Up early this morning and unable to sleep I popped this movie into my VCR. It's one of my favorites. and one I haven't watched in quite some time. The title Casual Sex may put people off, but it shouldn't. Far from being a movie that is the borderline-porn you'd think accompanies the title, this movie is more about relationships than actually about sex. Stacy (portrayed by Lea Thompson) and Melissa (portrayed by Victoria Jackson) are two single girls living in Los Angeles with two very different approaches to the subject of sex during the mid to late eighties. Stacy seems to be the party girl who is a free spirit and very much enjoys life. Throughout the movie (which centers around a trip to a health spa resort) we learn quite a bit more about her. Stacy has jumped through a series of quick relationships, mostly centered around having sex. The sex may be great and wonderful, but as soon as she gets to know what they guy is really like, the relationship falls apart. At one point she confesses that the only way she knows to get close to a guy is by having sex. For her, there is no deep conversations, no meaningful, longing glances, no real romance; just wham-bam.... oops, this was a big mistake... you are the weakest link... goodbye! While this seems like fun to some people, with the advent of AIDS in the mid-eighties, Stacy is forced to take a hard look at her lifestyle. Melissa is the antithesis of Stacy in that her relationships are few and far between. Where Stacy has confidence, Melissa is self-disparaging. Her relationships, however, have a deeper meaning. We see that when the first person she has sex with (viewed through a series of flashbacks) is someone she is good friends with. Her next relationship nearly results in getting married - something that would have been a mistake, but she was willing to go through with until he backed out. It is interesting to see these two young women play off of each other throughout their trip to the spa. Stacy has the confidence and manages to land Nick, who is an aerobics instructor at the resort and yearns to be a musician. He is gorgeous, but also somewhat of a buffoon. This is a fact that Stacy misses in her initial assessment of him. Melissa is terribly jealous, as she is feeling the need to just have someone, anyone in her life and is willing to change herself almost to whatever degree necessary to have that. The one character I truly love in this movie - and who quite honestly makes the whole picture for me - is The Vin Man - Vinny (portrayed by Andrew Dice Clay). For those of you who never "got" his act in the late-eighties, one viewing of this movie will show you just how much of an act it really was. In the beginning he comes off much like the characters he created in his comedy act. Both Stacy and Melissa disparage him on a number of occasions, but in reality, he is more like Stacy than anyone realizes. Vinny is so caught up in appearing to be the macho, confident, chick-magnet that he is hiding his true self. Most of the comedy comes either as a result of Vinny or at his expense. Clay truly gives a great performance here - the best I've ever seen, even over his live comedy act. As soon as he walks into a scene, you generally feel there are going to be a few laughs out of his presence, though he has quite a bit more depth later on in the film. All these characters together - with a few great supporting performances by the likes of Mary Gross and Jerry Levine, make a movie that is more about learning about yourself and knowing what you want in life. Stacy needs to figure out if she wants more to life than justCasual Sex. Melissa, though yearning to be like Stacy in the beginning, actually has her own self-realizations by the end. And Vinny... well, his evolution is truly a delight to see. This is a film that I will eventually be watching with my daughter. It is a great way to spark conversation about sex and the feelings that go along with it. The film conveys that having sex does not equal having a relationship, while also saying that we have to be who we are comfortable with, and not try to be who our friends or anyone else feel we should be. This film was originally scripted as a stage play in Chicago. As most of the scenes seem to take place in only a very few sets, I can imagine what the play was like very easily. The writers (Wendy Goldman and Judy Toll) hit the nail on the head with so many situations I can remember as I entered my twenties during this time. I would have loved to have seen it on the stage as I imagine it was quite enjoyable.
In the seventh book of The Kent Family Chronicles, it is beginning to appear as if Jakes is tired of the series. Characters are abruptly changing direction, and entire storylines have been dropped from previous novels. At times it seems as if I am reading the same story I just read in another novel (although in the final novel, The Americans, Jakes repeats the same story within the novel with two different characters). The book does stand strong, however, as a great depiction of the post-Reconstruction Union. I felt as if I was standing there watching monumental events such as the Great Chicago Fire, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, the evolution of the socialist movement both in Europe and in the United States, and the Wild, Lawless West. It is Jakes attention to detail that is the selling point of his novels. His descriptions of events is so meticulously precise, that I can feel myself transported back to that time and place, watching the events unfold. Even though I have never seen Paris, I felt as if I knew what it looked like from his descriptions. I can imagine what New York City looked like over 100 years ago - at a time when the Bronx was considered "the country". What does not ring true here is the abrupt change in direction some of his characters take from the previous novel, The Warriors. Particularly notable is the descent into insanity of Gideon Kent's wife Margaret. In previous novels, we were lead to believe that the alcoholism her father suffered was due to wounds received during the Mexican War. Now Jakes tells us that insanity runs in the family. No signs of this were present before - Margaret was a very loving and caring person, but in this novel she emotionally abuses her children. This is something I cannot see the Margaret we knew before doing. That Margaret completely supported her husband in his furthering of his education, in his strive to fight for the working man. This Margaret is purely selfish and lashes out at her husband for transgressions that do not ring true. Of course, the purpose to all of this is to throw Gideon together with his cousin Louis Kent's widow, Julia Sedgwick. Julia has also done a complete turn-around, from being a society tease, to suddenly becoming a suffragist living off of her family's money and giving speeches. Their affair begins during the Great Chicago Fire, and even then their grasping onto each other seems to be too fast. Gideon conveniently was thinking of her since they met at Louis' funeral, and Margaret has turned him out. Other than that one time meeting, they have never met each other until this night, yet they suddenly know they are perfect for each other. However, I did love watching Matthew Kent flow through the Paris art world, trying desperately to have it all. I loved seeing the long-believed dead brother Jeremiah assume a variety of identities as he evolves into a noted outlaw. I loved watching Gideon evolve in areas of his life that did not involve his wife, mistress and children. The character of Michael Boyle was all but dropped here. He is mentioned in passing once or twice, and it seems as if all that has been invested in him in previous novels is for nothing. Gideon's children are seemingly being raised by no one as their mother descends into insanity. I cannot imagine the household staff would go along with some of the nutty conditions she sets forth, and not say anything to Gideon, who is obviously paying the bills. Their daughter Eleanor is showing the greatest stress under her mother's constant barrages. As her mother manipulates the children to hate their father for his transgressions, whether real or imagined, Eleanor is the one who is growing up and evolving in a way that is most interesting. I found her journey through this novel to be fascinating, though some events are a bit disturbing. Her character is perhaps the most interesting going into the final novel of the series. Of course no Jakes novel would be complete without a villain, and though this one differs in that his feud with Gideon is fairly understandable, it again seems to be the same man bearing a grudge at the expense of everything else in his life. Despite the tiredness that is evident with the Kent family, this is a good novel. However, it definitely could have been better.
It is very strange to see places I go by just about every single day of my life as the setting for a movie. Steve Buscemi wrote, directed and stars in Trees Lounge. The name of the movie comes from the bar in which his character, Tommy, spends most of his time. His apartment is also above the bar, which gives me the feeling that his drinking situation is not about to change any time soon. Tommy is quickly going nowhere with his life. He has been fired from his job as a mechanic for "borrowing" money from the register to go to Atlantic City. His former girlfriend is now married to his former boss and is pregnant. Tommy is unsure of who the father is, and the feeling is that he is not the only one. The character of Tommy doesn't set out to screw up his life; he is what I would term weak. Temptations put in his path easily lead him astray, no matter what the original intentions are. His drinking is the biggest problem, and he is waiting for a life-changing experience to stop, rather than stopping and watching his life change. This movie is what is termed a slice of life movie. There is no real moral to the story; nothing is resolved in the end. We do not know if the baby is his or his ex-boss'. We do not know if he will be successful in finding a real job. It's never clearly stated whether or not he sleeps with the seventeen-year-old daughter of a friend (and his ex-girlfriend's niece) or if his protestations that Nothing happened are real. It does not appear that Tommy is about to change his ways. Indeed, it is alluded to that he is just taking over the place of Bill at Trees Lounge. Bill is a man who we meet but don't know throughout the movie. He sits on the same bar stool, not saying much. In the end, Tommy is now sitting in his bar stool, probably headed for the same lonely ending as Bill. Buscemi has done a wonderful job in this picture. His acting is believable as Tommy. The story has credibility. At one time or another, we have all probably known a "Tommy" in our lives. Maybe they managed to work their way out of being life's loser, or maybe they descend the same way we see Tommy descending in this picture. His writing is excellent. The only weak spot I saw was if an underage person was going to bar-hop undetected, why would she go to the local bar where her father and his friends hang out? The story is one that could be set in just about any town. Most towns - or neighborhoods - have a Trees Lounge. It is a place inhabited almost exclusively by locals; a place people go to gossip, to drown their sorrows, or to get away from their family when the need suits them.I can tell you that although most of the actual movie is filmed in Valley Stream, NY, where Steve Buscemi grew up and went to Valley Stream Central High School and where I live. The bar in the movie is actually in Queens, NY. The actual bar this is based on (yes, there used to be a bar names Trees Lounge in Valley Stream) is now a sport-bar. It is also a one-story place which doesn't have apartments above it. In some ways knowing the town this was filmed in was a distraction for me. I kept trying to figure out where they were shooting the various scenes, especially while Tommy was driving around his late Uncle Al's ice-cream truck. I did have the pleasure of seeing the scene involving the 7-11 being shot at about 6 a.m. one morning when I stopped in for a cup of coffee. Having seen Buscemi actually direct a scene was a treat and something I won't soon forget. Watching it translate to what I saw in this movie is even better. There are some wonderful cameos in this picture as well. Samuel Jackson makes a brief appearance here, as well as Mimi Rogers. Debi Mazar has a slightly longer performance as a potential love interest for Tommy. Chloë Sevigny makes a pre-Last Days of Discoperformance as the troubled seventeen-year-old who attaches herself to Tommy. The movie is rated R for strong language and some drug use.
I know what you're thinking: A children's book written by Dean Koontz? Surely you can't mean the Dean Koontz? Lightning? Mr. Murder? That Dean Koontz???? Yes, that Dean Koontz. Well now Thanksgiving is safely past,
more turkey eaten this year than last... The story is a simple one of what happens when Santa's evil twin, Bob Claus, tries to make everyone believe that Santa has turned evil. His plan is to replace the real gifts with the likes of mud pies, cat poop, and broccoli. He threatens the reindeer with being turned into stew if they don't go along with his evil plan. Everything is turning out the way he wants - a general mess - until he meets two little girls named Emily and Lottie. At the chimney, he looks down at the bricks.
But that entrance is strictly for hicks. The book reminds me a great deal of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It is written along the same storyline idea, though with some more advanced dialogue that may confuse young children (how many of them know what halitosis is?). The writing is in verse form, with each line ending in a rhyme in sets of twos. At 62 pages, this is not a short, just-before-bedtime story, but one that will take a while to go through. He prowls the downstairs - wicked, mean -
looking to cause yet one more bad scene. The illustrations are very colorful and detailed. In pictures of the Christmas tree, we see the detail of the ornaments and popcorn strung on the tree; not just a simple green tree. The house is illustrated with great detail to show the books in the bookcases; the stones in the fireplace; the boards of the floor. Each one is a beautiful picture. Together, they add a tremendous value to the story. Phil Parks has illustrated other books for Dean Koontz (covers) such as Shadowfires and Strange Highway. Mostly an illustrator in the science-fiction realm, he does very well in this children's book. That is not to say that all is sweetness and light here. Some children may be frightened by the images contained herein, although I think the one on the cover of Bob Claus as Santa with an intensely evil expression is about as bad as it gets. I would be cautious reading this story to children younger than around seven. When my oldest daughter (the one we call Stephanie King) was first showing her interest in the horror genre, this was one of the first books I purchased for her. She was about eight at the time, but each child is different. To this day it is still one of her favorites. Believing in magic, you saved Christmas Day.
Keep believing in us after we've gone away!
A good Star Trek episode, in my opinion, is one that makes you think; one that makes you ask questions; while at the same time entertaining you. Sure, that's a higher standard than we've come to expect from most other television programs, but I have always felt that Star Trek usually rose to that higher standard. Enter the first season episode of The Next Generation titled Justice. In this episode, there are two important questions that stop and make us think. One is about the punishment fitting the crime. The other is about whether one society has the right to impose its values on another when the handling of a situation varies so greatly. Having just helped settle a new colony on a planet in a distant solar system, the crew of theEnterprise happens upon the planet Rubicun III. At first, the place seems to be an ideal location for a little bit of rest and relaxation for the crew. Things soon take a much different turn, however, when Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) accidentally crashes through some new plantings. All crime on Rubicun III is given the same punishment: death. Wesley's accident is considered to be a crime. Does the punishment fit the crime? In this case, it would surely seem not. Yet as Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is talking about Earth's past, I am thinking of how many people are given 20 years on the "three strikes an you're out" drug charges for possessing a small amount of illegal substances while murdered and rapists oftentimes see less than that. Picard then is faced with deciding whether or not to break the Federation's own Prime Directive pledging non-interference with other cultures. Saving Wesley from death will certainly do that, yet he is also obliged to protect his crew and their families. Add to this a ship orbiting the planet near the Enterprise which appears to be able to occupy multiple dimensions at a time. The people of Rubicun III look at this caretaker ship as their "God". All of this sounds like a wonderful set up for a great show. So what went wrong? The Edo - the people of Rubicun III - are humans just like us, except they seem to come from Hitler's concept of a "master race". Every single one of them is blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful. All women are perfect shapes and all men have tremendous muscles. Their culture is the 60's freelove movement run amok - in the beginning they are described as "making love at the drop of a hat". They run everywhere (which looks dumb most of the time, to me) and wear skimpy clothing which barely covers them. More believable would be that they wear no clothes all the time, but I guess that wouldn't make it past the censors. The Edo seem to have no concept of personal space. We are treated to scenes of well-muscled men being oiled down by multiple females. Picard often describes them as "child-like" because of their innocence. Yet I cannot believe that with all of this "love" being spread around, they don't have a problem with people getting angry over who is sleeping with who. Of course, there is the death sentence hanging over them, but considering how many people kill their wives/husbands/lovers and then turn the gun on themselves, I'd think this would be a bigger problem. Their race did not ring true to me, and I felt uncomfortable watching them. I kept wondering if the "God-ship" would suddenly turn out to be manned by people in Nazi uniforms - as Kirk found on a planet in one of the original Star Trek series episodes. I don't know who to place the blame on here - the writers or director for running amok with the Edo culture, but it tears down what would otherwise have been a great episode.
Our house started out with appliances I hated. One by one, they were replaced. One of the most recent was our Whirlpool Super Capacity 465 Range. We purchased this fromSears about 2 years ago, and it fast became an indispensable addition to my kitchen. Our last stove had taken a beating from the frequent spills. The electric burners were fairly shot and underneath had been stained and cleaned repeatedly. With that in mind, I already knew I wanted one of the Ceramic Glass Cooktops. We chose this model because of Whirlpool's reputation, the price, and the ease of use. The delivery men dropped it off and my husband hooked it up without any problems. It comes with an anti-tip bracket that needs to be installed. This keeps the oven from tipping over if an adult or child leans on the open door. I unpacked the contents and began reading how to use it. CONTROL-PANEL FEATURES: The Range's control panel is above the cooktop to the rear. This eliminates the worry of little hands touching the controls. There are four knobs which rotate to control the cooktop as labeled. The clock and timer is digital. Next to the clock are seven indicators which light up to let you know if you are baking, broiling, preheating, cleaning or if you are programming the timer, if the oven door is locked, or if you have to press START. The START button is one of 7 push buttons below the clock. The others are BAKE,CUSTOM BROIL, AUTO CLEAN, TEMP/TIME, CLOCK and TIMER, and OFF. OVEN FEATURES: The Range comes with two wire metal shelves that adjust on five different levels to provide better heat and air circulation while allowing you to maximize the Range's capacity. Always adjust these shelves prior to preheating the oven. The directions tell you how to adjust the shelves for best results depending on the food and its size. When baking, the cooking element at the bottom of the oven heats up, and when broiling the element at the top of the oven heats up. There is a light in the oven that will come on when the door is opened or when you use the manual switch at the top of the Range. When baking, what is nice is that the Range counts down to let you know when it's done preheating, so there is no guesswork. Broiling is a snap, and broiling temperatures can be adjusted so you are not stuck on a high temperature. Cleaning the oven is a snap. I sweep out any loose particles and turn it on. This is a 3 1/2 hour cycle automatically, but you can set it for more or less as you desire. You have the choice of taking out the racks or leaving them in, but leaving them in will eventually wear on them if you clean often enough. The oven vents near underneath the control panel at the left side of the oven. This area has to be kept clear and anything left near it while the oven is on may inadvertently get hot. COOKTOP FEATURES: The Cleantop ceramic glass cooktop is the best feature of this Range. When cool, thisRange is an extension of my counter. There are four circles on the top which show you the cooking area of each element. Flat-bottomed pots and pans work best with this kind of top. The pots and pans should be matched as closely as possible to the size of the cooking area to prevent damage to theRange. When I turn on the knob, the element immediately lights up and as soon as that area is warm, an indicator light comes on showing me that it's hot. This will stay on afterwards turning it off until the element has completely cooled. These surfaces require special care and cleaning, even though clean-ups are much easier that the other models. There is a special chalk-white cleaner that we spread on about once a week, let dry, then wipe off similar to a wax. The top is made of glass, so dropping anything heavy on it can cause it to break. Jiffy-Pop is a no-no since this will scratch the surface.
I knew I wanted to start a running regiment again. When our local Reebok outlet was advertising a sale, I checked out what they had and came away with a pair or Reebok Zignano Fly Running Shoes. These shoes look different than any other sneakers I’ve owned. The first thing I notices was the soles, which had a wavy look to them. The good is that this provides great cushioning for running. The bad was when I ran on the dirt roads around my development, I frequently came home with rocks wedged in them. The bright colors of the soles stand out, and it's brought out with the trim on the shoe as well. The shoe itself is made from a breathable fabric, which is great for those of us who exercise and end up with sweaty feet. My socks don’t get as damp and I don’t find that I end up with blisters. I wore my Reebok Zignano Fly Running Shoes for my running work-outs both outside and on the treadmill. This was where I felt they were at their best. They were very comfortable with the right amount of cushioning and support. They were also light weight despite a sole that looked like it could be very heavy. I also didn’t have an issue with rolling my ankle while wearing these, most likely because of the width of the sole which helped a lot with balance. I really felt like they helped a great deal, even though I ended up giving it up because of issues it was causing with my neck. However, when I tried wearing Reebok Zignano Fly Running Shoes for my 10-hour work shift, I found they weren’t as comfortable. One reason might be that these tend to run narrow and I have a wide-width foot. For a few hours while running, walking, or working out it didn’t seem to bother me. Long periods left my feet feeling not so good. I went back to my regular Reeboks for work and left these strictly for my running and walking. If you are looking for a good workout shoe, I would recommend Reebok Zignano Fly Running Shoes. However, I can’t recommend them for everyday wear. Despite the fact that they are so lightweight and comfortable initially, for those of us with wide feet it does seem to have a negative effect after a few hours. I don’t regret my purchase, I just know what they are good for.
One of my favorite comic strips has always been Calvin and Hobbes. Since the strip is no longer in papers, I get great enjoyment reading through the collections I have. I didn't have children of my own when the strips were first published. I laughed at them then, and I laugh even more at them now. Calvin is a very energetic and mischievous little boy.Hobbes is his stuffed tiger. Bill Watterson, the creator of the comic, at times shows Hobbes as a stuffed tiger and at times real. What is he really? Is he a tiger who appears stuffed to everyone except Calvin? Or is his apparent life just a product of a little boy's very active imagination? We used to have long debates about this topic during study hall... Something Under the Bed is Drooling was published in 1988, three years after Calvin and Hobbes first appeared in newspapers. The drawings have already been fine-tuned and the characters have established behaviors we expect to see from them. Many of the stories are not resolved in one strip, but continue on through about a week's worth of strips. I can remember not being able to wait to get my hands on the paper every afternoon just to see what mischief was going to happen next. Calvin is an only child who greatly tries his parent's patience. At one point, he becomes invisible and takes off his clothes (they can be seen) only to be caught naked, with his hands in the cookie jar. I don't know how my child could explain that to me. In one strip, Calvin creates tidal waves in the bathtub and you can pretty much figure out where the water ends up. Funny, I can remember doing that myself... A strip where Calvin and Hobbes get a little too rambunctious in the house on a rainy day and his mother throws them out is funny since I threaten my own two daughters with that all the time. The strips where he imagines himself to be Spaceman Spiff and tie into real life are a hoot. At the end we usually see where he really is and how it corresponds. In one case,Spaceman Spiff is attacked by slime on a distant planet. At the end, Calvin is playing with the school cafeteria's tapioca pudding. One of my favorite strips is in this book, where Calvin decides he's "going to grow a long beard like the guys in ZZ Top" and can't figure out why his mother isn't putting up a fuss. Another trick is when Calvin answers the phone but acts like he is the caller. I also love when Calvin asks for Crisco for school and uses it in his hair for the class pictures. After his mother combs it out, Hobbes helps him restyle it so he looks like "Astro Boy". He then paints a face on his stomach. When he shows the pictures to Hobbes they laugh about his mother's reaction and of the memories it will bring about years in the future. Susie is Calvin's nemesis, but also the girl he will probably end up marrying. The two of them drive each other crazy at times, but she also seems to be the only person who wants to have anything to do with him. Rosalyn is the only babysitter who can handle Calvin and that makes him dislike her all the more. Calvin's father is almost as mischievous as his son. Often when Calvin asks a question, he will purposely lead his son on with the answer. For instance, Calvin asks is there were dinosaurs when his father was a kid, and he responds that he and Grandfather used to hunt them for rituals. Calvin asks him how they know the load limit on bridges, and he tells them they drive bigger and bigger trucks over it until it breaks, then weigh the last truck and rebuild the bridge. He was probably a lot like his son at that age... Watching Calvin play a game with Hobbes is funny since they change the rules to suit the situation. Usually they end up bruised and filthy at the end, after a small fight. Hobbesalways seems to get all the breaks in whatever game they're playing, while nothing ever seems to go right for Calvin. The two of them on the sled during the winter is a recurring theme and a fun one as well. Winter seems to be one of the funnest times for the two of them as they create havoc with snowballs (Susie is their favorite target) and get into all sorts of trouble trying out new ways to use the sled. Of course the title, Something Under the Bed is Drooling refers to the monsters that live under Calvin's bed and frequently torment him and Hobbes. As rambunctious and forthright as Calvin is, this brings home just how much of a little boy he still is. These comics still bring a smile to my face, even more than ten years after they were first published. They don't come off as dated as so many other cartoons do, but are enjoyable to anyone, even if they are not a parent. It was a lot of fun to look back on them now with such a different perspective and get laughs from them all over again.
