Year End Round Up

It's nearing 6pm here and I'm on a push to finish this post...otherwise the title would be rendered invalid.

For those that don't know this, St. John's is the first city on the North American continent to celebrate New Years. The time difference makes it a bit awkward to watch Dick Clark (whoa, he's 82 now!) and such New Years eve shows on the TV. The ball drops in the Big Apple at 1:30am our time. I've taken out my false teeth and used my walker to make my way to bed long before that.

We've enjoyed the neighbourhood Christmas lights the past few weeks but they will soon be coming down. Except for those who leave them up all year round. My favourite (again) this year is the large display of muted green, blue and purple lights in the trees along the busy boulevard from our provincial parliament buildings to the university. My pet peeve is the dozens of ladders on the sides of homes with fake elves perched on the rungs. Also on that list are inflatable candy canes that light up and those inflatable clear balls with blowing snow and a Santa trapped inside. They remind me of the display at St. Patrick's Church back in London. The big fella and his crozier are proudly displayed on its front lawn encased in a clear plastic cylinder. He seems a bit excluded from the general public, but at least he's protected from snakes.

Where was I...yes, Christmas displays that leave me scratching my head. You see a lot of homes here with those little electric lights sitting on the sills of all the front windows. They look like little menorahs except there are fewer lights involved and they're made of plastic. I'm not sure if they are symbolic of something. Does anybody out there know? Please enlighten me. Finally, have you seen those lit-up deer all over the place. You know the ones...a light metal frame in the general shape of a deer with small, white lights strung all over it. I think they sell them at Costco. Probably every where else as well, going by the number that can be found grazing on the front lawns of houses in this area. I did see a photo of one deer display that showed great humour and a lot of originality. The gutted deer in the picture to the left was hanging from an arbour SOMEWHERE in North America. There's a lot of hunters living here and I'm sure the trend will catch on for NEXT year.

I watched a couple of really good independent movies on IFC this holiday season. The first was a comedy-drama called 'The Station Agent' (2003). It's about a young man with achondroplastic dwarfism who inherits from a friend a small train station in Newfoundland, New Jersey (yeah, that's the name...it's just a coincidence...honest). Fin (an amazing performance by Peter Dinklage) seeks a life of solitude, shying from human interaction. However his neighbours find ways to insinuate themselves into his life. This tale of friendship and lonliness was written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and is well worth your time should you see it in the TV listings (or chose to rent it).

Another thoughtful movie is 'Saint Ralph' (2005), written and directed by Michael McGowan. This story begins in Hamilton, Ontario in 1953 and is about a boy whose mother is in failing condition in hospital. This young man, played with tons of charm by Adam Butcher, is a social outcast and attends a Catholic school. He decides the only way she can be helped is with a miracle and he sets out to train for the upcoming Boston Marathon. The cynical and dismissive headmaster is played with uncharacteristic malice by Newfoundland's Gordon Pinsent. This is a good one to lift one's spirits and has a lot of laughs.

This year has seen me mainly unproductive in the writing world. Even the frequency of blogging has fallen off the past couple of months. It's now 3 hours until midnight. I'd make a resolution to do better if I believed in that sort of thing. I'm of the mind that if one wants to improve they should work on it at any time of the year, not just January the first. I'd like to wish you all the best for 2012. May health and happiness be the order of the day for you and yours, my friends.

Contest Update and Indie Horror Link

The day was a bit of a loss as far as writing is concerned. I did, however, look through many of the entries to the Land's Edge flash fiction contest. Some very cool stuff submitted and a few very interesting interpretations of holidays. In the next couple of days I shall meet with Laurita Miller, of Brain Droppings fame, and our third judge to load up on coffee and pastries go over the entries and select the top three and the honourable mentions. I am looking forward to naming the winners later this week and posting them here during the week after.

There was little time to come up with a worthy post for today but, while I had a five course meal on the stove my wife slaved away making supper, I surfed the net for a bit. You know how it is...you go to a follower's blog and start looking at their followers and their blogs...next thing you know you've run into something that really catches your eye.

I'll link you to Unleash the Flying Monkeys!, a blog by Leah Saylor-Abney. A couple of weeks back she presented a post called 7 Must-See Indie Horror Movies about indie horror films that are in various stages of production. I have neither seen nor heard of any of these, but there are trailers attached and links to official websites for each movie. Enough there to whet the appetites of all you horror buffs. Strange, low-budget and gruesome...

The Movie Meme

The movie questions were courtesy of KV Taylor. It's a perfect morning to work on these as I'm a big video-phile (is that a word?) and the fog's still on top of us like a big, damp blanket. There's a crap-load of questions and a possibility of multiple answers per question so I may end up making up answers by the time I reach the end...perhaps I should have done this last night with a couple of rum 'n cokes in me...

1.Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times. Don't think I've seen anything that many times, but Ferris Bueller's Day Off is way up there. We saw Lord of the Rings at the movies and a couple of times on our box set as well. Also Highlander, Fargo, The Hunt for Red October and A Christmas Story are way up there (my son is obsessed with our James Bond box set and I've seen some of them multiple times as well...).

2.Name a movie that you’ve seen multiple times in the theater. Being Scottish, I have a hard time to part with cash to see something more than once...I broke that rule recently to see the new Star Wars Movie a second time. I probably would see some twice, but there's so many options out there with a limited movie budget...if only I could give up the single malt to have the extra movie money *sighs*.

3.Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie. As a kid, I was a big Sean Connery fan and always make it to his movies. Now if Johnny Depp is involved I usually go see whatever he's in (pretty much captured my attention since Sleepy Hollow).

4.Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie. David Spade always annoys me as did the late Chris Farley. You can add Tim Allen and any of the Wayans brothers to the list as well. Hmm, Paris Hilton (if you want to call her an 'actor').

5.Name a movie that you can and do quote from. I'm hopeless at remembering and telling jokes so remembering movie lines is just as bad. Dirty Harry comes to mind, "Well, do you feel lucky, punk? Ask yourself, was it 6 shots or just 5?" (I probably messed that up). Also from LOTR "One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."

6.Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs. I tend not to do musicals, but have made exceptions over the years. The songs that have stuck with me the most have been from Grease as I've seen the movie a couple of times and saw the play done twice on stage (once a high school production our school did). The Phantom of the Opera songs have stuck with me as well...yeah, they sound cool when I sing 'em in the shower...

7.Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with. Hmm...my lack of musical prowess is noted in #6. If I were to sing along with something, it would be from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (but y'all had better where ear plugs as I'm pretty tone deaf!)

8.Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see. I love the big, inspirational Oscar winners such as Gandhi and Chariots of Fire.

9.Name a movie that you own. The aforementioned Bond and LOTR box sets, Pirates of the Caribbean, and a bunch of questionable stuff gotten from Walmart at $5 a pop.

10.Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops. Hmm...I think Tom Hanks started as a stand-up comic and always impresses me. Kris Kristofferson impresses as well.

11.Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what? There's no drive-in movies here, but I had one in London for my 20years living there. I think I saw one of the Alien movies there (shh! What's that noise coming from under the car...)

12.Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it. We wanted to see The Soloist but it left the theatres so fast we didn't get a chance. Thank God for video rentals.

13.Ever walked out of a movie? Not that I recall. I research a bit before going (as noted, the Scottish in me doesn't want to piss away my money...) at Rotten Tomatoes. Also, as I do with people, I try to give the benefit of the doubt and sit through 'til the end in hopes of s0mething to redeem the questionable movie.

14.Name a movie that made you cry in the theater. Guys don't cry at the movies, they get something in their eye...the one I recall that put a lump in my throat was LOTR: The Return of the King.

15.What’s the last movie you saw in the theater? The taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Travolta was a pretty bad-ass dude in that. We were going to The Proposal last night (waiting until my son is around to take him to Harry Potter) but it was sold out.

16.What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie? It's hard to put a label on anything. I don't like westerns, but I loved Pale Rider and Unforgiven. All of the genres have something to offer (but horror movies are the coolest).

17.What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? That's tough, I can't even remember what I had for dinner yesterday...and high school is a blur. My cousin and I used to go see the Roger Moore version of Bond in the theatres. I remember my dad 'signing me in' to see the restricted Rollerball when it was released (1975).

18.What movie do you wish you had never seen? The Sound of Thunder was a wonderful concept of time travel, but the script and special effects sucked. Sir Ben Kingsley must have been desperate for the pay cheque from that one.

19.What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed? Edward Scissorhands was pretty weird. I would have to say Rocky Horror Picture Show was top of the list. I went in 1980 in a run-down theatre in Victoria where you could get away with the audience participation stuff. Nothing like toast and rice flying about at the movies!

20.What is the scariest movie you’ve seen? I recall getting the shit scared out of me seeing Jaws in the movies as a 14year old. As I mentioned at another blog this week, The Legend of Hell House could teach the slasher movies a thing or two about creepy atmosphere.

21.What is the funniest movie you’ve seen? Ferris Bueller is way up on the list as well as Spinal Tap. Umm...Meet the Parents; Planes, Trains & Automobiles ("those aren't pillows!").