Creative? Me? Er, If You Say So...



I recently got a Creative Blogger award from Lynn, the nice lady who runs the Violins and Starships site. Normally, I would be tempted to quibble but my parents taught me better than that so I will just hush up and say, "Thank you."

Apparently I'm now obliged to mention seven facts about me that I have not mentioned thus far and to pass the award on to seven bloggers that I do not normally link to. (I'd like to include Lynn, Jaquandor and Samurai Frog on that list but I suspect that would be cheating since they all already have one.)

My seven facts:

1.The first film score I ever owned was John Barry's score for Goldfinger.

2. The first movie I ever saw in a theatre was 101 Dalmations.

3. The first R-rated movie I remember seeing without my parents was 1976's The Omen.

4. The first movie poster I ever bought was for 1976's Carrie.

5. The first old movie I ever remember making deliberate plans to see on TV was 1955's Tarantula.

6. The first DVD I ever owned was The Terminator III: Rise of the Machines. (It was a present.)

7. The first TV set on which I ever watched anything was my parents' old black and white set in Detroit -- and that one also had a built-in record player.

As for the seven bloggers I choose to pass on the award to, I pick:

1. The Flick Filosopher. One of the first web-critics I ever read and still one of the most innovative.

2. Brilliant at Breakfast. Pioneer political blogger and web-critic who can wax philosophical like nobody's business. Every time I think I have her pegged, she surprises me.

3. Self-Styled Siren. Creatrix of the best old movie blogs ever. If there is an old film she does not yet know about, the chances are it is not really worth knowing about.

4. Thrilling Days of Yesteryear. Creator of one of the best old TV show blogs ever. Not to mention the distributor of more info about TCM and Facebook than you'd ever want to know.

5. Shanna Swendson. My favorite published author/blogger. Not only a source of valuable writing advice and literary recommendations but a heck of a movie/TV critic to boot. And her insights on local Texas culture ain't bad either.

6. Lylee's Blog. Another blogger who generally goes anywhere her imagination takes her. Blogs about movies, show tunes, music competitions, court decisions, you name it.

7. Jon Swift. Possessor of a Sahara-dry wit and proof that twenty-first century political satire does not have to be stupid.

Of course, I suspect some of these bloggers might find this award to be redundant but, hey, it is always good to be noticed, right?

Damn It, Cesca!

And the award for Link Tonio Kruger is Least Likely to Share with His Sister goes to...

Seriously, who knew there were so many examples of that theme to be found in pop culture?

And that's without mentioning Wuthering Heights.

Déjà Lu

I recently found this excellent article via the Dan Simmons site. Of course, the whole article is worth reading but there's a sentence at the end that seems especially apt.

I wonder why the sentiment expressed by that sentence seems so familiar.

Mensa's Top 10 Smartest TV Shows of All Time

Well, I don't know about all time but here's the list one Mensa member made:

1. Frasier
2. The West Wing
3. Boston Legal
4. Jeopardy!
5. Cosmos
6. House
7. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
8. All in the Family
9. Mad About You
10. M*A*S*H

My thoughts?

Personally, I think it would be far more entertaining to read some of the comments various Internet posters have made about this list--including the inevitable "why didn't he include this show" complaints -- than to watch some of these TV shows.

It's not that I hate "smart" TV shows. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for any TV show that has witty dialogue and especially clever plots and that at least four shows on that list (Frasier, House, All in the Family and M*A*S*H) are among my all-time favorites.

And yet...

If it were up to me, I'd write a different list.

I guess that's why I find myself amused every time a critc goes on and on about how horrid it is why more people don't like "smart" movies or "smart" TV shows. After all, most "smart" people I meet in real life generally have radically different ideas of what constitutes a "smart" movie or a "smart" TV show. And while there's a lot to be said for TV shows and movies that encourage one to be smart and clever, it seems silly to pretend that there aren't a lot of things most truly smart people would rather do besides watch television and movies all the time.

Personally, I find that there are many times when I prefer to read a book. But then that's me... always having to be the contrarian.

Just like most smart people I know...

Nieve De Nuevo

Apparently we're due to have another cold snap tonight and we might even have snow too, which would mean us Dallasites getting snow for the second time this week. I guess it's Mother Nature's way of reminding us that winter isn't officially over yet. Unless, of course, you prefer to blame Shanna Swendson, which doesn't seem just.

Anyway, I've already seen sleet come down from the sky this afternoon and I'm already dreading the drive to work tonight. And we had such great weather yesterday too.

But then if I were back home in Detroit, I'd probably be experiencing temperatures in the teens and single digits right now so I shouldn't really complain.

And yes, the word "nieve" in the title means "snow" in Spanish, just in case you tend to be a bit rusty in that language. Other Spanish words related to "snow" can be found here.

Be grateful I didn't make a joke about certain electoral victories being a sign that you-know-where has frozen over...

Más Cambios

I've added still more links this week.

1. Elenamary: my favorite blogger of Mexican-Irish descent. (Okay, the only blogger of Mexican-Irish descent I know of.) Her work is always interesting and if nothing else, I love her use of the word “Mirish” to describe people of her ethnic background. (By that logic, I should start referring to myself as “Molish” since I'm half-Mexican and half-Polish. But for some reason, that word doesn't sound as poetic as “Mirish”.)

2. John Scalzi's Whatever: a science fiction writer who always has something interesting to say, even if I disagree with it. Usually I don't, unless it involves unqualified praise of certain Journey songs. But still...

3. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database: one of my favorite sites for procrasi -- er, I mean, research.

Cambios

In case you haven't noticed, I actually updated my links section this week.

I changed the name of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's site to its current name, "Multiplicative Identity." (Cool name, btw.)

I also added a few more sites including:

1. The Joe Bob Report: the official site of Joe Bob Briggs aka John Bloom, prominent drive-in critic and social commentator. Bloo -- er, Briggs has been an idol of mine for years so it's about time he had a link on my site.

2. Film Snobs: the official site of former Cinemarati member and film critic Stephen Himes and his "partner in crime" JimmyO.

3. John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Film/TV: the official site of author and film critic John Kenneth Muir, a man whose writings have obviously influenced me almost as much as Joe Bob Briggs' -- hopefully, in a good way.

4. Electric Cerebrectomy: the official site of the mysterious blogger known as Samurai Frog, a shameless contrarian with whom I don't always agree but whose writing I often find to be very provocative. However, his posts aren't always family-friendly so I'd recommend giving it a pass if you're the type of person who is easily offended.

I also want to give a quick shout-out to author/blogger Shanna Swendson, yet another one of my favorite published authors -- and not just because she's one of the few authors I've ever met in person. You'd be surprised how often I've read posts on her site that echo some of my thoughts to an uncanny degree. Hopefully, she'll consider that a good thing.

42nd Street Redux

Major props to the Self-Styled Siren for acknowledging me in this post. It doesn't hurt that she also describes more than a few of my favorite scenes in 42nd Street. As much as I liked Ruby Keeler, I cannot pretend that it was a major injustice that Ginger Rogers went on to have a more successful career than her.

At Long Last Links

I finally broke down and added some links to my home page. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it; I still have a lot to learn about the blogging process and one might argue that this entire blog is still at best an experiment.

But the links I've added thus far seem to be working okay. I'm just sorry I haven't yet found a way to link to my nephew's blog.

If anyone on the sites to which I have linked objects to have a link to their site posted on this site, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll assume you approve or at least feel neutral about the whole matter.

Anyway, major thanks to Lynn Lee, MaryAnn Johanson and the way cool if a bit mysterious Campaspe for giving me hours of pleasure with the writing on their respective sites.

I will probably add more links in the future. If you're interested, please stay tuned for further developments.

The Other Side of the Immigration Story

Just when the immigration issue is seeming so simple, it becomes more complicated.

But then only a fool would pretend it wasn't complicated to begin with...

“That's Funny, You Don't Look Hispanic...”

Heh. Queen Sucia aka Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez has produced the best answer to that type of comment that I've heard thus far.

I also like this comment.

An Exception To The “No Mexicans in Outer Space” Rule?

Alas, I haven't read this book yet, but it is tempting...

History In The Making?

Writer/blogger Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez aka Queen Sucia probably summed up it best: wow.