride some of his peanuts. again tuesday i ran into this same man but in different seats. am i really being followed by the government?
7.20.2009
shipwrecked in the '80's
in the 1980's a movie wasn't made without john hughes fingerprint on it somewhere. here is his '80's resume:
National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)
Nate and Hayes (1983)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Weird Science (1985)
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Uncle Buck (1989)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
what is your favorite john hughes film of the '80's?
National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)
Nate and Hayes (1983)
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Weird Science (1985)
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
Uncle Buck (1989)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
what is your favorite john hughes film of the '80's?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
