An Offering of Myself to the World

Separated at birth...

I noticed something at church today. One of our musicians has a striking resemblance to my favorite comedian, Zach Galifiankis. Especially today, since he looked a little more disheveled and had quite a bit of facial hair going on. See what you think....

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Don't forget everyone...this Sunday is the episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition featuring the Carter family in Montana!

Right now, I'm getting excited to watch The Next Great American Band. Oh, I already know the winning band will sound like Nickelback but just like American Idol, the best episodes are the ones with the people who can't sing a lick. And yes, I can laugh at them because I can't sing a note to save my life but at least I know not to go on national television and pretend like I can!

Nilsson

My music of choice recently has been songs by Harry Nilsson. The only Nilsson songs that most people know are the theme song to "Midnight Cowboy" and "Me and My Arrow". I came across this song and really took notice of the lyrics since they are so prophetic and I thought I would share them with you. I now present "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song" by Harry Nilsson....

When he was young, he sang in the band
            And his fans all loved the same.
And the fans he had were younger than he
            And they loved to scream his name.
They’d leave at the end of the third show,
            Go home to talk of the fun.

“Well isn't it nice”, the parents would say,
            “Well, isn't it nice you’'ve got someone,
Someone to idolize.
            He must look twice her size.
I think it’s great, you’re going through a faze,
            And I’m awfully glad it’ll all be over in a couple of days.”

Well, the calendar changed, the pages fell off,
            But the singer remained the same,
And he never grew tired of singing his song,
            And his fans still called his name.
They’d leave at the end of the second show,
            Go home to talk of the fun.
For most of the fans were married by then,
            So they had to be in by one.

“I’m awfully glad,” the husbands would say,
            “I’m awfully glad you’'ve got someone,
Someone I realize.
            Who used to look twice his size.
I think it’s great you still remember his name,
            And I bet if he knew you were there for the show,
He’d be awfully glad you came.

“The time has come,” the walrus said
            “To speak of other things.”
Like a fallen star who works in a bar,
            Where yesterday is king
The fans will stay for an hour or so
            They still remember his fame,
“But the time has come.” the walrus said,
            “to call your fans by name.”

Death Becomes Her

I really like the new show "Pushing Daisies". Before the pilot episode last week, I had been curious about it because the commercials reminded me of a Tim Burton movie. (colorful, like "Big Fish") I realized while watching the first episode last week that it did remind me of a Tim Burton movie but there was something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it last week. But it hit me during last nights show. The show reminds me of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". No, not the irritating movie from 2005 but the British television series, which has to be one of the best shows I have ever seen. "Pushing Daisies" has a lot of subtle, poetic word play like "Hitchhiker" and I think it is hilarious. Sure the premise is unbelievable but c'mon, who out there believes "Heroes" is true life. It has to be one of the best new shows on television. I give it five more episodes before they cancel it due to poor ratings. (What! You mean we actually have to listen to what the characters are saying? Who has time for that?) Yet, shows like "The Bachelor" are in their fourth or fifth incarnation. I watched ten minutes of "The Bachelor" whilst I was flipping through the channels the other day and I believe I am actually dumber for having watched it. Poor, dead brain cells...

Disturbing emails

First of all....I really need to put up a new banner. I didn't have my desktop computer last week (again!!) and all of my photos and software to manipulate photos is on that computer. But now, I have it back and hopefully I will find something to toss up as a banner. My site looks rather strange without one.

A co-worker sent me the following attachment in an email. I laughed so hard that I nearly had an accident! If you don't see what is funny right away don't feel bad...most of the people I showed it too didn't get it right away either...

Once

It is a very rare thing when I enjoy watching a love story. Maybe it is because I am more of a realist or maybe it is because love stories nowadays tend to have more to do with sex than with love. Who knows. But I did see a movie yesterday that I have to say was one of the best movies I have ever had the pleasure to watch.

A couple of months ago, I saw this video on VH1...

My ears perked up at the song. It is very simple yet so beautiful. The video reminded me of a promo for a movie but I did not know who these people were or what movie it could be from. Then, yesterday, I discovered what movie it was while we were deciding which Saturday movie to go to. Here is a sample of what we had to choose from...

A video game...Resident Evil: Extinction
A chick flick...The Jane Austin Book Club
Propaganda...In the Valley of Elah
The Heartbreak Kid...The previews to this movie alone made me not want to pay money to see it.
Good Luck Chuck...Dane Cook plays Chuck. That says it all. Ick.
Mr. Woodcock...The title says it all.

We looked up what was playing at the new Funhouse Theater. Well, maybe "new" doesn't describe it but "recently reopened". It used to be the dollar theater and it used to be the grossest, dirtiest movie theater you had ever seen. I was always afraid of walking away with a communicable disease after watching a movie there. They catered more to little kids. It still does cater to small fry with two-dollar movies such as "Shrek 3" and "Harry Potter" but there was one movie listed that wasn't for the little ones.

"Well" my husband said. "We have two choices at the Funhouse...'Transformers' or a love story called 'Once'." He said this knowing full well that I would choose "Transformers" over a love story. Still he continued on, "This movie, "Once", is a foreign movie and it got some really good reviews."

Great, some foreign movie with some beautiful foreign woman who is half naked throughout the entire movie. Or totally naked. Who knows. But when I checked it out on the IMDB I discovered that it was the movie that accompanies the enigmatic music video. So we decided to check it out.

I hadn't been to the Funhouse Theater for many years. I was very surprised to find it in good shape and clean. I was no longer afraid of what I could catch from the seats. "Once" was the "art movie" and cost five dollars a ticket instead of two but for a matinee it still is was cheaper than the Carmike monopoly we have here.

It was confusing to find which individual screening room was showing which movie because the names of the movies were not posted outside of the each screening room. Instead, each room had a name like "Lynn's House" or "Ed's House" to distinguish them. Our movie was playing in "Lynn's House", so we entered and sat down.

There were only about 15 people in the theater and over half of them were children. I was a little concerned because this was an R rated movie but I can't help what people take their children to. A foreign love story would be a mite boring for a little kid but maybe the parents were really adamant about seeing it. About five minutes before the movie was about to start, a little girl came in and announced that this wasn't "Shrek 3" and all the kids and parents promptly got up and left. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Once" was made in Ireland and I was a little concerned at first because I have a heck of a time trying to translate any sort of Irish or British accents into Montanan accents. I really need subtitles. But it wasn't that difficult once we got interested in the movie because it draws you in and you understand what is going on even if you can't understand what they are saying. There is even a part where the girl speaks a sentence in Czech but I knew exactly what she said. Without giving away too much of the movie, here are some other things I enjoyed about it.

**Music is a vital part of the entire movie. It is almost like another character.
**The girl is beautiful and does not have to take off her clothes or act like a slut to be beautiful.
**There is no uncomfortable sex scene at all. In fact, the characters never even kiss but yet, it is one of the most powerful love stories I have seen.
**The guy treats the girl with respect. Unlike the premise of "The Heartbreak Kid" where the husband has an affair on his honeymoon because he can't stand the girl he married.

I highly recommend seeing this movie. It would be great if Hollywood took a few pointers from it. But then again, they are busy with the election and the war and all to make a truly good movie.