Oscars 2016: The Good & The (Very) Bad

Last night's Oscars were a very long affair full of some fab moments and some not so fab moments.  After 2. 5 hours, I had to give up and go to bed, but that, of course, is what DVRs were made for.

The Good

~ Spotlight won for best screenplay and best film!  I totally expected the screenplay award, but after the director lost, I thought for sure the film would go to The Revenant.  I'm fairly sure, based on what I've read, that's pretty much what everyone else thought too.  So yay for the Spotlight team on quite the coup!

~ Chris Rock's girl scout cookie bit.  I think he sort of copied Ellen last year with her pizza delivery, however this was really cute.  I have to say, if I had been starving myself for the last week to fit into those gorgeous gowns, I'd be hankering for some thin mints too!

~ Jacob Tremblay - this kid is the cutest kid to hit Hollywood in ages.  Can he just host all the award shows from now on?

~ The real Spotlight team's Twitter feed.  The reporters that were portrayed in Spotlight managed to snag a ticket to the big night - very last row of course, but they were there.  They live tweeted the craziness and the win, and it was utterly adorable. 

~ Jimmy Kimmel's post show - He's not my favorite person, but his show included a sketch with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom.  It all revolved around Donald Trump's rise to power and it was amazing!


The (Very) Bad

~ I agree that Chris Rock was a good choice for host this year.  The exclusion of any people of color in the nominations was going to be a huge focus, as it should have been.  Chris Rock needed to comment on it and he needed to do it well to make the point across and let these diverse voices be heard. That being said, his focus on only the African Americans that were excluded was not what was needed.  What about Hispanic, Asians, Latinos?  What about diversity as a whole? It wasn't a black or white issue, it was the lack of diversity of any kind that was offensive.  

His monologue was good.  He hit the nail on the head with a few of his points.  But then he continued to only hit those points for the rest of the night, making a lot of people in the audience uncomfortable. He then insulted women (calling out the "ask them more" campaign) and the Asian population.  The latter by bringing 3 children on to the stage with him, just to make a joke. All in all, it was a little too much to handle and a little too focused on one particular race.  How is that any different than the Academy only nominating only white artists? Diversity of all kinds is what counts.

Night Off

Somewhere in the last 24 hours, a stomach bug has decided to kick my butt.  I'm off to sleep but I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully.

February Reads

As you can see, I may have had a bit too much time on my hands this month.  There are times when I can go months without reading a whole book, but then are times when I can plow through 9 in a month (sometimes 2 in a 24 hour period.)  Obviously this was one of those months.

"Death Wears a Beauty Mask" by Mary Higgins Clark: If you're a fan of hers, then you'll probably not enjoy this one as much as her others.  The short story collection was started in the 70s and then she put it aside to write "Where are the Children?" Then last year she decided to compile the stories and publish them. The short stories are just so odd - nothing like what she usually writes.  One even has some weird little sci-fi twist. Strange and definitely not my favorite!

"Don't Dress for Dinner" and "Boeing, Boeing" by Marc Camoletti: I Loved both of these plays and plowed right through them.  So very funny!

"It's Only a Play" by Terrence McNally: I usually love everything Terrence McNally writes, but this one didn't really hold my attention.  It was funny and clever, but it didn't seem to go anywhere.  I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I seen it live.

"Someday, Someday Maybe" by Lauren Graham: My second favorite of the month.  I bought the book 2 years ago and for some reason had never read it.  I'm so glad I pulled it off the shelf. It worked perfectly for my current NYC addiction.  It's funny, and smart and such a sweet story.

"Goodbye to All That": I should have known a book about writers leaving NY would be fairly depressing, but for some reason I chose to ignore the nagging feeling.  The book wasn't all bad, but only a few authors really managed to get my attention.  Also, I know these are all true stories, but the happenstance lives of pretty much all of these authors, makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing wrong in my life that I can't just happen into a great apartment on the Upper West Side and a full blown book deal just by hoping for it.

"The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek" by Seth Rudetsky: The real reason I'm sharing what I read this month.  I LOVE this book!  I have what you might call a long distance love affair with Seth Rudetsky, in that he doesn't know I exist and I want him to be my gay bestie.  More than any other book I've ever read, I can hear his voice in every page.  It's so funny, and sarcastic and different.  I finished it in less than 24 hours and then I pouted because it was over.  So good!

"Chinglish" by David Henry Hwang: I bought this play because I had seen a few clips online that made it look like something I might like.  I won't say it was terrible, but it's a terribly hard play to read since most is in Mandarin. I should have noticed that before purchasing I suppose.  Anyway, good but not great.

Friday Five

1.  Boeing, Boeing at the Colonial Players Theatre in Annapolis: A few years ago I saw a production of something at this same theatre and it was dreadful.  So I didn't hold out much hope for tonight's.  However, I'm now convinced it was just that play, because their production of Boeing, Boeing was hilarious!  I'm always amazed at how well these actors deal with such a tiny stage completely in the round.  If you're near Annapolis in the coming weeks, I would definitely recommend catching it. 

2. Not only is this new State Police trainee absolutely the cutest dog you'll ever see, but he's also named in honor of one of the 2 slain police officers from Maryland.  What a sweet way to honor the memory of Trooper Dailey.

3. This week's Ham4Ham might be their best yet.  Seriously, how cute was this kid!?
                   
4.  This is the song that's been playing in my head for the last 24 hours.  The consensus is I either need to get it out of my head or at least learn more words to it than just the refrain on a constant loop.  Cute song though.


5. How can you not love adorable photos of kids dressed up like Oscar nominees?  

Not the Same

I got into a bit of an argument today at lunch.  It wasn't so much of an argument, as a disagreement.  Honestly, it happens quite often.  It comes from being the only liberal in an office of die-hard conservatives.  Super fun, let me tell you.  Anyway, today's argument. Today we disagreed over the "historical inaccuracy" of Hamilton.  

Well it didn't start out that way.  It started with me gushing over Hamilton (as I do...) then having to explain to them what Hamilton was and why I was gushing over it.  That's where they decided the fact that Hamilton is Hispanic and Burr is African American and the rest of the cast is racially diverse, is historically inaccurate.  Apparently, they didn't have a problem with the fact that the cast raps the entire score - which, if you're being particular, is also historically inaccurate. 

My absolute favorite part of Hamilton is that they are so diverse.  The producers just decided to make it diverse, so they did. Why is this concept so difficult for people to wrap their heads around?  Hamilton is the biggest hit that Broadway has seen in years.  No one is confused by the color of the lead character. And why would they be? The whole world looks like that cast - it's just par for the course!

Even if the stick in the muds in my office don't think that way, I'm going to choose to.  Like the amazing Android commercial that I just saw (and fell in love with,  even though I'm an Apple girl - so perfect!) says: Be Together.  Not the same.

52 Lists: Week 7

Apparently, when I was deciding what lists to do in February, I was in serious need of a vacation.  Because I chose 2 different travel related lists for this month.  This week's list is my most favorite travel destinations.

I can say without a doubt, my most favorite travel destinations are most definitely cities. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach and quiet little towns have their own charm, but if I'm deciding where to for any extended period of time, it's always going to be a big city.  And most often, it's a big city that has a big food culture.  What can I say?  I love to eat!  The last factor in my most favorite destinations - the second I got to every one of these places, I was ready to move there immediately.  I'd be quite content to live in any of these cities. 

London

New York City

San Francisco

Unfortunately, my San Fran trip was about 4 computers ago so I have no digital photos of this trip - boo!

Boston

Austin

Edinburgh

Trivia Tuesdays

~ Some nights are better than others - in this case, some nights pretty much suck.  When you only have 15 points after the first half, you know it's going to be rough...

~ My incessant need to watch the movie Rudy when I was younger, came in handy.  Which is good, seeing as that's the ONLY thing I got right all night.

~ Our team knows nothing about cars, the earth, Parks & Recreation, tourist attractions in Australia or former child stars - and that was just in the first half.  See what I mean about it being a rough evening?

~ Things we learned: Merv Griffin created the Jeopardy theme song.   Uluru is made of Sandstone. A diesel engine is somehow different than a regular engine.  And the earth's core is solid - we had a 50/50 shot here, care to take a guess which we chose?

~ When given a choice between 3 answers, narrow it down to 2 then choose the one no one thinks it is.  That will always be the right answer.

~ Hockey is an impossible topic, when you're from Maryland and the only hockey players you actually know are Wayne Gretsky and Alex Ovechkin.  Somehow adding "ski" on the end of guesses wasn't helpful in the least. 

~ We finally managed to get a spelling question right - luckily I deferred to my team mates, who attempted to defer to me.  Who knew I didn't know how to spell recede?

~ When never watching an episode of a hit television show - like, for instance, The Simpsons - you should probably not enter in a guess on the correct answer.  You're most likely going to be wrong.

~ And lastly, fight for answers even if it's a stupid question that you only know the answer to because you read a Facebook article.  Sometimes you'll be right and you'll have let the team enter a wrong answer after waging it all...

~ Usually I leave Trivia feeling smart - tonight, not so much.

Spotlight on Spotlight

When the story first broke of child molestation within the church in 2002, I had just graduated from high school - a Catholic high school - a year before. I'd been going to Catholic school since Kindergarten, and had just entered college; my very first experience in a public school setting.  I don't remember the actual Boston Globe articles that broke the story, but I do remember the ripples it made.

It was hard to see just how enormous the problem was - this wasn't just something that hit Boston.  After the Boston Globe article ran, it seemed archdioceses from around the world admitted the same sort of abuse within their walls.  It was heartbreaking to hear stories of survivors being victimized by the church - a church that was supposed to protect them and keep them safe. As a character in the movie Spotlight says "How do you say no to God?"

There was and is a lot about the church's response to this issue that's turned many people away, including me. I knew a bit about the cover ups based on news stories.  And based on what I was hearing in church and in the news, even after the story was out there, the Vatican just wasn't dealing with the problem.  They stuck to the code of silence as they still seem to be doing today.  

So when Spotlight came out, I was happy to see the survivors were getting the chance to share their story and get the attention they so rightly deserved.  But I was a bit worried too that the movie wouldn't do them justice.  They've dealt with so much, having their story told incorrectly would just be another injustice.

Apparently, though, I worried for nothing.  Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer researched their hearts out on this movie and wrote a beautiful screenplay.  They didn't go overboard or sensationalize what happened.  They told the story of a group of reporters who were dedicated to telling a story correctly - never choosing to break the story before the facts were in.  Which, it seems, is exactly how they went about writing their story.  They stuck to what happened, not what would be the most exciting. 

And the cast!  What can you say about the cast?  Each member of the ensemble fit perfectly into their roles.  They really worked together and you could just picture them as part of a real investigative team.  Michael Keaton particularly was outstanding as the head of the Spotlight unit. While Rachael McAdams and Mark Ruffalo deserve their Oscar nods to a certain extent, I think Michael Keaton may have deserved one more.   He was just extraordinary in his role.  The actors playing the survivors were also particularly well-cast. They seemed to take it upon themselves to reach out to their real-life counterparts to hear their stories and get their portrayals right.  Your heart broke hearing those stories told and thinking of the real people behind them.

It truly is a beautiful movie and I'd recommend it to anyone; specifically Catholics.  It opened my eyes to just how much the church has been hiding.  Don't get me wrong, the Catholic church has done a lot of good in this world, and I still call myself Catholic, but there are problems that desperately need to be addressed before the church can move forward. Seeing as the Vatican screened this movie during a Commission on Abuse in the Church meeting, means they may be moving in the right direction.  But they still have a very long way to go. 

New York - Take Two

Another day, another lovely trip to New York.  Have I mentioned how much I love living so close (not close enough for me, though) to the Big Apple?  It makes it so simple to get there and back for a quick day trip.  This year I thought I'd try something different and go once a month - so far I'm on track, 2 for 2.  However, this trip was a little different.  I think I may have become a real New Yorker or was just completely unlucky - you can be the judge.

Real New Yorkers always have that story of something that happened to them that could only have happened in the city.  For me it was being elbowed in the head on purpose by some crazy person that decided I was in his way in the cross walk.  I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to respond to that.  I guess you're supposed to grab your head, say ouch and keep walking in the opposite direction as to not irritate the dude anymore.  Even if that's not what you're supposed to do, that's what I did.  No harm, no foul I suppose.  The worst part is, it's not even a good story.  How does "being elbowed in the head" even sound remotely interesting?

Anyway, food for this trip was provided by The Carnegie Deli (Pastrami and Eggs - Yum!) and John's Pizza (Always yum!). We didn't get much shopping in, based on the area of town we were in, but managed to get in lots of steps.  Then it was off to Disaster! The Musical, which was anything but.  I loved it!  Seeing as it was in previews, it makes sense that the first act was a bit rough - great gags but a little disjointed.  However, the second half was perfect! The casting was spot on, most especially Jennifer Simard and Faith Prince.  And I already have a theatre crush on Seth Rudetsky, so he was also perfect in my eyes. If you're in need of some laughs, I'd definitely get to the Nederlander before July!

 It's been FOREVER since I've seen St. Patrick's without the scaffolding - she sure cleans up nice!

 The blue ball cap right in the middle - that's Brian d'Arcy James if you can't tell - because honestly, why would you be able to? Don't these random strangers know it's not nice to get in my way? : )

 He's got the whole world in his hands...

 New York Public Library - of course I had to have my picture taken there!

Just 7 more months...

Thank You New York!

Thank you New York for yet another wonderful Saturday full of food, sights & Broadway with an added unexpected happening thrown in for good measure. You left me exhausted and happy!

Tomorrow there will be pictures and stories but tonight there is sleep...

Friday Five

1. Pardon the language but this is completely accurate.  So wrong, but so accurate.  As a Catholic school girl for her entire life, I laughed at every tweet on this list.  Perfect!

2.  If I didn't already love Adele, this cemented it.  How in the world did she keep a straight face through this?  I'd be a mess!

3. God forbid Donald Trump, I plan to move to this little island and live a happy life where my country is not ruled my a maniac.

4. I don't usually buy into the upworthy stories that are all over Facebook, but I'm a big fan of this one.  For once the theatre community is beating the pants off of Hollywood in something.  And it turns out it's a super important something - so way to go Theatre Peeps! Pay attention Academy of Arts and Sciences!

5.  And if you think I was going to let the week go by without commenting on the best performance of the week, you'd be very, very wrong!  Most definitely the ONLY reason I watched the Grammys and while the award show itself was SO long and boring, the performance was completely worth the time!

February - Life, Lately

Reading: In short, everything.  For some reason, winter is making me read more than ever. This month alone, I polished off: "Death Wears a Beauty Mask" by Mary Higgins Clark, "Boeing, Boeing", "Don't Dress for Dinner", "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying",  "Someday, Someday Maybe" by Lauren Graham.  And today I started "Goodbye to All That" - an anthology on why people leave NYC. 

Watching: Suits, FaceOff, Top Chef, Supernatural and still reeling from the amazing-ness of American Crime

Enjoying: Finally getting a handle on what I want to do with my pictures from my big England trip back in August.  I've finished 3 albums on other things since then and still couldn't wrap my head around how to scrapbook them.  Now that I have an awesome printer and some great apps, I'm chugging right along.  Loving the way it's looking!

Designing: A scrapbook dedicated to all the little day trips I have planned to NYC this year. I sort of went all in on gold...

Excited: Taxes are done and I don't have to pay the Man anything - always a win!  Heading to NYC this weekend.  Spring is so darn close I can taste it. 

Loving: In a Creative Bubble Shoppe's Belgium journal cards. They were the perfect fit for the England/Belgium trip album.  They're also the reason I started the album in the first place - I couldn't resist how cute they were!  And this fabulous Boston Public Library bag to carry all sorts of books and accessories in (Thanks Bud!)  And in case I haven't reiterated this enough - the Canon Selphy printer is the best purchase I've ever made! Oh, and Adele - I mean isn't everyone loving her?  (Have you seen her on Ellen yet?  Do it now!)

Looking Forward To: Not having to dress in 15 different layers in order to stay warm at work - bring it on Summer!

52 Lists: Week 6

Mostly because it's Winter, and I'm dreaming of anywhere but here - this week's list is the states I've visited.  The sad part is, I haven't been to many.  Because I live on the East Coast, I've visited most of the coast, but after that there's not too many I've seen.  What's even worse is that there are many I don't really feel the need to see.  I'd much rather go to Spain or Italy than travel in-country. Nothing against those states at all, I'd just rather go to Europe than the US (of course that might have something to do with the state of the Presidential election than anything else...) Maybe that should be amended in the year to come.

Maryland (Of course)

Pennsylvania

New York

New Jersey (only if you count Newark International as New Jersey)

Connecticut

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Virginia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Georgia

Florida

Texas

Missouri

Arizona

California

Such a sad little list...But at least there are pretty pictures.

Trivia Tuesdays

~ It's important to read the entire question and not just get excited because you have the right answer - to a question that wasn't asked.  There went 40 points...

~ Apparently, I wore my "extra large judge-y" pants today which required an hour standoff bet of only positivity.  Luckily it was a draw or I would have had to buy a beer for a team-mate.

~ Hoping a question on Foreign Food is about Fugu, is enough for karma to tip the scales in your favor.  Thank goodness for Anthony Bourdain!

~ I'm very good at guessing the length of the minute hand on Big Ben and the life span of people born in 1900 - though no one listens to me when I do guess.

~ A team that knows nothing about baseball - i.e. us - managed to answer 2 of 3 questions in the category correctly by guessing our pants off.  Woohoo us!

~ Finally getting a question on literature is not nearly as exciting when it's a simple question that everyone knows about the Scarlet Letter.

~ WordPress is the most viewed blogger platform - I know this.  I'd just like to reiterate that point since no one on my team believed me.  (Rant over... : )

~ While hoping and receiving a foreign food question worked in round one, it did not work in round 2.  I suppose it was too much to ask that the baseball last words question would be about Lou Gehrig's speech.  

~ Sciophobia is not the fear of being surprised even though logically (the root "sci" means to know) that made the most sense.  It is in fact the fear of shadows.

Another Monday, Another Snow Day

So I know it's winter and all, and I know snow days can be expected, but do they really have to happen on holidays?  Holidays in which I already had off and didn't need to go to work? Seriously, weather dudes?!  I would have much rather had the 50 degree temps they're expecting for tomorrow, today and the snow to happen tomorrow.  

Spending an already day off in the dumb house, all darn day, is not as fun as it sounds.  Not when you assume you'll be shopping or doing other fun things.  But I suppose these snow days have their bonuses like getting a chance to finish an awesome book ("Someday, Someday, Maybe" by Lauren Graham - So amazing!) or starting a new one or attempting to decipher who in the world all these people are that are walking the Grammy's red carpet.  
Literally, only watching for the Hamilton performance. 

Oh well, if spring would just come, I wouldn't have these issues...

Happy Valentine's Day!

As a single girl on Valentine's Day, I agree with this whole-heartedly!  While a Prince Charming would have been nice, I am enjoying my Dove truffles, and my spaghetti and my scrapbooking.  

I suppose if you're not going to get the boy, you might as well enjoy what you do have.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Galentine's Day!

It would be nice to have a significant other on Valentine's Day.  Yes, that would be nice.  But in the absence of Prince Charming, spending the evening with the bestie eating Farfalle a la Vodka, watching America's Sweethearts (the best Rom Com Ever!) and eating Peanut Butter Pie is a close second.

Happy Gal-entine's Day!

Friday Five

1. I finally found a great way to organize, edit, and print photos from my phone for scrapbooking purposes.  Don't get me wrong, I love Costco, but it's just so much easier to do this all from home!  Editing starts with the awesome Pic, Tap, Go which makes getting pretty pictures as easy as a few clicks. Then it's onto PicFrame so I can combine 2 3x4 photos into 1 4x6.  Then it's off to the Canon Print app so I can print from my new fave toy - the Canon Selphy.  In an hour tonight, I managed to get all the Belgium photos printed, cut and put into an album.  Now I just need to embelish and move on to the rest of England.  I love technology!

2. These Broadway themed Valentines from the casts of Something Rotten! and Hamilton are just adorable.  They are the best part of a single, Valentine-less Valentines day.

3. Sometimes, you can go down a YouTube rabbit hole and find all sorts of amazing things. This was the product of one those Rabbit Holes.  So cute!


4. I've never been such a fan of A Chorus Line - what can I say, apparently I don't like the classics. But this song is beautiful and this version is gorgeous!

5. I'm absolutely loving Life in Pieces on CBS.  It started out a little slow, but it's finally hitting its stride.  This week's Valentine's themed episode was pretty much perfect.  I know it's not Modern Family, but it's definitely getting there. 

High Anxiety

I've been seeing a lot of the trailer for "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot."  The new Tina Fey movie is based on a book by a female reporter on the ground in Afghanistan when the war began. The movie itself looks amazing and the book does too.  I can't wait to see it and read it. However, all I can think of when I see the trailer is this: This chick was brave enough to go to Afghanistan - How in the heck do I get so brave?!

Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to go to Afghanistan - just to be clear, none whatsoever. But going somewhere crazy, might have its perks.  That's probably why I chose to apply for a job in another state last week.  Why the heck not? Though, this story would have had a much happier ending, if I'd actually succeeded in getting the job or even just nailed the interview. Nope, that's not what happened at all.

I unequivocally BOMBED the interview.  There were about 500 words that came out of my mouth that could not have been stopped.  They just kept coming.  As I said them I knew they were wrong, and still they kept coming.  I had no idea where they came from and I had no idea how to stop them. I even managed to answer pivotal questions - about myself! - incorrectly.  I still have a nervous tick just thinking about it. 

I have this over-analyzed fear that I bombed on purpose because the thought of moving is just too scary.  But I so need that to not be true.  The reporter in the book moved to a war-torn country, and I can't even fathom moving to one of my most favorite cities in the world? Nope, I'm not going there. For now, I'll push through and chalk the interview up to the socially-inept nervous energy that plagues me on all interviews.  And just hope that the next time Manhattan calls, I'll at least have the decency to find some Xanax first...

The Play's the Thing...

I've been reading a ridiculous number of plays lately.  In the winter months when it's dark and gloomy, they're the perfect thing to pick up because most are super short, and you can finish one (or two, or three...) in an afternoon.  Also if you're the type that can see everything that's happening in a book in your mind, a play is even better for you to read.  Plays set the scene for you already, so you've got a jumping off point.  All that's left is for the dream-casting to begin and away you go.

I'm not a person that actually sees a lot of plays, though.  I love musicals and see them regularly but for some reason, I never get up to NYC for specific plays, even though there are tons that I've always wanted to see - Angels in America, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Love! Valour! Compassion! You get the general idea, I have a list - honestly, when don't I have a list?  

Anyway, one I did see fairly recently, was one that I read this week for the first time - "Boeing, Boeing." A few years ago, they revived the farce for Broadway with an unbelievable dream cast: Bradley Whitford, Mark Rylance, Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack, Katherine Hahn and Christine Baranski.  Unfortunately, Christine Baranski's understudy was on the day we went to see it, but everyone else was on the top of their game.  I've never laughed so hard in a theatre in all my life! It was most definitely in my top 5 theatre experiences of all time.  The fact we were in a small theatre about 10 feet from the stage didn't hurt either. So obviously, while reading this one particular, I couldn't help but imagine all the players I saw. 

However, when you read a play you haven't seen, you start to dream-cast.  Ok, maybe I start to dream cast.  In this case, the play - another farce full of mistaken identities and slamming doors - was "Don't Dress for Dinner." Hilariously funny and I highly recommend it!  The play revolves around 2 men and 3 women.  The women were hard to cast in my mind. Megan Hilty was definitely playing one of the women, but the other 2 were hard to peg.  The men on the other hand - one straight man, and one funny man - were simple.  You need a great comedy duo.  Nathan Lane or Matthew Broderick would have worked perfectly, however I kept seeing Brian d'Arcy James and Christian Borle.  They so would have been perfect for the roles!

So the unfortunate part of all of this, is that I'm not sitting here just waiting for the right producer to revive this amazing play, just so I can hope they'll cast my vision.  It's a bit of an issue.  But all of this is beside the point.  The whole point of this was to say - Plays are awesome and you should totally read them : )

Trivia Tuesday

~ I'm always astounded by the shear number of things that I remember from grade school and the shear number of things I forget - the forget stack is much larger than the remember. However, for some unknown reason, I pulled 271 as the number of electoral college votes a candidate needs to become president.  Unfortunately, the answer was 270. Just for the record though, I'm taking the win.  

~ While my knowledge of movies may be limited - apparently I was the only one at the table to not know how Jack secured his ticket on the Titanic - the odds that I know a movie question will increase exponentially if the movie has been nominated for an Oscar recently.  I credit my love for movie awards and not the fact that I've seen any of the movies themselves - because I haven't.

~ Geography is an unnecessarily evil category that must be eliminated from the general roster of categories.  I'm not sure our collective team has ever gotten a geography question correct.

~ While I credit myself a lover of all things Golf, I only managed to name 3 players that have won more than 9 championships (out of a possible 6.)  That's terrible!  I thought for sure Arnie had more than 8 wins.  

~ Asking a bunch of people in a bar any question revolving around the present star of a Disney Channel show, is never going to end well.  I'm thinking we're not the Disney Channel's target audience.

~ Things I learned tonight: The Phantom of the Opera's first name is Erik.  Who knew? And Bad Lip Reading has its own YouTube Channel.  I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...

~ Playing trivia in Mardi Gras masks, beads and hats just makes things more exciting.  Laissez le Bon Temps Rouler!

Super Bowl Ponderings

It's always surprising to me the shear number of things people decide to get offended by.  I think of myself as a fairly smart person.  Even if I don't agree with people on things, I can usually understand why they feel that way (on pretty much everything except backing Trump - in that case, you have a serious screw loose.  There's no excuse for you.)  Anyway, I may not agree with you, but I can see the logic.

Until today that is.  I watched these moments that have caused such anger, and never once thought "that's going to make XYZ people mad." I literally have no idea how they jumped from Point A to Point B, and why they chose to spend so much of their life looking for things to rally about.  Life's too short, peeps!

First up, was the commercial during the Super Bowl with Kevin Hart as a protective dad who followed his teen daughter around on her date.  Cute, right?  I admit I laughed, then forgot about it.  Until I went on Twitter, and saw the feminist tyrade about Kevin Hart and whatever car company the commercial was for, suppressing the teen's rights as a woman to make decisions for herself.  Seriously? She's a teen girl.  When did it become wrong for a father to be over-protective of his teenaged daughter?

Then it was the fairly amusing ad for Doritos that was sort of icky and sort of funny, at the same time.  It all revolves around a father eating Doritos at an Ultrasound.  The "baby" on the monitor really wants a Dorito.  Hard to explain so just YouTube it.  I laughed.  Today, the pro-choice advocates are stating that the commercial makes the assumption that a fetus is a baby. Their argument that the fetus doesn't become a baby until after birth, is irrelevant.  It's a commercial about Doritos for a bunch of football loving people that are just watching it because they're waiting to get back to the game.  Must we get philosophical with everything?!

My favorite was the argument over which QB did worse in their post-game interview. Carolina fans think Manning's "I'm going to go drink a lot of Budweiser" statement was ridiculous and feel he should have some sort of penalty since no active football player in the NFL is allowed to endorse an alcohol brand.  Yes it was a slightly strange thing to say, but he'd just won the Super Bowl so give him a break.  Then the Bronco's fans are up in arms over Newton's gloomy, post-game press conference that he walked out of.  Yep, he needs to deal with losing much better if he's going to continue in the game, but he's a 23 year old dude, that just got sacked 6 times in a game they were favored to win.  Maybe cut him a little slack?

And don't even get me started on the half-time show that simultaneously has "undertones" of the Black Lives Matter movement, White Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and pushing a "gay agenda."  I'm fairly certain at least 2 of these contradict each other, how on earth could the show have included them all?

These are these are the stories that were going around the internet today.  Not the score, or whether or not the winners are going to Disney Land.  Controversy and opposing views. Maybe, just maybe if we focused on what's really at hand - in this case, a big loud, fun football matchup - we'd be a little more open to what everyone else has to say and not so worried about how it affects us.

Happy Super Bowl!

It's Super Bowl day.  The Ravens aren't playing.  And Coldplay is the Half-Time show.  So really, all that's left to be excited about is the food and the commercials.

So as someone who has no stock in this game whatsoever, my choice for winner is Peyton and the Broncos.  Nothing against Carolina - though Cam Newton is a bit too cocky for me - but I'd like to see Peyton end his career (it just has to be his last game, right?) on a high. And seeing as they're ahead at half time, I'm feeling a bit confident.  

So for the first and last time, Go Broncos!

52 Lists: Week 5

I read. Alot.  So asking me to choose my favorite books requires quite a bit of thought.  Because, honestly, this stack could have been about 3x the size and it still wouldn't have encompassed all of my favorites.  But I suppose, this list has either the best of the best, or the best of a certain style or author that I'm particularly fond of, so let's just say it's a representative sample (How's that for election year speak?) and call it a day.

~ "Stillwatch" by Mary Higgins Clark: Not her best seller, but my all time favorite - considering I've read every one she's ever written, that's saying something.
~ "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare: His first I actually read and understood.  Since then, I've grown partial to Hamlet as well, but fairies always win out.
~ "Bookends" by Jane Green: My first sample of "Chick-Lit" and it's my absolute favorite of the genre. So good!
~ "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime" by Mark Haddon: I never expected to like this book as much as I did.  I really wanted to read it because I REALLY wanted to see the show.  Both were outstanding!
~ "The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien: My favorite of the series, but the rest are equally amazing.
~ "Laughter on the 23rd Floor" by Neil Simon: Technically it's a play but it's in book form so it totally fits the list.  It's much better to see it performed live but the jokes are still hilarious when you read them.
~ "Winnie the Pooh" by AA Milne: Pooh and Eeyore have been my favorite since I was little.  I can't wait to read the stories to my little ones some day!
~ "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by JK Rowling: The book that launched the series is always going to be the best.  What I love most is that I literally happened upon it in the bookstore one summer, and thought it might be fun to read - long before it became the best loved book in the world.  Nothing can compare to the first time diving in to such a fully-drawn out, brand new world.
~ "A Cook's Tour" by Anthony Bourdain: I read a lot of food and travel books, and this one fits both bills perfectly.  This was the first book that ever introduced the idea of "eating dangerously" and I love him for that concept alone.  
~ "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown: Unlike Harry Potter, I didn't pick this one up until the hype was at its peak.  However, it's one of only a few books that I've finished in 24 hours - one very cold snow day.
~ "Yes, Please" by Amy Poehler: From beginning to end, this book is un-put-downable.  It's laugh out loud hilarious and you spend the entire book wanting to be Amy or at least be friends with her.
~ "Amy the Dancing Bear" by Carly Simon: This has been on my list of favorites since I received it as a gift when I was little.  The story itself is adorable, but my favorite part about it is the illustrations.  They're gorgeous!
~ "A Midsummer Night's Fairy Tale" by Brian and Wendy Froud: Like I said, fairies always win out and it's written by the creature creators that designed Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal.  How can I not love it?
~ "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss: I adore everything Dr. Seuss wrote, so I can't pick a favorite.  This is just the first one I grabbed of the many I have.