Right Is Right

"Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it." -William Penn

Marci X

I watched the DVD "Marci X" with Lisa Kudrow and Damon Wayans. It was pretty lame.

Synopsis

When a protest breaks out over rapper Dr. $'s (Damon Wayans) new CD, the unknowing owner of the rapper's record label, Ben Feld (Richard Benjamin), is hospitalized by a heart attack. But his pampered daughter Marci (Lisa Kudrow), who's never set foot in the business world, steps in, stands up to Dr. $ and tries to tone down his bad-boy edge.

Footprints Of An Angel

"The footprints of an angel are love. And where there is love, miraculous things can happen." -from "Angels in the Outfield" Movie

Ponderisms

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.

Life is sexually transmitted.

Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.

Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"

Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its butt."

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out thewindow?

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

You Can Never Get Lost

"If you don't know where you are going, you can never get lost." - Herb Cohen

Seeds Of Faith

"Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth." - Susan Taylor

Do Something About It

"Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

Can't Complain

"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do." - Joe Walsh

I've met Joe Walsh twice. Once on a flight back from Cleveland. He sat right in front of me with Rick the bass player and the other time at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago. I've seen him in concert three times. Once at Summerfest in Milwaukee with Night Ranger, once at Poplar Creek with Ringo Starr's All-Stars and once at the Hard Rock Cafe for a Steve Dahl remote broadcast. I have a tie autographed by him. He rocks.

Last Game

My oldest son's team played their last basketball game of the season and lost to St. Michael's 36 to 18 at St. Michael's. They had a great season and their final record was 9 and 3. Next week is the playoffs.

Against The Ropes

I watched the DVD "Against The Ropes" with Meg Ryan as a fight promoter. It was a good boxing movie.

Synopsis

The daughter of a boxing trainer, Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) grew up skipping rope in a downtown Detroit gym. She watched in wonder as young men struggled to become champions, and hoped that one day she would be involved in the sport that was in her blood. Now, at 36, Jackie's ready to carry on the family tradition. Trying to make her mark in the boxing world, Jackie spends a lot of her free time working the room at D'Agostino's, a pugs and thugs hangout.
When Jackie ends up in a verbal sparring match with boxing kingpin Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub), he sells her the contract of one of his fighters for a dollar... and that's just about what Devon Green is worth. But Jackie's dollar ends up being well spent anyway. When she goes to Devon's apartment to introduce herself as his new manager, she arrives as Luther Shaw (Omar Epps) is beating him up. Instantly, she recognizes that it is Luther, not Devon, who has the potential to be her champion and enlists veteran trainer Felix Reynolds (Charles S. Dutton) to help her turn Luther from a jail-bound punk into a streamlined prizefighter.

The Hourglass Of Our Life

"The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it." - JeanPaul Sartre

Smile

"Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

Dark Blue

I watched the DVD "Dark Blue" with Kurt Russell. It was a cop movie that takes place in Los Angeles right around the time of the Rodney King beating. It had a good ending. Makes you wonder about the large city police departments and all the politics and corruption.

Synopsis

When the LAPD’s elite Special Investigations Squad (SIS) is assigned a high-profile quadruple homicide, veteran detective Eldon Perry (Kurt Russell) takes the case. Known for his tough street tactics and a fiery temper, Eldon tutors rookie Bobby Keough (Scott Speedman) in the grim realities of police intimidation and corruption. While navigating the tumultuous neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles, Perry and Keough must track down the cold-blooded killers as well as face their own demons – demons that prove more ruthless than the criminals they pursue.

Accomplishing The Impossible

"Accomplishing the impossible means only the boss will add it to your regular duties." - Doug Larson

The Impossible

"The impossible is often the untried." - Jim Goodwin

The Heart Sees

"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye." - Unknown

We Shall Find The Way

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." - Abraham Lincoln

Your Strength

"Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength." - Sigmund Freud

Sahara

We watched "Sahara" on DVD. It was a very good action packed movie. Steve Zahn was funny.

Synopsis

Master explorer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) takes on the adventure of his life when he embarks on a treasure hunt through some of the most dangerous regions of West Africa. Searching for what the locals call "The Ship of Death," a long lost Civil War battleship which protects a secret cargo, Pitt and his wisecracking sidekick (Steve Zahn) use their wits and clever heroics to help Doctor Eva Royas (Penélope Cruz) when they realize the ship may be linked to mysterious deaths in the same area. Based on the best-selling novel by Clive Cussler.

Never Judge A Book

"Never judge a book by its movie." - J.W. Eagan

Lost Last Game

We lost our last game of the season 29 to 9 to the best team in the league St. Michael's. My youngest son was our high scorer with 4 points and he played only one quarter because of his foot. Our shots didn't go in and they stole a lot of our passes. We have a week off and then the playoffs. Our record was 5 wins and 7 losses.

Funny Ha Ha

I watched the movie "Funny Ha Ha." It looked like it was some guys college homework.

Synopsis

Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer) just graduated from college, drinks likes she's still in school, and is looking for a temp job but a permanent boyfriend. She loves a guy Alex (Christian Rudder) who doesn't love her, ping-pongs between awkward romantic alternatives and even less suitable jobs.

Think Big Thoughts

"Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures." - Jackson Brown

Think Big

"As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, THINK BIG." - Donald Trump

Curiosity

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." - Ellen Parr

The Truth About Love

I watched the DVD "The Truth About Love." with Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Synopsis

As part of a drunken bet with her sister, a happily married woman (Jennifer Love Hewitt) sends an anonymous Valentine's card to her husband (Jimi Mistry) to see if he hides it. When he does, what was a prank leads to a series of events and revelations that puts her marriage at risk, and leaves her looking for revenge.

Understand

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius

Matt Groening's Birthday

Matthew Abram Groening was born February 15th, 1954 in Portland, Oregon; his family name rhymes with with raining. He is an American cartoonist and the creator of the animated television series The Simpsons and Futurama. At the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to become a writer. However, on the way there, his car broke down in the fast lane of the Hollywood Freeway. He found work for a time as a chauffeur and "biographer" for an unsuccessful 88-year-old movie director. He described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of a comic book, and called it "Life In Hell" which was loosely inspired by a chapter entitled “How to Go to Hell” in Walter Kaufmann's book "Critique of Religion and Philosophy." Groening started the comic in 1977 by photocopying and distributing it in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, the record store he was working in. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet Magazine in 1978 (the strip, entitled “Forbidden Words”, appeared in the September/October issue), and by 1980 the strip had become so popular in the underground that it was picked up by the Los Angeles Reader, where he also delivered papers as well as some editing and paste-up. In 1982, the editor of the Reader gave Matt his own weekly rock 'n' roll column, "Sound Mix". However, the column would rarely be about rock ‘n’ roll, as he would instead write more about his life and childhood, his pet peeves, and even things he found in the street. “I think the people who ran the Reader felt so guilty about how little they were paying people that they let them write about whatever they wanted,” Matt later reflected. In an effort to add more rock to the column, he would often simply make up stuff, writing reviews of fictional bands and non-existent records. The following week, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column, then swear that everything in the new column was true. Finally, he was asked to give up the "music" column and perhaps write a humor column under a different title. Matt met his wife, Deborah Caplan, in 1980 at the Los Angeles Reader (they divorced in 1999). In late 1984, she published Groening’s first cartoon book, Love is Hell, which was a big underground success. Soon afterward, they left the Reader and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled syndication and merchandise for Groening’s projects. The strip is still carried in many weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including "School Is Hell" "Childhood Is Hell" "Work Is Hell" "The Big Book Of Hell" and "The Huge Book Of Hell." Life In Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks. In 1985, he contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project. That project would turn out to be developing a series of short animation skits, called “bumpers”, to be featured on the FOX variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Brooks wanted to use the Life in Hell characters, but Matt did not want to give up the rights to his characters, so he decided to give them something new. He designed the look of the Simpson Family in only fifteen minutes. Matt storyboarded and scripted every short, which were then animated by David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series. Premiering on the Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987, the shorts became very popular, which led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Said Groening: “Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It snuck up on everybody". Sometime in the 1990s, Matt tried to pitch a live-action spin-off about Krusty The Clown, but was unsuccessful. He has also pitched “Young Homer” and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield. Supposedly, there were also plans for a live-action movie based off of the character Troy McClure, to be played by the late Phil Hartman (who provided Troy’s voice), but this, too, was scrapped. In 1995, Matt got in a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over “A Star Is Burns”, a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening feared that viewers would “see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons”. He was also concerned about implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode. Groening named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Margaret (Marge), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Maggie. As for himself, he decided it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself and therefore chose the name "Bart" (an anagram of brat). However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like The Simpsons.Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, but these siblings were left out of the main Simpson family. It is questionable whether Marge’s sister Patty's name comes from Matt’s sister or if it is a coincidence. In a 1995 interview, he divulged that Mark “is the actual inspiration for Bart”. Groening says he refused to name Homer's Dad after his father's real dad, leaving it to other writers to name that character. They gave him the name of Abraham, which by coincidence turned out to be the name of Groening's grandfather. The name “Wiggum” for the character of police chief Clancy Wiggum came from Groening's mother's maiden name. Groening grew up in Portland, Oregon, and seems to have found names for some characters from major Portland street names such as Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell (as in Homer's half-brother Herb Powell), Quimby, Kearny (the bully), and Terwilliger (Sideshow Bob's last name).

Trivia

The name Groening may be derived from Groningen (city) (or Grun'n in the local dialect) in the north of the Netherlands.

He is a member of the rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders, whose members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Greg Iles.

Both Groening and his character Bart Simpson are left-handed. Other left-handed characters on The Simpsons include Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and Moe Szyslak, the bartender.

In college, Groening sometimes took notes in class in the form of comic strips.

Groening has appeared in both Futurama & The Simpsons. He appeared in Futurama as a head in a jar. In The Simpsons as the creator of Futurama and as himself in Treehouse of Horro X segment: Desperately Xeeking Xena.

His sister, Lisa, is married to Craig Bartlett, creator of Hey Arnold!.

Originally, Homer Simpson's inner ear was shaped like a "G", and the hair above in the shape of an "M", spelling Groening's initials. This was changed to normal when Matt realised that if word got out of this, everyone would mention it. When drawing autographed pictures of Homer, he puts in the "M G".

Several of his characters have the middle initial 'J' eg: Homer J Simpson, Bart 'J' Simpson and Phillip 'J' Fry. Groening has said that this is a reference to Bullwinkle "J" Moose.

Loved

"Who, being loved, is poor?" - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish Author, Poet, Wit, Dramatist

Ingredients To The Good Life

"There are three ingredients to the good life; learning, earning, and yearning." - Christopher Morley

If You Judge People

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." - Mother Teresa

Another Victory

Our team beat St. Pius 21 to 7 at home. We were ahead the whole game and almost every player scored a basket. My youngest son sat out the whole game. His foot is still recuperating. Afterward we went to 4:00 p.m. Mass and then over to my sister's for her annual Valentine's Party. We stayed until after 11:00 p.m. My oldest son was at a friend's house for a party. It was a long day.

Love Is Life

"Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life." - Leo Buscaglia

Jennifer Aniston's Birthday

Jennifer Joanne Aniston was born February 11, 1969 and is an American actress, best known for playing Rachel Green on the highly popular television sitcom Friends, and for her much-publicized marriage and break-up with actor Brad Pitt. Aniston appeared as a "Nutri-System" girl on the The Howard Stern Radio Show in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She moved to Hollywood and was cast in her first television roles in 1990, starring as a regular on the short-lived series Molloy and in the TV movie Camp Cucamonga. She also co-starred in Ferris Bueller, a television adaptation of the 1986 teen movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the same year (it barely lasted a season). Aniston then appeared in two more failed sitcoms, The Edge and Muddling Through and guest-starred on shows such as Quantum Leap, Herman's Head, and Burke's Law. After this string of cancelled shows, along with her appearance in the critically-derided horror movie Leprechaun, Aniston seriously considered giving up acting. Aniston's plans changed, however, when she auditioned for Friends, a new sitcom on NBC's 1994-1995 fall line-up. The producers of the show originally wanted Aniston to audition for the role of Monica Geller but she persuaded them that she was better suited for the role of Rachel Green. She was cast in the role and played the character from 1994 until the show ended in 2004. The program was very successful and Aniston, along with her co-stars, gained wide renown among television watchers. Aniston has starred in a handful of theatrical films, including the cult hit Office Space. She gained the most critical acclaim for her role in the low-budget 2002 film, The Good Girl, playing an unglamarous cashier in a small town. In late 2005, Aniston headlined two major studio films, Derailed and Rumor Has It, both of which performed fairly at the box office, grossing a little over $30 million each. Aniston has completed several upcoming roles, including the romantic comedy The Break Up.

Being Deeply Loved

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao Tzu

Never Cease To Be Amused

"Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves for we shall never cease to be amused." - Unknown

Laughter

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." - e. e. cummings

A Busy Life

"Beware the barrenness of a busy life." - Socrates

Tittle

The dot on the letter "I" is called a tittle.

Where There Is Great Love

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles." - Willa Cather

Birthday Girl

I watched the DVD "Birthday Girl" with Nicole Kidman.

Synopsis

John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin), an English banker, is tired of waiting for the right girl to come along and orders a mail-order Russian bride named Nadia (Nicole Kidman) over the Internet. John Buckingham was an ordinary bank employee with a small home and a life built on routine until he took a bride through an on-line mail order service called "From Russia With Love." The morning she arrives is her birthday, but he's the one who's in for the surprise. When the new bride's two "cousins," Yuri and Alexei, arrive John's life is turned upside down as he learns the truth behind their relationship and is taken on the adventure of a lifetime when they take her hostage and force John to rob his own bank.

To Love A Person

"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten." - Anonymous

Fame

"Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

100,000 Miles

My 1995 Buick LeSabre just passed 100,000 miles on my way home from work by Carriage Greens. What an event watching all those 9's roll over. It's the second car I can remember being in that reached 100,000 miles. The first was my wife's old Buick Skylark.

Clockwise

I watched the John Cleese movie "Clockwise" It had some funny parts. Right.

Synopsis

John Cleese stars in this delightful British comedy as Brian Stimpson, the headmaster of a British high school whose obsession with punctuality is a source of humor for his students and joy for himself. Having been awarded the honor of being elected the chairman of a conference of headmasters from "posh" schools. To give his keynote address, Stimpson must travel all the way to Norwich. However, when a semantic misunderstanding sends Stimpson in the wrong direction, he begins a journey that not only finds him racing against time, but also avoiding the police, losing his speech and clothes, destroying a pay phone, and generally railing against a society that seems intent on forcing him to be late for the most important day of his life. Written to perfection by Michael Frayn ("Noises Off"), "Clockwise" features a pitch perfect performance by John Cleese that makes this his funniest non Monty Python outing.

Time

"Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side." — The Talmud

When Angry

"When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, a hundred." - Thomas Jefferson

Never Be Angry At

"Two things a man should never be angry at: what he can help, and what he cannot help." -Thomas Fuller

Tomorrow's Past

"We are tomorrow's past." - Mary Webb

Tomorrow

"Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." - Mark Twain

Full Frontal

I watched the DVD "Full Frontal." It was kind of disjointed. I'm not sure where the title came from. Kind of bizarre.

Synopsis

Linda (Mary McCormack) would love to be loved. Carl (David Hyde Pierce) loves his wife, Lee. (Catherine Keener) Lee is looking to be loved by Calvin. (Blair Underwood) Calvin plays Nicholas who discovers he's in love with Catherine. Catherine, who is really Francesca (Julia Roberts), finds true love. And Gus (David Duchovny) loves himself. A movie about movies for people who love movies. Carl is a writer at Los Angeles Magazine who writes screenplays on the side and thinks he understands the reasons for his wife’s unhappiness. His wife, Lee, is the VP of Human Resources at a large corporation who takes out her frustrations on company employees. Her sister Linda, works as a masseuse and worries that she will never meet Mr. Right. Calvin is the star of a successful TV series who has just gotten his big film break playing Nicholas (the sidekick of a major movie star) and is the subject of a celebrity profile being written by Catherine played by Francesca. Nicky Katt is an actor playing Hitler in a stage play while Gus produces Nicky’s movie. The day will culminate in Gus’ 40th birthday party being held at an exclusive Beverly Hills hotel. A contemporary comedy set in Los Angeles, Full Frontal traces the complicated relationships among seven friends as they deal with the fragile connections that bind them together. The film takes place during a 24 hour period—a day in the life of missed connections. Connections you never really see—until you see them all mapped out.

The Exceptions

"The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Big Victory

My oldest son's team won a close game 23 to 21 against St. Raphael's. He scored another basket and played some great defense. It was another exciting close game. They had a big crowd at the game and most of the eighth graders came to watch. Afterwards they all went to Culver's until about 10:00 p.m.

Three Things

"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." - Tom Bodett

Backbone

"The wishbone will never replace the backbone." - Will Henry

Example

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing." - Albert Schweitzer

Beautiful World

"When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive." - Ralph Waldo Emerson