Week #27: Merrie Morning Melodies

The buzzing from the alarm clock begins and it quickly wakes me from my dreams.  I hurriedly hit the off button and within seconds, I am out of bed and quietly opening my bedroom door, stopping like a stone statue for one single moment, to listen to the air…everyone is still asleep, right?  When I am confident there is no noise from the room next door, I make my way to the stairs and carefully step down, one foot at a time, slowly at first but gaining momentum.  Don’t want to wake anyone up.  Still in my pajamas…

Week #28: Movie Mistakes & Magic

My dad was always surprised that I would notice the minor editing mistakes in film.  Whether it was a continuity error (a time changing library clock in THE BREAKFAST CLUB), an error of fact (Nicolas Cage heading to the Valley Sheraton in VALLEY GIRL when the limo driver clearly pulled onto the 405 South at Sepulveda – the way OUT of the Valley), or even a caught on camera error (the little boy holding his ears in anticipation of the gunshot in Hitchcock’s NORTH BY NORTHWEST), I seem to catch them quite often – even in amazing films like those.  I…

Week #29: What Haunts Me?

My cousin Brad was recently telling me about a business conference he attended where Styx was the entertainment.  Few things can make you feel as old as hearing that a rock band that, back in the day, sold out arenas but now plays business conferences. I may have never really been a huge Styx fan, but I did have their Paradise Theatre album that came out in 1981.  It was their only #1 album in the US, but it wasn’t the songs that stuck with me after all these years (everybody whisper now, Too Much Time on My Hands…

Week #30: The Best Things Happen Unexpectedly

Surprises are amazing.  I can happily say that I have been both on the giving and receiving end of surprises numerous times in my life.  Luckily, I grew up in a family that loves surprises.  From my mom hiding my cousin Christy, under a blanket in the back of our station wagon, for a special birthday dinner; to my dad picking me up from the airport and having me hide on the floor of the car when we pulled up to my mom’s hair salon – incidentally, that surprise was only a few days before the bigger surprise birthday…

Week #31: A Happy Meal, Indeed

If I had the chance to eat any cheeseburger in the world, there is no doubt that I would head to In-N-Out Burger for a Double Double (mustard, ketchup & lettuce only).  Mmmmm…I’m starting to get hungry, just thinking about it.  I can’t say that I love all cheeseburgers, because that would be a lie.  I don’t like burgers that are too thick, too under done (medium well for me) or ones with fancy epicurean toppings or fillings – just American cheese, please.  Even adding ketchup became a later fact, only because Stephanie Zinone asked…