Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Monkey, sock monkey on December 29, 2010| 1 Comment »
Hi! My Name is Lavinia
Hello everybody, I’m new to the family of sock monkeys who live here but I understand they are a pretty friendly bunch. Well at least the two that live in the master bedroom, they’re young and kind of cool. Not like the the two old fogies that seem to stay in the guest room – Mmmmm I wonder if they are guests??
See previous blog about Sock Monkeys listed below.
Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Garden State Parkway, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, Newark Liberty International Airport, snow, Winter storm on December 28, 2010| 2 Comments »
Cabin fever reached a high point last night with my disgruntled spouse. He wants to be back in NYC and that’s that. So we decided he should really attempt to go home today by train. He was hesitant to leave me here with a snow bound car and two cats but I’m adamant about not leaving the car here and/or taking it back to NYC and we can’t park it. This is what Day 3 looked like from my vantage point behind the door and in my warm cozy cottage.
Chunks of Snow Piled Up
Look What Drifts the Winds Hath Wrought
We did attempt to get to the train station and without going into the myriad lefts, rights, detours, traffic jams, a side-swipe and numerous stops and starts I’m pleased to report that we are now safely back in the cottage. The adventures of the afternoon included going the wrong way on a one-way street just so we could get back because we never did get to the train station. It’s not safe out there for man or beast. We are hunkered down for a couple more days.
Posted in Six Word Memoirs, tagged Christmas, Ernest Hemingway, Holidays, New Year, Six-Word memoir, Thanksgiving, Winter storm on December 27, 2010| 3 Comments »
Blame it on the snow storm (we’ll be using this excuse for at least another week), that’s why this blog is so late. I only received three responses this week (blame it on the holidays) and I am pleased to share them with everyone.
Lucky me, my own Peter Pan – Heide
Happy New Year to the Memoiristas! -Gail
Need a better back up plan – Weez
Christmas at last; warm,cozy memories! – Susan Celtic Lady
It’s the drifts that get you.-Me
I know another holiday is coming up and that means a little more time off sooooo won’t you please put on your Ernest Hemingway caps and with the advent of the New Year, commit to summing up this life we lead in just six words, no more, no less.
Happy New Year!!
Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged National Weather Service, New York City, Nick, Nora, Ocean Grove, snow, Snow removal, Snowdrift on December 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »
And so the shoveling began. A knock at the door surprised us and it was a young man who offered his services for snow removal. Everybody is a capitalist at heart and his prices were too high for us so we bargained for $20 worth of shoveling – which meant a path from the front porch to the car and single shovel wide clearance along the front sidewalk. It was a good deal for both of us, the snow was very powdery.
I got dressed and went out to tackle the car. After about 5 minutes I realized shoveling out the car was a task beyond me, the drifts almost covered the car and there was no place to throw the snow since there were drifts all around the car too.
AND behind me was the MONSTER snow drift leading to the back door – it was now or never…. all the time I’m thinking of my heart because Peter reminded me that I’m taking Lipator for a reason, Geez!!
Working His Way Thru the Drift
Finally the Back Door!
One Small Paw Print for Catkind
Thinking About Taking the Next Step
These photos were taken about noon today. Now it’s almost 3:30pm and once again the wind is howling, predicted to reach 50 mph. Soon all our work will be covered with snow again.😦
Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged blizzard, Brooklyn, La Vie en Rose, New Jersey, New York City, Ocean Grove, Porch, snow, Wind on December 27, 2010| 1 Comment »
Last night I listened to the wind howling and Peter complaining about the wind, the snow and life in general lol! The lamp on the porch was swinging precariously and it was too cold and too windy to go out and turn it off and besides our real concern was that it fall over and break and live electricity hit wet snow so we just unplugged it. And the wind howled some more. By the time I went to bed I could see a huge drift forming along the sidewalk on the side of the house and another sweeping upwards to the shed. I thought I would open the back door and take a photo BUT the door would not open-totally blocked with snow drifts. Comforting thought as I went to bed knowing that in case of emergency we couldn’t get out the back door. Actually the front door was blocked too but with repeated pushing, we could get it open and thank God, we had the presence of mind to put the snow shovels on the front porch. AND thank me that I insisted we put the salt in the house and not outside like someone else wanted to.
This is what we woke up to this Monday morning:
Monday Front Porch Drifts 9:30am
Monday Drifts Blocking the Shed
Monday Backyard Bird Feeder 9:30am
Monday morning 9:30am
Let the shoveling begin!!!
Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Christmas, Christmas dinner, Decorations, Holidays, Murray Head, Photograph, The Prince of Egypt on December 26, 2010| 3 Comments »
Previously I tried to capture some of my Christmas decor in the cottage, but I don’t think the photos did justice to the look. Murray was here for Christmas dinner and he snapped a few “arty” pictures and I love them, so I’m sharing them!!
Bah Humbug
photo by Murray Head
The Prince of Egypt's Camel
photo by Murray Head
Jacques!
photo by Murray Head
Vintage Christmas Ornaments
Reindeer At The Ready
Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Christmas, National Weather Service, New York City, snow on December 26, 2010| 8 Comments »
If you had to be marooned by a storm, this would be the place I’d like to be. I’m happy in my little cottage sitting out the blizzard. Not so with my spouse! He is definitely an apartment dweller and feels vulnerable here. Well he is partially true; if the power goes out, he really has nowhere to go, eventually the house would get cold, not even sure I would be able to cook on the gas stove whereas in NYC rarely is everyone out at the same time and restaurants have generators. Oh dear what is he to do?
I’m drinking the last of the eggnog and picking on hors d’oeuvres while he is fretting. I say go with the flow; we’re inside, the heat is on, there is food and lots of movies to watch. The lazy cats have been tucked in their beds all afternoon – of course their beds are near the radiator.
It started to snow about 10am and it quickly went from flurries to flakes to heavy snowfall. Around 12:30 I took a few photos of the front porch and the backyard where the bird feeder hangs;
Backyard Bird Feeder 12:30pm
Front Porch 2:30pm
Boxing Day Backyard 2:30pm
Front Porch 4:00pm
Backyard Birdfeeder 4:00pm
Front Porch 5:00pm
Backyard 5:30pm
Back Porch 5:30pm
Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Candle, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Luminaria on December 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Welcome to my house! That’s what the luminaries are supposed to convey to the world. In true Roman Catholic tradition these luminarias were lit along the pathway to a home in hopes that the lights would guide the spirit of the Christ Child to one’s home. Tonight we welcomed our friends into our home to share the spirit of Christmas with us and what a fine time we had. We ate a lot, drank a lot of champagne, and laughed a lot.
Welcome!!
Posted in Fab Fotos, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Christmas, Christmas Eve, Cider, Emergency vehicle, Fireman's Dept, Ocean Grove, Santa Claus, Volunteer fire department on December 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »
The simple joys of community, kids eagerly awaiting Santa Claus‘s arrival, free hot cider and ginger snaps, a crisp cold night and lots of fire trucks lined up on Main Avenue – that’s what was happening in Ocean Grove tonight. Peter and I joined our friends, Trish and Ron at the Fireman’s Park early in the evening. The volunteer Fire Department of our little town sponsors this annual event.
Santa’s sleigh was in the park awaiting his arrival by fire truck! That was a sight and a sound! At least 6 fire trucks and an Emergency vehicle came wheeling down Main Avenue with sirens wailing and lights flashing. The kids screamed and jumped up and down because Santa Claus was coming. By the way, Trish did too!!!
We sipped piping hot cider and munched on ginger snaps and watched the long line of kids wend their way to Santa. Once on his lap, you could see joy on the faces of the little ones – the believers!
Santa Claus Arrives
photo by Trish Martin
pMrs. Santa Claus Came Along for the Ride
photo by Trish Martin
I Believe
photo by Trish Martin
Trish and Ron
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Ten Worst Christmas Movies!!!
Posted in BY THE WAY, From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Thursday's Top Ten, tagged Christmas, Fred Claus, Santa Claus, Santa Clause on December 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Ho ho ho lookee here! Even Santa has had some bad scenes – Christmas movie bombs. Do you agree? Got any you want to add? Pre-screening advice – drink a lot of eggnog!
Editor’s Note: In honor of the 2008 Christmas Holiday, we’ve decided to resurrect the following article — our Ten Worst Christmas Movies of All-Time list, which was written during Christmas 2007. Oddly enough, the following choices still hold up today.
Just as Hollywood launched us into the summer movie season with Spider-Man 3 in early May, they’ve jumped the gun on the Christmas season with Fred Claus. However, this wasn’t as heartwarming as the umpteen radio stations playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving, ‘cause Fred Claus really sucked ass.
So that got us thinking… What other Christmas movies suck ass? For every It’s a Wonderful Life, there’s gotta be a crapstorm of a film to balance it out. So we looked at the holiday movies over the years, and we came up with our list. To make the list, the film had to either be about Christmas (or Santa Claus) or have Christmas an integral part of the plot. (It can’t be like Gremlins, which did suck ass, but really was just set during Christmastime rather than being about the holiday.)
Flame on!
10. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
With a title like this, it’s almost too easy. And while you most likely have seen this one during the good old Mystery-Science Theater 3000 days, you can still catch it on video and even aired by one of the Turner networks in December. It features a wino Santa and Martians so crappy they put Plan 9 from Outer Space to shame. Oh, and it’s got Pia Zadora in it, too!
9. The Nativity Story (2006)
We can just imagine the pitch meeting in Hollywood. Some lunkhead producer yelled, “The Passion of the Christ made more than $300 million! What else can we mine from the Bible?” So they cast the 15-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, who got herself pregnant for the film’s release (which really pissed off the Pope). Here’s a hint… she wasn’t carrying the baby Jesus.
8. Fred Claus (2007)
Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti were cobbled by the family-oriented bent of this film. It just goes to prove that Vince Vaughn just ain’t funny if you don’t let him swear (or if he is wearing a dress and killing people).
7. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Who the hell had the brilliant idea of remaking this indelible classic… again? The cast was lame, and the climactic courtroom scene was ruined with an unnecessary rewrite. In the 60th anniversary DVD of the original, Maureen O’Hara giggles at the fact that every remake of this film has bombed. You go, Mo!
6. The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
Yeah, we know this is a cash cow for Disney, but that doesn’t make it any good. The first film was okay, but this one was lame. Even worse, the moronic director did the entire DVD commentary as if he got permission to shoot in the North Pole with the real Santa and his elves. I guess he didn’t realize that second graders don’t listen to DVD commentaries.
5. Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
Hey look! Another Tim Allen movie has made the list! Written by legal novelist John Grisham, this awkward holiday comedy showed that even a bestselling author can inspire crap.
4. Deck the Halls (2006)
Why does Matthew Broderick keep getting cast in movies? He hasn’t done a live-action film worth a bucket of snot since Election. And how could Danny DeVito sign on for this stinker? He must have needed rent money. A war of holiday lights turns into wacky family comedy… so much so, you’ll want to throw up.
3. Black Christmas (2006)
After the Weinstein Company’s dismal release of Wolf Creek on Christmas Day 2005, they tried to repeat their mistake with a horror movie remake in 2006… and they were successful in failing. Maybe they should have had some of the young hotties in the cast (e.g., Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert or Michelle Trachtenberg) do a gratuitous nude scene.
2. The Santa Clause 3 (2006)
It’s Tim Allen again, dishing out more holiday pain. But this time, he’s joined by the show-tune loving Martin Short as Jack Frost. Arguably a better premise than #2, the movie melts down in the end with the cheesiest ending since V: The Final Battle.
1. Surviving Christmas (2004)
Nothing says Christmas in October like James Gandolfini in a Santa hat. ‘Nuff said.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Jingle All the Way (1996) – We thought this would be a shoe-in, considering what a joke people remember it to be. But watch it with your kids, and you might agree it doesn’t even belong on this list.
The Preacher’s Wife (1996) – Okay, we admit it… neither Fat Guy actually has seen this film. We just figured that since it had Whitney Houston in it, it must suck ass.
For more lists, banter and random shenanigans, visit Fat Guys at the Movies.
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