Little People

When I was a kid I loved to play with Fisher Price Little People.  In the neighborhood where I grew up I think there was an understanding with the parents and each set of parents bought certain toys for their kids.  That way there were not a lot of duplicates and then everyone would go to another house to play with that set of toys.  My house was the game house.  We had board games and video games.  My friend, Julie was the barbie house.  Between her and her sister they had tons of Barbie clothes and Puff N' Play.  My friend, Susannah was the Cabbage Patch and Little People house.  I LOVE Little People.  We made camping gear and food and wigs for the Little People.  To me, Little People were WAYYY better than Barbie.  Barbie  is a wimp.

As an adult, I collect vintage Little People.  The original Little People were wood and then went on to plastic.  In more recent decades, they have increased the size to reduce choking hazard.  You you would be surprised how crazy expensive some of the vintage stuff goes for.  I actually found a vintage 1969 Brown House at a flea market and bought it for $40.  We bought an A frame at a different flea market in the original box with imitation people for $30 and sold the fake little people.   Every time I see them I have to get them.  My sister-in-law works with children and gives us all of the Vintage Little People that come across her path.  Personally, the characters I want the most are the Sesame Street characters.  Of course those are the most expensive characters around.  Online all of the vintage pieces are going for CRAZY prices and I can not justify that.  I can justify small expenses here and there but there are some things that are totally overpriced and out of common sense.

As Seen on Ebay

See, this is crazy.  Unless this is the last piece you are missing from your set, why would you pay $50.00?  If it was so rare it would have been individually wrapped and this is not in the original package.  Sheesh.  I guess I am not a 'collector' so I do not understand.  I am a player who wants to play with my Little People.  Weird, I know a 30something who plays with Little People.  HA, who cares.

I am off to play with my Little People now.

Some pieces of my collections: Circus, Castle and Mailman

The Castle Gang.  I never saw a princess, princess are you out there?

Nintendo

When thinking of Goonies I moved forward and thought of GooniesII the Nintendo game and therefore Nintendo in general.  This game was for the NES back in the day.  That got me thinking of the ORIGINAL Nintendo and their games.  I am NOT talking SNES, N64, Game Cube, or Wii.  The Original Nintendo, the one that after time did not play games and we all pounded the cartridges in and out then took them out blew in them and then repeated the process until the game played.  I loved the Nintendo.  I loved everything about it.  There were few games I did not like.  I had the Goonies video game and I have to tell you that game was a complete train wreck.  There was no opportunity to save your progress.  There were so many places to go and things to do.  The trouble was,  in order to beat the game you had to do everything in an exact order.  Imagine spending a whole Saturday inside in the middle of the school year.  YUCK.

You see, my mom loved Nintendo and did not appreciate us leaving a game on pause so we would not lose progress.  It was a sad state to say the least.  She thought it was her house so she would play whenever she wanted no matter if there was a paused game or not.  Mom would play whatever game we put in front of her but our favorite is the original Legend of Zeda.  I love that game.  She loves that game.  We have both played it until our fingers ached.  I still play it from time to time.  I can make it through the first quest without dying.  The second quest takes 3 lives but none the less I love it.  Mom bought a map so that she could mark down everything she found.  It was rather cute, really.  To this day we play games together as a family and she squeals when she dies.  When she can not pass a level she calls me or my brother to help her.

After awhile the second Zelda The Adventures of Link came out and this game was quite a challenge.  I finally gave up after a time.  I love the game but the final level and the approach to it was quite daunting.  I think of the hours I spent playing and relief for the rainy days the Nintendo brought.  Joy, simple joy in a girls heart.  The memories of playing Nintendo in the basement still make me smile.

The Goldbergs

I grew up in the 1980's.  I am not ashamed of this.  I own up to the lace gloves big bangs and all the other craziness that came with it.  This show is the funniest show I have seen in years.  On multiple episodes I have had to hit pause as I laughed until I cried.  This weeks episode was no different.

This week was the Goonies episode.  I love the Goonies.  I saw it probably 10 times in the theater.  I have seen it many more times at home than I can possibly count.  I know the dialogue by heart....embarrassing, really.  They re-enacted scenes from the original movie and they did it in such a way that was true to the original and yet nothing short of comedic genius.  I have not laughed so hard since before the Olympics.

I suppose it is because the Goldbergs remind me a bit of my family from back then.  WOW the nostalgia is so perfect and endearing.  I can not not watch this show.  Please...for the love of God, if you were around in the 80's please check out this show and make sure your friends do too.  It is well worth the 30 minutes and I promise it is a good laugh!

I hope ABC keeps this show going for a long while.  Congratulations to Adam Goldberg and to his amazing family.

Buck Rogers

Last year at DragonCon I attended a panel and it totally threw me for a loop.  I went to the Match Game in the 25th century.  This panel was a part of the American Sci-Fi Classics track and has been reoccurring for years.  The game was hosted by Buck Rogers a.k.a. Gil Gerard.  I had heard of Buck Rogers but I have never seen the show before.  The panel was awesome and hilarious.  I came out of it NEEDING to see Buck Rogers.


I have since watched it and I have to tell you this show ROCKS.  Looking back to 1979 and watching the technology that was available for tv then and what garbage is on tv now, I choose then.  WOW.  Gil was very much like his character, Buck.  He was cheeky and saucy. I do not know which I liked better, the show or Gil himself.    Twiki the mascot and robot is adorable and sarcastic.  Erin Gray plays Captain Wilma Deering.  She is bright sexy and a character that was wayyyy ahead of what was socially acceptable in 1979.  The performances by all of the actors and the technology is amazing.  Check out this show and see how tv today compares to back then.

The Match Game is put on by Gil and his friends...no really his friends.  Gil goes to cons all the time and recruits his fellow celebrities to be on the game.  Last year the cast included: Sylvester Mccoy better known as Rhadagast from the Hobbit movies and the Seventh Doctor on Doctor Who, Herbert Jefferson, Jr who is best known for his role as Captain Boomer on the 1980's Battlestar Galactica,  Garrett Wang best known for playing Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek: Voyager and also the director of the TrekTrack at DragonCon.  The panel was lewd and crazy.  A blast to say the least and The Doctor repeatedly asking to have the question repeated.  The hilarity was more than one would expect.

As for DragonCon and the Classics track, you should check it out.  Joe and Gary, the directors, are awesome and the track is usually pretty filled.

PADDINGTON!!!!

One of my favorite childhood stories, Paddington Bear comes to the big screen.  I am so excited.   Paddington was the Harry Potter of my childhood.  Nothing but love for this little bear and the people who are bringing him to life.  I have loved the imagination of Michael Bond all of my life and this is so amazing.  Please support my favorite bear and I hope Paddington is as captivating on screen as he is in my imagination.

Dance Moms

For the first season of this show I thought the moms were being a bit bitchy.  I thought Abby had the best intentions for the girls.  Four seasons later, I think she is out for herself.  I feel bad for the girls.  The moms, well they are catty bitches but when it comes to dealing with Abby, I do not know how un-catty bitches can do it much better.  On tonights episode, Holly had a book signing for her first book. Abby came to the signing, distracted the entire room and then told the group that the "pamphlet" should be found on a shelf at they gynecologists office.    Holly's Book  How rude and un-classy is that?  I do not know how much of that is scripted for the episode, but it was uncalled for.  Out of all of the moms that have come and gone on the show, Holly has been the most respectful of Abby and this is how she is treated in return.  Shameful.

Abby is currently in a legal battle with Kelly, a former mom who slapped her and has been banned from the show.  Abby continually berates Kelly and her daughters even though they are gone...Again, uncalled for.  Also she told the moms they are not to talk to Kelly.  They have been friends for years, why does Abby have any say in who they are friends with?  Why does she do this?  I know dealing with the moms must be hell but there are better ways to deal with it. Instead of meeting the mom confrontations with a pit bull, maybe she should meet them with a smile. 

All girls are not alike.  Maddie wants to be home schooled and live life as a dancer.  When she can no longer dance, I  hope she learned how to read and will be able to do a bank account otherwise she will be where Abby was before Dance Moms, bankrupt and $400,000 in debt.  Chloe wants to go to school and have a more rounded life.  Neither is right or wrong, just different.  Neither girl should be punished or rewarded for these choices.  Alas, we know Abby will never accept that being well rounded outside of the studio is not a bad decision.  My personal opinion is that Maddie is overrated and Chloe is mistreated.  Both Kendall and Chloe alike seem like they respond better to positive feedback as opposed to the Abby style of nag nag nag, grouch grouch grouch.

This is the last year of the contract for the moms and I wonder if the girls and moms will stay on.  For the sake of the girls, I hope they can find another studio.  Abby seems to take them to a lot of In10sity competitions.  Does she has friends there and that is why the girls go to so many of their competitions?  Is that why Maddie always wins?  Are they the same judges season after season?  Perhaps with a different studio the girls can go to other competitions and with a teacher that has a better rapport with the girls they can be equally successful.  I hope there are better opportunities out there for the girls if they want them.

No matter what happens on the show I wish nothing but the best for the girls and for their moms.  Good luck and best of successes.

Oscar Night

FOR SHAME!!!!!! First I need to tell the folks at The One Ring.Net I am sorry.  This is the first Oscar party I have not attended since Fellowship.  I am in the middle of a move and I did not think there was going to be a party so I did not plan for it.  MY BAD.  I hope you all had a good time at The Cat and Fiddle.  I can hardly believe it has been 10 years since the ROTK sweep.  I will have to do a later blog on the greatness of The One Ring. net.
I have been to LA many times for the Oscars and it is CRAZY how much of a transformation The Hollywood and Highland area goes through for this one event.  Back in the day it was not this bad but now they have trailers parked blocks away for the coverage of the "Red Carpet Looks".  I do not like LA all that much but I LOVE Oscar weekend in LA and have a good time.  This year, I am at home and as usual am not that excited about many of the nominees.  I miss being with my people and watching with folks who are rooting along with me.  To Larry and all the gang, thank you for the years together and I will see you this time next year for sure.

OKOKOK to this years Oscars.  I am writing this as the show is on so it will be completely irrelevant once the show is over.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  I am not really all that fond of this years best picture nominees.  Out of all that I could stomach I liked Gravity the best so I will root for this long shot.  I love Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence but I was not a fan of American Hustle so that is a bit of a conundrum.  I want Pharell Williams and "Happy" to win for best song because it is just....happy.  I have to say so far the best part of the night is Ellen DeGeneres.  I am not personally a big 'fan' but she is keeping the show funny, modern and relevant.  WAY TO GO ELLEN!!!! Thank you for being one of the best Oscar hosts....I like you and I like Billy Crystal.  BRING ELLEN BACK NEXT YEAR.
As I am watching I am also following Twitter which I only do once or twice a year.  Kevin Smith is a STUD if you are not following him you need to do so.  I am so excited to see all of the Benedict Cumberbatch photobombs.

Smaug taking out U2

  I love the music for the memoriam.  It is the music from Somewhere in Time, I was married to some of that music.  So sad how many we have lost....so many greats in their own right, some gone too soon and some who are immortal.  Who does not LOVE Bette Midler?  She is so wonderful.

Ok so it is now over and I am meeehhhh on everything.  I love Matthew McConaughey but was he all that in this?  I could not make it through the movie so I am not so sure.  Who was better?  Dunno...I do think Leonardo DiCaprio is the most underrated actor of our generation though and I wonder if he will ever be recognized.  All in all I loved the selfies and the tweets more than the winners.  Normally I am all in for something and this year was so debbie downer that I was indifferent.  Yay to Cate Blanchett aka Galadriel.....too bad I do not like anything Woody Allen does.

Thats all for Oscar night...we are going to watch Enchanted...one of our favorite Amy Adams Movies.  Congrats to all of the winners and to all of the nominees...time to party.