Rock Musicians keep dreaming until Jesus Rocks their world.

Introduction: Vladimir Lebedev is one of my favorite people in the world.  I have thought this about him almost since I met him in Khabarovsk, Russia in December of 1992. Vladimir has has worn many hats in the time I've known him. chauffeur, itinerant musician, soldier, interpreter, pastor, international student, father, husband, missionary but with every hat he's always tried to adorn himself with humility, wisdom, grace, and a desire to show God to others.

To that end, I was delighted, but not surprised, when Vladimir  shared some thoughts on musicians using their platforms on his Facebook page earlier this week.  I am sharing them here with links to some of the songs that he referenced. I'll add some of my thoughts about his musical musings at the end.

Rock musicians keep dreaming. Good intentions. Strong lyrics. Terrific music. Is there a solution to the world’s evils? Can humanity come together to live in peace? Can we stop hypocrisy and greed in the governments to bring wars to an end? Can we finally start caring for one another instead of looking for reasons to separate and hate? 

 Long ago, John Lennon with his “Imagine.” Freddy Mercury of Queen with his “Show must go on.” Ozzy (Osbourne) with his “Dreamer.” Russian rockers of various types Zemlyane, Kruiz, and Aria with their “songs for peace.” And more recently Udo Dirkschneider with his soul-shattering “One Heart, One Soul.”

This indeed is a passionate call for common sense, for something every human soul feels deep within.  But where is it really taking us? Is there something missing in this search? Is it not crying out into a void? It is impossible to, in the words of Bono from U2, "find what we are looking for" without turning to our Creator and Savior who revealed himself to humanity in the person of Jesus the Christ. He has everything that our whole beings are craving for.

Maybe Blacky Lawless of WASP is right when he sings:

Jesus, I need you now

Show me, I'm lost somehow ...

Is there no hope for me?

Oh, somewhere you'll show for me?

Ooh, Lord remember me, take me up tonight

(Golgotha, 2015)

Imagine by John Lennon

The Show Must Go On - Queen (Lyrics Video)

Dreamer by Ozzy Osbourne

[Verse 1] Gazing through the window at the world outside Wondering will mother earth survive Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her sometime After all, there's only just the two of us And here we are still fighting for our lives Watching all of history repeat itself time after time [Chorus] I'm just a dreamer I dream my life away I'm just a dreamer Who dreams of better days [Verse 2] I watch the sun go down like everyone of us I'm hoping that the dawn will bring a sign A better place for those who will come after us this time [Chorus] I'm just a dreamer I dream my life away, oh yeah I'm just a dreamer Who dreams of better days This indeed is a passionate call for common sense, for something every human soul feels deep within. But where is it really taking us? Is there something missing in this search? Is it not crying out into a void? It is impossible to “find what we are looking for” (in the words of Bono of U2) without turning to our Creator and Savior who revealed himself to humanity in the person of Jesus the Christ. He has everything that our whole beings are craving for. Maybe Blacky Lawless of WASP is right when he sings: Jesus, I need you now Show me, I'm lost somehow . . . Is there no hope for me? Oh, somewhere you'll show for me? Oh, I'm holding on, believing there's a reason I can find Ooh, Lord remember me, take me up tonight (Golgotha, 2015) Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Sing 2

Zemlyane: The Grass Besides Our Home

English Lyrics

Earth in the viewport,

 Earth in the viewport,

 Earth in the viewport that I see…

 

 Like a son missing his mother,

 Like a son missing his mother, 

We miss our Earth - we have but one… \

But the stars nevertheless, 

But the stars nevertheless,

 Draw closer, though they’re still as cold as ever… 

 And like at the hour of eclipse, 

And like at the hour of eclipse, 

We wait for light and see our earthly dreams… 

 And we dream not of thunder at the cosmodrome, 

Not of the ice-cold blue of the sky -

 But we dream of grass - the grass beside our house 

Green, green grass… — 

 And we fly our orbits,

 Unbeaten paths - 

 Lifetimes like meteors in the vastness…

 Courage and risk were justified, 

For the music of space 

Floats into our matter-of-fact talk… 

 In some opaque haze 

Earth in the viewport - 

An early evening-time twilight… 

 But the son misses his mother 

But the son misses his mother - 

The mother waits for her son, as the earth awaits her children…

 And we dream not of thunder at the cosmodrome, 

Not of the ice-cold blue of the sky - 

But we dream of grass - the grass beside our house 

Green, green grass…

 

Dave's Thoughts: I really appreciated Vladimir's take on this,  I think it's especially important to note that trying to fix a  broken world is a universal pursuit. It is not just an American past time. In the 1970's there were many popular songs that I would call searching songs.  Songs like Desperado by the Eagles and Dust In the Wind by Kansas.  In the late 70's early 80's the years of my spiritual formation many people would use these songs in the same way Paul used the statues on Mar's Hill, as a way to pointing to the truth of Jesus. Vladimir is essentially doing similar work in his comments here.  

Stand-Up and Win - SNL

I'm not sure how I missed this Saturday Night Sketch, when it first came out, but it is comedy gold!

Team Saturdazzle: The One Where I pull something from my draft status and then go from there

I have been trying to clean out my draft staus which is where posts I start but don't finish end up or where I put you tube videos just in case I may want to put them on the blog someday. So today when my first Idea for Team Saturdazzle seemed a little too cumbersome to finish on time. I decided to look through some of the videos that I had in draft status. When my son was in F.L.L. FIRST Lego League he participted in a scrimmage table where different robotics teams would get together to practice together at the same facility. One of the tenets of FIRST Robotics is gracious professionalism, so even though these teams would soon compete against each other in competition. This was an opportunity for them to practice and learn from each other. I took some footage of the event and put some of it on my vlog probably 10 years ago or more. I don't think this particular video made the cut but I'm glad to show it today.

 

One thing I specifically remember from the event that it was in a building that my Orthodontist had been in years before and that the building had one of those old fashioned elevators complete with an elevator operator. Watching that video reminded me of a movie that is currently playing at the theatre I work at. It is called rule breakers based on a true story of Afghanistan girls competing in a FIRST Robotics competition.  

 I like to consider myself the king of the segue but even I wasn't sure how to go from two segments on robotics to talking about Bob Bennet Weekly Live but I'm going to try:

From FIRST to First Things First

The 5 years anniversary of Co-Vid 19 shutting down life as we knew it at least for a time kind of came and went, in my opinion, without much to do.  5 years ago on  Friday, March 13th was my last day working as a substitute teacher until September of 2022, and Saturday March 14th 2020 was my last day working at the movie theatre until a year later.  Two weeks later I was stocking shelves overnight at a grocery store, which I did for a year.  People in many lines of work had to be flexible at this time.

Bob Bennett, one of my favorite singers began on his 65th birthday March 21st of 2020  a series of weekly on-line interactive concerts called originally enough Bob Bennett Weekly Live.  Tonight he finished his 5th year of such concerts.  He streams these concerts replete with a virtual tip jar each week and on both You-Tube and Facebook.  

My wife and I listened in while we were playing cribbage, and gin rummy and Bob even gave Amy a shout out during the concert.  Tonight's concert featured many songs mostly made by request from Bennett's first album First Things First (1979) I also made a Spotify playlist that features the songs Bennett played tonight including multiple renditions of a few of the songs.  

 Finally tonight I'd like to end with a clip from Saturday Night Live from 1979 with Jimmy Fallon and Jerry Seinfelld both performing as Jerry Seinfeld

 

Muppet Movie Posters, Trailers & Clips. Oh My.

I found these posters for the Muppet Movie (1979) in draft status of my blog.  I probably put  then there in preparation for a post of the 45th anniversary.  Well the 45th anniversary has come and gone, but as it is one of my 3 all time favorite films I don't think it needs a special occasion to be celebrated.  The Muppet Movie is a special occasion.

All Muppet Muppet Movie Poster

Muppet Movie Poster Featuring Celebrity Cameos

 

 I really like the cameos in the Muppet movie.  

 It's interesting the next clip starts with Steve Martin who we saw in the last clip.    

Team Saturdazzle: The One With a New Title?

Team Saturdazzle 

Welcome to the 1st 2024 Iteration of Team Sturdazzle, a hopefully weekly postpourri of random thoughts and regular segments.  

Occasionally I will try to curate ideas from my FB pages and share some of the comments here. Today was supposed to be one of those occasions.  On Thursday night I posted the following on both my personal FB page and the FB page for my blog:

Am approaching the 16th anniversary of my blog. On Jan 6th 2009 I published the first post there http://dave-homeschooldad.blogspot.com/2009/01/why-we-home-school.html A few years ago I changed the name from Home School Dad to Leap of Dave. I’m considering changing the name once again. Here are some ideas I have for a new name:

1. Sustainable Bedlam

2. Toaster Pastries w/o A Toaster

3. Blogging, People Still Do That?

4. A Hat, A Brooch, A Pterodactyl

Let me know which one you like, or If I should stick with Leap of Dave, or perhaps make a title suggestion of your own. I'll post results and suggestions in my next Team Saturdazzle post.

As of 11:30 Friday night I had no comments on either page.  I did ask 3 members of my family the same question over a rousing game of Catopoly, which I am winning.  The results were mixed: my wife Amy prefers Sustainable Bedlam,  my daughter Emma is a fan of Toaster Pastries w/o a Toaster, my daughter Lucy likes Blogging, people still do that?, and I am fond of A Hat, A Brooch, A Pterodactyl.  Certainly, there is no consensus on the nonsensical.  

I will put this post on both my FB pages again and see if I can get more votes.  If you happen to be reading this, please leave a comment with which one you prefer or a suggestion of your own.  

The Mountain Dew Code Red of Trailers

On January 3rd, 2022, I published a post called The Mountain Dew Code Red of Trailers about a movie trailer for The Unbreakable Boy, which was due in theatres in March 2022. The movie, based on a book based on a true story, starred Chuck actor Zachary Levi as the father of a middle school boy who had brittle bone disease and autism.  

Days before the March 22 release date The Unbreakable Boy was pulled from its release schedule with little to no explanation.  Fast forward to yesterday, January 3, 2025 when I was working at my movie theatre 3 years from the date of my original post.  I was patrolling the theatre and ensuring all the movies started successfully when I saw this new trailer for The Unbreakable Boy:

Apparently, Lionsgate has a February 21st 2025 release date.  I'll believe it when I see it.  

Team Saturdazzle At The Movies

Powered by Box Office Mojo

Top 25 Films 2024

25. The Fall Guy 92.9 M 24. Red One 96.81 M  23. Bob Marley, One Love 96.89 M 

22. Alien Romulus 105.31 M 21. IF 111.15 M  20. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 113.38 M 

19. Mufasa: The Lion King 128.14 M 18. A Quiet Place: Day One 138.93 M 

17. Venom: The Last Dance 137.73M 16. The Wild Robot 143.19 M 15. It Ends With Us 148.51 M

14. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 151.56M 13. Gladiator II 164.55 M 

12. Kingdom of the Planet pf the Apes 171.13 M 11. Bad Boys: Ride or Die 193.57 M 

10. Kung Fu Panda 4 193.59 M 9. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 196.35 M 8. Twisters 267.76 M

7. Dune:  Part Two 282.14 M 6. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice  294.1 M 5. Despicable Me 4 361 M 

4. Moana 2 404.02 M 3. Wicked 432.94 M 2. Deadpool & Wolverine 636.75 M 

1. Inside Out 2 652.98 M (Movies I watched are in bold)

10 highest-grossing movies I watched this year by rank on Box Office Mojo

90. Here  70. Cabrini 68. Unsung Hero 53. The Forge 52. Reagan 51. The Boys in the Boat  27. Wonka and the aforementioned The Wild Robot (16), Twisters (8), and Wicked (3). 

Top 10 Films December 2024

10. Interstellar 2024 Re-release 

9. Kraven The Hunter

8. Red One - Down 3 from November

7. A Complete Unknown 

6. Nosefartu

5. Gladiator II - Down 2 from November

4. Mufasa: The Lion King

3. Sonic The Hedgehog 3

2. Wicked  Down 1 from November

1. Moana 2 - Up 1 from November

Top 5 Films for 2025

5. Wicked

4. Nosferatu

3. Moana 2

2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3

1. Mufasa The Lion King

That's all I have today, for your weekly dose of Saturdazzle.  Please comment especially about changing the blog's name or anything else that struck your fancy today.  

First 16 Out

10 years ago or some I curated a list of my 100 favorite films. A few years ago, I began the process of revising the list. Recently, I found a post in draft status which had a list of 16 films that after further consideration would not be making the top 100. I have a history with each of these films, and while they may not be in my top one hundred, I recommend them highly. If you click on the film,s title, you will be able to view a trailer for the film.

 Silver Streak (1976)

Airplane (1980)

Knute Rockne All American (1940)

Free Guy (2021)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969)

Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

Redtails (2012)

Sabrina (1995)

Sabrina (1954)

Amistad (1997)

The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

Stripes (1981)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

Dolphin Tale (2011)

EVANGELICALS FOR HARRIS Ad ("Keep Clear") #evangelicals #election2024

Prune Commercials from 1967 & !985

My wife bought prunes this weekend and I was reminded of this commercial that came out a few years after I was in high school about prunes. It was like the funniest commercial I had ever seen. The problem was when I described it to people even back then, they had never heard of it let alone seen it and thought it was more like a fake commercial from Saturday Night Live. I'll admit it's very much like the change bank. After Amy brought home the prunes I started looking for the commercial on You Tube Again. I have looked before and never able to find it. I had found this commercial before that Stan Freeberg (Dragonnet) had produced in the 60's (He's also the off screen interviewer)  

 This is a very funny commercial but still not as funny as the one from the 80's at least in my memory. 

 I finally found a clip of it. While The YouTube video below Could be of better quality, here is a link to a Facebook page that has a better copy of the commercial   

A to Z 2024: T is for Table Tennis

  For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 23rd is World Table Tennis Day

I'm gonna be honest.  Most of these holidays I am highlighting for the challenge.  I am going to forget about for next year.  Some I've probably already forgotten.  World Table Tennis Day is one holiday I don't want to forget.  In fact, I am kind of bummed that I probably won't ping some pong today.  Ping some pong is what I call playing ping pong or table tennis.  

When I think of table tennis the first thing that pops into my head is this commercial from when I was a kid.  

Gnip Gnop not only sparked a passion for ping pong but  also a passion for gnikaeaps sdrawkcab  (speaking backwards) which turned into my love for all things palindromic.  

When other  people think of ping pong this scene from Forrest Gump may pop in their head ...

I love playing table tennis.  I may lack the Gumpian endurance or skill  but what I lack in endurance and talent I make up in zeal.  In college I played a lot of table tennis, it is a great way to spend time between classes or as a study break.  It is both social and athletic.  I even had an album that I thought was the best accompaniment for playing ping pong.  It was Jacob's Trouble's debut album, Door Into Summer.  When I hear other people incorrectly say that this group has better albums, my initial thought is not to play ping pong with. You listen and you tell me if the beat doesn't want to make you ping some pong.

 

One fun thing to on World Table Tennis Day would be to play a variation called round robin.  It is basically a cross between table tennis and musical chairs.  You play with 2 paddles and as many people as can fit around a ping pong table. Instead of describing it, here is play in action ...

 

To get a full ping pong experience play the round robin clip without volume while listening to the  Jacob's Trouble and you'll see what I'm talking about.  So, ping some pong today if you get a chance and if you can't that's just how the ball bounces.

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The song of the day today is Tell It Again by J.J. Heller

20 songs now comprise the A to Z playlist.

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: P is for Piñata Day

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 18th is National Pinata Day in Mexico

P is for Piñata.  It is also for Picture.  Here are a number of pictures of piñatas from Wikimedia Commons.

 Football

Piñata Party  in San Salvador, El Salvador

Mexican Traditional Piñata

Piñata in the park

Llama Piñatas

Is it A Plethora or Piñatas? I thinks so.  

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Today's Song of the day is Play Game from Tik Tik Boom

16 songs and what do you get?

An incomplete playlist that's not over yet

I still have to finish from Q to Z

I owe 10 songs for this menagerie.

I just published letter O about 15 hours later than I usually do.  To make up for it I am publishing this now rather than wait until tomorrow.

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: C is for Cinematic Compositions

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

Today's Holiday: National Film Score Day

April 3rd is National Film Score Day.  It is held every year on this day to commemorate the release of the Jungle Book in 1942.  According to National Today that day was chosen because Miklos Rosza's score was  so transformative  that they chose the  date  of the "release of 'The Jungle Book' to mark the first time film scores acquired importance.

Here is the trailer for the Jungle Book which features some of the score.

The reasoning for the choice is date is a bit of an exaggeration.  Film scores had already acquired importance by 1942. I know this for a few reasons one is that by the mid 1930's The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences was already giving out Academy Awards for best Score.  In1939, for example Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the Academy Award for the score for The Adventures of Robin Hood.

I don't have a top 10 list of film score composers, but it sounds like a kind of  thing I should have.  That list would almost certainly include the composers of some of my favorite scores of all time like the aforementioned Korngold (Adventures of Robin Hood),  Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon), Vangelis (Chariots of Fire), and John Williams (Star Wars).  

In addition, The 2006 rom com The Holiday has a great scene in it where Jack Black who is playing a film score composer is in a Blockbuster and is explaining as only Jack Black can  how great film scores can be.  It also features a killer cameo by Dustin Hoffman and I have it all queued up for you, so enjoy.

To see a longer clip of the same scene click here.  (The longer scene includes some plot points and may be confusing to those  who have not  yet seen the film.)

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Today's song of the day is Coast to Coast by Noel Paul Stookey & Bodyworks.

 

That brings the number of songs in the Leap of Dave 2024 Blogging A to Z Playlist up to 3.

Note: If you look at theses posts any time after the day they drop, which is certainly fine and encouraged, the playlist will go up to the date you are looking at the post.

So that ends the film on the letter C. I think you know the score.  (I made the exact same kind of joke at this point in yesterdays post.  If you don't remember, o don't believe me  you can always click here. Before you go , feel free to leave a comment.  Do you like movie scores?  Do you have a favorite? 

Oh, speaking of comments, here is an unabashed plug.  Feel free to check out some of my other posts from before the challenge began.  I don't get a lot of traffic on the blog outside of the challenge, and while I mostly blog for my own amusement, and enlightenment.  I wouldn't mind amusing and enlightening a bigger audience.  So check out of my previous posts, here is the last one I did before the challenge began. If you do check them out maybe you can leave a comment there as well.  Thank you very much.  This way if you like what I'm cooking, you can continue to join me after the challenge.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024 - B is for Books for Children

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

Yesterday, I created a new made up holiday by making one up.  Today I will regale you with info regarding a Holiday that someone else made up.  Today is Children's Picture book day! 

Here is an informative video from the  Champaign Library.

 

Like many of these made up Holidays the day we celebrate it is based on a relevant birthday.  The birthday in this instance is Hans Christian Anderson who was born on this day in 1805.  

In preparation for this post I watched the Danny Kaye Film Hans Christian Anderson.  I will review the film sometime shortly after the challenge is complete.  Here is the trailer.  

Exactly 98 years and 11 months after  Han's Christian Anderson's birthday Theodor Geisel much better known as Dr. Seuss was born on March 2nd 1904.  Geisel became a pioneer in children's picture books.  

The book, “The Cat in The Hat,” by Dr. Seuss, sits on a book shelf at West Elementary School during a National Read Across America Day event Mar. 2, 2017 at Yokota Air Base, Japan. National Read Across America Day is a holiday to share the fun of reading with children of all ages, and is celebrated on Dr. Seuss’ birthday. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Donald Hudson) Unit: 374th Airlift Wing DVIDS Tags: Japan; Yokota Air Base; 374th Airlift Wing; Dr. Seuss; National Read Across America Day

One of my favorite kinds of picture books is what I call Alphabet books.  These books much like the A to Z challenge take a subject and then devote 1 page and 1 picture per letter of the alphabet.  On a recent trip to the Beloit Public Library (which I will also be reviewing after the challenge)  I was reminded of my love for Alphabets and took pictures of several of them

Not sure why that pen is in all the pictures, it's nothing to write home about.  

Among other holidays occurring today is Autism Awareness Day.  

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Today's song of the day  is Broken Things by Julie Miller

The Leap of Dave A to Z Spotify Playlist is now up to 2 songs.

Time to close the book on the letter B.  I think you get the picture.  As you head back to more of the challenge or just your regularly scheduled life feel free to leave a comment.  Maybe you can let me know what your favorite picture book is/was and why.  

 To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

The "He Gets Us" Agenda No One is Talking About...

T is For The Muppet Movie

 A to Z Challenge

A Month At The Movies

Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies,  my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.

This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z  challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter.  You can skip over this part if you want to.  

I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another.  With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 6  more times this month.

Film: The Muppet Movie (1979)\

Director: James Frawley

One of our most famous family quotes goes like this.  My wife was asked why she didn't like a certain movie.  Perhaps it was Princess Pride, perhaps it was something else  Her reply was:

"I like movies about real things, like the Muppets."

I don't remember if she was being serious or silly, but there is a degree of seriousness we can find in it.  Just like Roger Ebert talks about in the review below, in a way, The Muppets are real.

  

Positive Tomato: Jolson sang, Barrymore spoke, Garbo laughed, and now Kermit the Frog rides a bicycle... If you can figure out how they were able to show Kermit pedaling across the screen, then you are less a romantic than I am: I prefer to believe he did it himself. Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times

Negative Tomato: while The Muppet Movie is certainly entertaining, the shift to a coherent, linear, feature-length narrative deprives the film the show's brilliantly structured inanity. James Kendrick - Q Network Film Desk 

The Muppet Movie is a movie within a movie.  We watch the Muppets screening The Muppet Movie, a movie about how The Muppets became rich and famous.  For those who grew up watching The Muppet Show, we are familiar with the basic concept, Muppets and humans interacting together in the real world.  

  

 

Resiliency: In the show the world was limited to the Muppet Theatre.  In the film, The Muppets are in swamps, churches, county fairs, restaurants, bars, and Ghost towns, all on their way to Hollywood. Jim Henson and all the Muppeteers had to show great resiliency in performing and filming. Click here to get an idea of what Henson had to go through to film the opening sequence of the movie.

Kermit at the Smithsonian

Scooter and Steve Martin on The Muppet Show

On The Muppet Show, the Muppets did perform many musical numbers but the majority of these were either pop tunes or standards.  The Muppet Movie is a musical and none of the songs existed until Paul Williams wrote them for the movie.  If you ever wonder whether the Muppet Movie has any lasting impact, try to imagine a world without Rainbow Connection or Movin' Right Along.

  

Top 100:  I have mentioned before that I basically have 3 favorite movies of all time that are essentiallly in a tie for my favorite film.  In the Challenge so far, I have revealed that 2 of these films are It's A Wonderful Life and Ordinary People.  The Muppet Movie is the third.  

Next Time: Used T.V Station available cheap.  

The Mountain Dew Code Red of Trailers

I work at a local movie theater. Generally I sell tickets and concessions. From time to time, I do a job called patrol. Patrolling the theater is exactly what it sounds like. On New Year's Day I got about 16,000 steps just at the theater from noon till five,walking in and out of every screen making sure the film and the filmgoers were behaving properly.

As you can well imagine, by the end of my shift I had seen a lot of each movie and my fair share of the commercials and the trailers that play before the films. The nature of my task precludes me from watching any more than bits and pieces of these. On Saturday I heard multiple snippets from a trailer where a kid said "the Code Red Mountain Dew of hats".  This got my attention since Code Red Mountain Dew if not my all time favorite soda is certainly in the team photo.

It especially perked my ears as for the past few years I have only been drinking pop on special occasions. To be fair up intil 6 months ago special occasions meant anytime I was thirsty. By the new  definition Mountain Dew code red references in trailers are the only way I am digesting said drink these days. 

The best perk of job at the theatre is it allows me and my family members to attend movies for free. On January 2nd I availed my self of said perk and my wife and I saw a movie in the theatre for the first time of the  year. The trailer With the code red reference was the last one shown before the feature. The name of the film is the unbreakable boy. It looks like it will be part Wonder and part I Can only Imagine and I would probably think that even if the trailer didn't mention both those titles by name.

It is one of those trailers that seem to show the entire story of the film in the trailer. These of course can be problematic once you get to watch it in it's  entirety. However, if it is showing the entire story, it is a story I look forward to watching. It comes out in March and more than likely it will be something I will watch for free in a few months. It actually looks like something worth paying for.

Fragments, Photos, Tweets and Rants.

Yes you can sing my title to the tune of Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes if you want to. You got to know I will! That said, I have been blogging like crazy lately. I still have a lot to say and Friday Fragments is a great place to tie up loose ends

Fragment 1: I blogged earlier about former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich this week. Maybe I didn't mention that when he ran he said he was going to clean up corruption left in the wake of the previous governor. Now that George Ryan is in jail and Blago soon to join him I really like this new license plate and slogan proposal.

Fragment 2: I also have blogged some what inadvertently about the Pioneer Woman over the past two posts. They were really peripheral blink if you miss them comments beyond the main themes of the posts. It got me to thinking though that I do have a few pictures of her I wanted to post. Amy and the bigs went to a book store in Naperville this spring to get her new book.

She signed Spider Droid's book. and posed for these pictures.

She was impressed with his profound Lego skills. If I was The Next Big Thing on the Internet, I would have probably been "Next!" She, was incredibly gracious.

Fragment 3: As you may or may not know bad or inaccurate commercials drive me crazy. Today I was listening to Pandora while weeding the garden. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.) A commercial for Lowe's came on and they said July 4th was finally here. That really ticked me off. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)

You see they Didn't say July 4th weekend was finally here. They made a single day into a season and then call the season by the day. This sort of thing really irks me, because making the day something it isn't, obscures what it is. In the Little House books, especially Little Town on the Prairie and Those Happy Golden Years, the 4th of July was a special day nestled in between 2 ordinary days. This gave it special meaning.

Our town's 4th of July fireworks were June 25th! 9 days before the actual event. Now they used to always have them the Saturday before the 4th, which I could understand. I even sort of got it when the 4th of July was on a Saturday, and they held the fire works the Saturday before. But 9 days? I mean they should have called them the Father's day fireworks since they were held closer to them, then the 4th of July. Many of the local area festivals which usually coincide with the 4th of July are ending on Sunday this year. I don't get it. The date has significance!

The timer just rang which means I have to stop this ranting and move on. (If you don't believe me check out this tweet.)


Fragment 4: I stole this picture along with the picture from Fragment 1 from the same Facebook account. I could type a lot more, but I think the picture speaks for itself.

Those are all the fragments I have for the time being. Click here to head back to Half Past Kissing Time for more Friday Fragments. (If you don't believe me, check out this tweet.)

Six Words: Green With Envy Trailer

My wife and I are big Muppet Fans. Especially we love KTF. But we love all of them. Kermit even attended our wedding. He was draped over the piano. Today Kermit and company are the subject of my six word Saturday submission.

Here are my 6 . . .

Not Easy Being Green With Envy

It seems there's a new rom-com out with Amy Adams and Jason Segel. I really liked her in Julie and Julia. Now while Julia Child did live in France for a while she wasn't exactly a frog. SO what does that have to do Muppets?

View the trailer to find out.





.

Yes it was just an ingenious bit of stunt publicity. Green With Envy isn't a real film. The Muppets is coming in Thanksgiving and Green With Envy was just an elaborate way to get the message out. Cinema Blend blew up the GWE poster to reveal a very special guest lurking in the trees.

And if that wasn't all Disney put out a second trailer today to spoof the Hangover II movie which came out this weekend. Now I hadn't even heard of the hangover until like 2 weeks ago but the Muppet Trailer is epic.

For me the best part of the trailer is the fake names of publications in the fake reviews. My favorite: This Week Monthly.

Well That's my 6 words disguised as a Muppet Plug or vice versa. For More Six Word Saturday show your face or at least your browser @ http://www.showmyface.com/

Next Time: Sunday's Cool

Dole - Now in 100% Juice Aloha Sweepstakes and other fragments

It is Friday Fragment time again. I have had a strange and wonderful week. Drove to Springfield with the Family on Tuesday to protest a bill that would take away some of the freedoms we have here in Illinois to Home School, The bill was tabled and I blogged about it here. ************************************************************************************ My next Fragment reminds me of the book and movie The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio. This is a contest to win a Hawaiian vacation. There are several ways to win. Any time Amy and I see a contest we know for sure that we are "slated" to win. It doesn't matter that, we often forget to enter and that we never win. We just know we are going to win. So enter if you want, but Amy and I have got the vacation in the bag. Dole - Now in 100% Juice Aloha Sweepstakes ************************************************************************************ We saw this add on Hulu this week. I know I've been sharing lots of commercials lately but this one is hilarious. Bunny Girl especially liked it. Even though one of her favorite creatures was threatened. ************************************************************************************ This commercial by the same airlines does a very good job of explaining why companies don't say Super Bowl in their radio and t.v. spots. It's also very funny. ************************************************************************************

Final Fragment. The pictures that started this post were taken last Saturday at our Church for Awana Bible Quizzing. Both Spider Droid and Bunny Girl were just a small # of the kids participating to get 8 of 8 correct in their multiple choice round. It is rewarding to put God's word in your heart!

For VW "Force" Ever is short time.

It's Friday Fragment time.

Fragment #1

Last week I posted that this VW Ad was the "best commercial ever". It turns out that ever did not last all that long cause less than a week later I have a new best commercial ever and like the VW commercial that ran at the Superbowl this is also sports related.



We have to go back to last years opening day baseball game between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox. Mark Buehrle who was in between back to back Gold Glove winning seasons was on the mound for the Sox when this happened. The play lasted the test of time and was elected the This Year in Baseball (TYIB)play of the year.



The White Sox generally have very good quality ad campaigns. The initial 2011 season ad came out this week . . .















The announcer is played by Sox announcer Ken Harrelson who along with Steve Stone made the call last year. The guy who says "Not bad" is of course Buehrle himself. As a faithful SOX fan and a great fan of all things Buerhle. This has surpassed "The Force" as my all time favorite commercial.



Fragment # 2


My second favorite super bowl commercial behind the VW ad was this masterpiece from Chevy. It's a great send up of the Lassie show that played when I was a kid. They use a comedy technique that I called piling on.




I'm not sure what is a better line "How did you get stuck in the belly of a whale?" or "I didn't know this town even had a volcano." In comedy we call such a quandary a good problem to have.

Fragment 3.

A few weeks ago, at our home school co-op I saw this sign on the men's room door at the building we use.

Priceless.

Those are all the funny little fragments I have for you today. For more Friday fragments click here.