•
Five-link Friday
After last week's , we're back to a little bit of everything in this week's Five-link Friday.
• Well, OK, maybe one more food link: Did you realize that there were nine, count 'em,? I mean, strawberry creme sounds pretty nasty to me, but caramel, dulche de leche, double chocolate? Mmm ... (Link via .)
• So many of my friends are librarians. They just haven't gotten the action-movie recognition that we all know they deserve. But that's about to change thanks to this Noah Wyle movie on TNT:
• I lost my frog. Oh, I know this link has been all over the Web, but I just love it. Don't be fooled into just looking at the first image; keep clicking on the pictures.
• I also love . Click on the images, such as or , to get a history of the toy. As a kid, I loved nothing more than my Raggedy Ann, but this photo of an older version makes me shudder and think of (Link via .)
• OK, one more more food link: Cooks Illustrated Magazine has set up , a Web site with one goal: To help cooks get through the turkey-making without incident. It offers recipes, a carving guide, information about kitchen equipment and, my favorite, the . But ... but ... but I like the can-shaped cranberry sauce!
• Nov. 18, 2004 |
Lots to laugh at
What makes you laugh? Are there certain shows, movies, comedians that just always bring a smile to your face? Especially in winter, when the sun is gone before I even leave work, it helps to make mental lists of pop culture that never, ever, fails to make me laugh.
TV• You already know about: Some say the new episodes just aren't as funny as the good ol' days, but even if you feel that way, there's always a classic rerun on, it seems. My favorite scene of all time is from "Bart vs. Australia," when Homer taunts a guard on duty at the U.S. Embassy. Are you like one of those English guards who can't laugh or smile or anything?" asks Homer, making faces. The guard punches him in the face, saying "No SIR! US Marine Corps, SIR!"
• But make sure to investigate: Cartoon Network's zany cartoon about a Happy Meal gone bad. Featuring the goofy but bighearted Meatwad the meatball, who delivers classic lines such as "Master Shake told me to go in the freezer because there was a carnival in there. There was no carnival, it was a damn freezer! I got freezer burn, and I got mushed up against that chicken."
MOVIES
• You already know about: OK yes, there is a scene where a marionette spews what appears to be gallons of vomit. But it's all worth it for the scene featuring Kim Jong Il's Black Panthers of Death! Um, meow?
• But make sure to investigate: the funniest zombie movie ever, and maybe the funniest movie of the year, bar none. Best scene: Ed and Shaun sort through Prince albums to choose weapons to throw at the zombies. Ed suggests "Purple Rain," Shaun says no. Ed suggests "Sign o' the Times," Shaun says no. Ed suggests the "Batman" soundtrack. Shaun says "Throw it."
WEB SITES• You already know about: , with its überfabulous . Without them, how would we know that global warming will result in "even fewer opportunities for snowmen to magically come to life"?
• But make sure to investigate: , where Matt reviews the pop culture of our past and the weird foods of today, among other things. His comment on Shrek ogre-green Twinkies still cracks me up: "The box says the Shrek Twinkies taste exactly the same as the originals, but I didn’t experience that familiar throat-tickle upon biting in. Actually, the creamy middles feel a lot heavier, seem more sugary, look like wasabi, and other than the fact that they’re inside Twinkies, bear no similarities at all to the original white goo. I’ve never known kids to turn down anything edible and toxic green, so the promotion should do well. If it doesn’t, I’ll edit this article in a few weeks to make my psychic skills look better.”
• The . Guys. You're killing me here, guys. What was that line from "? Something like "Some teams have tried tackling..."
What never fails to make you laugh? Send it in. We all need more laughter in our lives these days.
•
Here's the story, of ‘The Brady Bunch’ hitting DVD
With so much cluttering the DVD racks these days, it makes a viewer wonder what happened to some of the classic shows that, it seems, should have been on DVD years ago.
I guess we're getting caught up: is finally out, and is on the way this month.
But this 1970s kid was thrilled to read on the wonderful TVShowsonDVD site that yet another classic is coming to home viewing: Here's the story, of . The rumor is that the first season will be out in March, and that seasons 2-4 all could be joining it before the end of the year.
What's that you say? Whoever would need "The Brady Bunch" on DVD, when the show is on in reruns seemingly around the clock?
It's true that it's not like the show has ever been forgotten. You can turn on any number of channels at any hour of the day and catch "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" or Johnny Bravo ("You fit the suit!").
But it'll be fun, for those of us who aren't ashamed to admit we still love the show, to get it on a DVD box set. Just think of the extras they could come up with: It's not like and are swamped with jobs these days, so we can hope that the cast can get together to do some fun commentaries.
I recently caught some of "The Brady Bunch" 35th anniversary special, and it was fun to watch the cast point out some bloopers. There's a great scene where Susan Olsen as Cindy trots into the kitchen and gives Alice some flowers, then Olsen thinks she's offscreen and makes a face, captured on camera.
I'd hope they'd round up a bunch more of those on a DVD set. And maybe they could pull one of those fun "I Love the '70s" type commentaries, with various celebs or real people discussing the importance of the 1970s favorite family.
I'd also like to see them include a faux-documentary on the lameness of the addition of , a trend that was picked up by dozens of shows for years to come, and is still being done today.)
Sure, the show was campy and goofy, but there's a real place for the Bradys in our history. In D.J. Waldie's wonderful book, "Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir," he talks about how, even though his life was not like the perfect family portrayed onscreen, he and his sister watched the show with rapt attention, fascinated by what they saw.
The show continues to fascinate, and I'm hoping the DVD collections examines the phenomenon half as well as Waldie did.