entertainment

Drive-Ins And Still More Random Stuff

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The last time before tonight that I went to a drive-in movie theatre, I saw Liar Liar and The Saint. That should tell you how long it’s been. I know it was sometime around the mid-90’s. Those of you who are better at math than me can figure out how long that’s been.

Tonight (or technically last night, since it’s 1:23 am), I went to the drive-in at Waterford. It was definitely like stepping back in time. Even the movies were vintage, starting with Back to the Future and ending up with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And yes, Ferris is still my hero.

Life was different back then, at least for me. It didn’t seem so fast and people didn’t seem to be in so much of a hurry. It seems like anymore people are so worried about getting to the next place they often miss where they are now. Says one who is guilty of such.

Sometimes, the most important part is not getting a head start on traffic, but not missing the moment. Savoring a beautiful summer night with breezes hinting of a fall yet to come and stars out in full glory. I’d rather get home 20 minutes later than miss out on that.

Earlier today, I helped Belmont students move into their dorms. It reminded me of my own days as a college student when I moved all my belongings into a dorm room. Those were good days, but I won’t say they were the best.

The best days, I think, are now because that’s where God is and that’s where He is speaking to us and working in us. That’s where I want to be, waiting to see what God will do next. I can’t imagine what it will be, but I know it’s gonna be good.

Like Ferris said, life is pretty short. If you don’t stop every once in a while and look around, you could miss it.

Bye-Bye, Borders (Farewell to Another Favorite Bookstore)

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Dear Borders,

I’ve read the news and seen the signs. You’re going away forever soon, and that makes me sad. Soon there will no longer be any more Borders.

You were my second favorite bookstore.  #1 bit the dust when David-Kidd went away, and now #2 is going bye-bye. I guess that leaves Barnes & Noble as my new favorite by default.

You were a place I could go and walk around when I needed to detox from a stressful day. You had books, music, movies, and those weird novelty gadgets to browse that made killing time such a pleasure. You had the cafe with those oh-so-good freshly baked cookies. Where will I get those now?

I confess sometimes I would see one of your products and go find it online cheaper. I feel bad about that now. Maybe if I had paid a few more dollars a few times, you might still be around after September. Or maybe not. Who knows?

I still have my Borders card, which is pretty much useless now, but I think I will keep it on my keychain for a while to remember all the good times I had with you. Even that weird night with all the older ladies wearing red hats. That was a little awkward.

I discovered some good music. I found some good movies. I even bought some hand soap (it was 75% off). But most of all, you were my happy place. You were the place I went to where I knew I would be happy for a little while.

Now I have one less happy place.

Thank you, Borders, for making my life a little better and a little happier. You were a little pricey and sometimes you didn’t have what I was looking for, but you made my inner book-nerd very happy. I always joked that I could put a hammock in one of your aisles and live there.

Now you’re going away. I will miss you and all your booky goodness. Thanks for the memories. The next time I read a good book with a freshly baked cookie, I will think of you.

This is Your Brain on Tylenol Sinus Nighttime Medicine

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I have oddly disconnected and random thoughts tonight. Such as:

1) Both Sarah Palin and Nancy Pelosi get on my nerves, so I guess that makes me an Independent. I think I’d rather vote for Marge Simpson.

2) As my boss said, “Anyday without a toe tag is a good day.” I made it through another day still alive and kicking with all my extremeties and all my teeth, so I’d call it a good day.

3) I heard a pastor talk about how you go to someone’s funeral and say how they look natural. As if that person slept in a coffin every day of his life.

4) I know reality TV is in, but I still like my television to be as unrealistic as possible. Give me vampires, ghosts, aliens, and Buffy any day over survivors and batchelorettes. I get enough reality from real life.

5) Diet Mountain Dew is a great invention. At 7:30 in the morning, it is a Godsend.

6) I like the new morning show on Way-FM, but I still miss Mornings with Brant. Especially Malarkey. I miss that most.

7) I found my cat Lucy taking a nap on my suitcase underneath the bed this morning. I think she doesn’t want me going on any more trips this year. Either that or she wants to go, too.

8) Lucy the aforementioned cat is named after Lucy from The Chronicles of Narnia, in case you wondered.

9) This Tylenol Sinus Nighttime stuff works. I am uber-sleepy. Good night.

Why I’m a Sucker for Old Movies

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Recently, I’ve been able to check out the newly-renovated and restored movie theatre in downtown Franklin. I’ve been able to see on successive Sundays To Kill A Mockingbird and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Both movies are right at 50 years old.

For me, that’s pretty close to heaven. I know I will probably sound all old and geeky, but I really don’t think there are many actors today that really touch the old-school actors in terms of glamor and screen presence and style.

It’s like getting a glimpse into a bygone era that only exists anymore in books and in music and on film.  An era before my time.

So yeah, I’ve seen Casablanca and Gone With the Wind and The Maltest Falcon multiple times. My DVD collection contains lots of old movies.

For me, it’s like having my own personal time machine to go back to when things really were simpler. At least, they seem simpler in black and white and in technicolor.

I can’t wait to see what old movie the Franklin Theatre will be showing next, but I will be there. I’d like to see Cat on a Hot Tin Roof there, or maybe To Catch a Thief. A film noir festival would be awesome, too.

I realize old movies aren’t for everyone. Some just have to have big-budget CGI special effects in their movies. I am not one of those. In fact, I have lately been turned off by movie trailers that promote movies where CGI is the main part of the movie and storyline and plot seem to be an afterthought. But that’s just me.

I’d say watch what you like and listen to what you like. Just find whatever makes you come alive and not what everyone else around you likes.

And if you like old movies, a good place to start in your film education is Turner Classic Movies. With that shameless plug, I bid you a fond adieu.

 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things Part II: Movies

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I am unashamedly and utterly a movie geek. I love movies, especially ones with a good story and characters that I can relate to. I’m more and more a fan of character-driven films and less and less a fan of the big-budget special effects extravaganzas. My tastes are very eclectic, as the following list will show (in no particular order):

1) The Lord of the Rings trilogy

2) The Red Shoes

3) Casablanca

4) The Maltese Falcon

5) Doctor Zhivago

6) Elizabethtown

7) Sunshine Cleaning

8) Amadeus

9) Ice Castles

10) Charade

11) Juno

12) High Fidelity

13) An Officer and a Gentleman

14) Gone With the Wind

15) Lawrence of Arabia

16) Heathers

17) Gladiator

18) Kingdom of Heaven

19) The Last Waltz

20) Grease

21) Moulin Rouge

22) Romeo + Juliet

23) The Blues Brothers

24) Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

25) Dead Poets’ Society

26) The English Patient

27) Gran Torino

28) Up in the Air

29) Charade

30) Rear Window

31) The Philadelphia Story

32) Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

33) The African Queen

34) Tombstone

35) Back to the Future

36) Breakfast at Tiffany’s

37) Roman Holiday

38) Mystic Pizza

39) My Big Fat Greek Wedding

40) Cinema Paradiso

41) Babette’s Feast

42) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

43) Bright Star

44) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

45) The Notebook

46) Shawshank Redemption

47) The Green Mile

48) To Kill a Mickingbird

49) Forrest Gump

50) The Straight Story

I could probably list at least 50 more, but I won’t (unless I do another favorite movies blog). As you can tell, these films are both old and new and range across every genre there is.

I’d like to know some of your favorites, both from a personal and from an artistic standpoint. I know I will probably look back at this list and see movies I left out that should have been in, but those movies can be in your list. It’s not supposed to be comprehensive.

Part III will have a listing of my favorite albums, and that will really be all over the map, so gird your loins for that one. And have a fantastic Memorial Day tomorrow!

My bucket list

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First of all, I’d like to know who came up with the expression “kick the bucket” and who first associated it with dying. I’m not losing any sleep over it, but it would be nice to know just in case I’m ever on Jeopardy or a caller on a morning radio show with a chance to win a fabulous prize. I’m just sayin’.

But for real, I do have a bucket list of sorts. It’s not written down, but I have one item on my bucket list. Only one. My one bucket list wish is to hear Jesus say to me at the end of my road, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That’s all. To please Jesus is not only on my bucket list, it is my bucket list. That being said, I pretty much suck at it. Most of the time, I try to please just about anyone and everyone else before I even attempt to please Jesus.

Still, that’s what I want. More than anything else. Sure, I’d like to see Scotland or meet Bono. And for the record, I would try skydiving, but I have a burning desire to NOT DIE! Plus, I’m not really keen on heights, which is pretty much a prerequisite for jumping out of a plane at 1 gazillion feet in the air.

I want to make Jesus proud of  me. I want to be His hands and feet and serve Him every chance I get, whether He be the person at the cash register at Publix or the homeless man on the corner looking for spare change. I want my whole life to be one big THANK YOU note to Him.

I think I’ll get there. In fact, I know I will, because Jesus told me that He would never leave me or forsake me. He said He would finish the good work He started in me. When He sees a heart that yearns to please Him, He honors that.

So I probably have the shortest bucket list on the planet. Just hopefully not the shortest bucket.

My kind of protest

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You’ve probably heard of the pastor in Florida who was planning to burn Korans on 9/11. Or the Afghans who are burning tires in protest of our protests. On any given day, you can pick up a newspaper and read of a protest or a picket or a rally against for for any number of things. Here’s my idea of a protest: love.

“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you” (Matthew 5:43-48).

I’m not talking about feel-good warm and fuzzy love, or flowers and candy romantic love. I am talking about Love that changed the world. Love that caused Jesus to lay down His life for His enemies. I’m talking about turning the other cheek when someone strikes you. By the way, I learned from someone that in Roman culture, it was considered shameful to strike someone with either your left hand or the back of your right hand. So, turning your cheek is saying in fact, “You will either have to shame yourself or back down.” It is a non-violent protest. It means that my love is stronger than your hate.

I’m talking about when someone asks for your shirt, you give him your coat as well. When some forces you to do something you don’t like, not only do that thing, but go beyond what he is asking and go the extra mile. I’m talking a lifestyle of generosity. Giving your life away every single day. Dying to your rights and coming alive to the Kingdom of God. So love your enemies and pray for them. Pray that God’s love would change them into allies. Remember that God’s blessings falls on us all, regardless of whether we are good or bad or ugly. And without the grace of God, we are all ugly and wicked. All of us.

Lord, show me one practical way I can live out Your love toward my enemy. Let Your love conquer my hate, and Your grace overwhelm my pettiness. May I be Jesus not just toward those I think deserve it, but to everyone, especially the undeserving, because I was once undeserving, too.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.

And now for something completely different. . . and random . . .

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Greekfest2013

Here are some thoughts I had on the way home from the Greek Festival.

1) As I was watching the Greek dancing, a little voice in my head said, “You don’t learn to dance by watching other people dance. You learn to dance by dancing.” And every dance starts with taking that dreaded first step. You don’t learn to live by watching other people live; you learn to live by living– taking risks, learning from failure, and laughing at yourself. You don’t learn faith by reading about it or studying the meanings of the various words used for faith in the Bible, you learn by trusting (or “faith”-ing”) God. By a moment by moment declaration of surrender and trust in God.

2) As my favorite philosopher, Ferris Beuller, said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop every once in a while and look around, you could miss it.” If you are all about living life and warp speed, you miss all the little things that make life worth living. Take time to smell a rose or watch a mother play with her newborn or marvel at a sunrise or breath in the night air. Wherever you are, just be in the moment. Just be. Find a quiet secluded spot and listen for that Still Small Voice that spoke worlds into existence.

3) I’m borrowing this from a friend. The next time you are tempted to get aggrevated or irritated at something or someone, ask yourself one question (not “Do ya feel lucky, punk?”). Ask, “Is this something that Jesus died for?” Did Jesus die to make traffic move more smoothly, or to make the office copier operate jam-free, or to make all people nicer? Then why do those things make me angry. No, wait. They don’t make me angry. Nothing can make me do anything, but I choose to be angry. And I can choose not to be. Jesus died not for the deserving, but for the very undeserving, of which I am one. If I want to be like Jesus, I need to show grace toward the people that cut me off in traffic, the copiers that won’t copy, and the meanies of the world.

4) Remember that no matter how hard it is to love someone who has hurt you or let you down, God showed that such love is possible. True love will never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never give up on anyone at any time, because God never, never, never, never. . . .etc. . . . gave up on us. True love, or agape love, is impossible, but I have learned that God is really good at making the impossibles into possibilities. So love each other like your life depended on it. Love like you want to be love. Love like God has loved you. Let God love you and love through you.

As always, I believe. Help my unbelief. Make me a vessel through which You can pour out love to a world desperately in need of it. My life, whether I live one more day, or 100 more years, is in Your hands.