The flesh market off Magnolia is in full swing.
The open air drug markets are operating at full holiday capacity.
And the waitresses at Hooters are asking for Kevlar T-shirts.
But the citizens of Knoxville can sleep easy because their City Police department is engaged in an all out effort to make sure nobody speeds on I-40 between West Hills and Papermill.
Frank Murphy, family man and funny man, tagged me with the Christmas meme. SO, here we go:
Rules for the game include:
1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share Christmas facts about yourself.
3. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Welcome to the Christmas edition of "Getting to Know Your Friends."
1. Wrapping or gift bags? Diabolically deceptive wrapping. My oldest son Adam has an uncanny knack for figuring out what is in the package before unwrapping it. I once wrapped a set of drumsticks in a dur-dur tucked inside 5 nested boxes, along with a couple of bricks to disguise the weight. ( A dur-dur is the empty cardboard tube left inside of a roll of paper towels. You use it to sound the trumpets for a charge. "Dur dur du dur doo dur!")
2. Real or artificial tree? Both. This year we only had time to put up the artificial tree, but I usually put up two trees.
3. When do you put up the tree? As soon as I get time. Usually the day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down? As soon as I get time. Usually the day after Thanksgiving.
5. Do you like egg nog? Absolutely!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? All of them.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? For 5 years in a row, every Christmas Eve, when it was time to assemble the toys, I got a stomach bug. One year,my wife and I were both too sick to make it back upstairs after arranging the tree so we just slept downstairs on the couch and surprised the kids when they came down to scope out Santa's handiwork.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Three years ago,I mailed out over 50 Christmas cards to friends, family, and acquaintances. The following year, I got one card.
From my life insurance agent.
I don't do cards anymore.
10. Favorite Christmas Movie? Die Hard
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Today.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Seven layer cookies.
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? The proper term is "African-American", not colored.
14. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid Donner and.....there are only 7 left. Donner got hungry.
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? When I get presents under the tree, I'll let you know.
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Folks who not only don't get into the Christmas spirit, but want to make sure you don't get into it either.
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? Nope, but that's a neat idea.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing. His cholesterol is elevated and he needs to drop a few pounds.
22. Least favorite holiday song? The Chipmunk Song.
23. Favorite ornament? I don't have one.
I'm not tagging anybody because, well, you probably all have more important things to do today and tomorrow. Spend time with you friends and families.
Dinner with good friends
Means adult conversation
Without the phone bill.
This may also be my last haiku.
Or maybe "inaction" would be more accurate. Let me see if I have this straight. The US Congresscritters can't manage to pass the general spending bills on time, and lack the political will to pass the bill funding our military at a time when our forces are in harm's way, but they get together to talk about baseball.
Sometimes there just aren't enough words...
Rhymes with "I'm Pissed."
Why take an excellent short novel, one with some excellent characterization and a compelling storyline, then tack on a completely superfluous ending that has nothing to do with any of the above?
The movie did a great job of conveying the fear and claustrophobia of the novel,right up until the last 3 minutes, when writer/director Frank Darabont stole an ending from a bad episode of The Twilight Zone.
I'm not going to spoil the ending here, but for any of you that have read the story, think of the most trite, implausible, hackneyed and manipulative ending you could come up with to tack on the end of that story,and you'll know exactly what to expect.
Spoilers below the fold
OK, so the movie ends with Daddy killing Sonny,and the other passengers, then getting out of the truck to be eaten by the monsters in the mist, only to find that the mist is rolling back, the Army is burning everything up, and saving the day. If only he'd waited another 45 seconds.
Oh the anguish, the pain, the mental torture!
Oh crap!
With screenwriting like this, I can't wait for the strike to halt movie productions as well as TV.
The ending of King's story had them driving off in the truck headed for Portland, because David may or may not have heard that word on the radio through all the static. Like all of King's better works, The Mist functions as an allegory to real life. In our daily lives we are all moving through the mist of the unknown. We fight to protect those we love from the monsters hiding in the unknown. And the only thing that keeps us fighting is hope.
Okay, a bit hokey, but an effective story. Now Hollywood is too simple minded for an ambiguous ending, so they figured they had to tack on some sort of definitive ending for the movie. They could have gone a couple of different ways and been faithful to King's story. David could have killed the other folks in the car, then vanished into the mist. Or they could have driven out of the mist and joined a long convoy headed south with the mist constantly at their backs. Either way would work.
I'd have even accepted it if the soldiers had blown David away after looking in the truck and seeing what had happened, another mercy killing. But Darabont tried to be shocking instead,and totally blew the meaning of the story. And it's a damn shame because with just a little creativity, he could have had his shock ending,and still remained faithful to the story. How?
Come with me to the version of "The Mist" that Darabont wasn't bright enough to write.
Our movie opens in a ratty looking bathroom,obviously in a public place, like a grocery store or a Walmart. We pan to a stall, come over the top of the door to see DAVID DRAYTON, disheveled and despairing,weeping silently. He's holding a revolver in his left hand and sitting on the toilet, fully clothes. He's not there to go to the bathroom. Hold on him for amoment then
CUT
Opening scenes of Darabont's movie, up to the arrival of the mist in the grocery store.
CUT
Back to Drayton, weeping on the toilet. Closeup on his face. Unbearable pain and suffering are written there, but we can tell he's the same age as the character in Darabont's movie. He whispers the name "Champ" and we
CUT
Back to Darabont's movie up to the "biggest best promise" then
CUT
Back to Drayton on the toilet. He puts the gun to his temple,and tries to squeeze the trigger, but his hand is shaking too badly,and he drops his arm hopelessly. We go very close on his eyes and
CUT
To Darabont's movie up to the 4 shots then
QUICK CUT to the bathroom where David jerks in reaction to the four shots then
CUT back to the bathroom,where DAVID abruptly places the barrel of the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. We slowly pull back to see that the restroom is in fact in the grocery store where they were trapped,and that clean up crews are repairing the store, and rush to the bathroom on hearing the shot. This sequence is intercut with the reveal form Darabont's movie.
The END
A much better movie. Why? Because with Darabont's ending, the story is no longer about how hard David fought to rescue his son; it becomes about what could drive a man who fights so hard for survival to take his own life. It maintains King's subtext while adding the director's vision as well,and gives the movie an unexpected ending to boot.
Thank you, you can send my OSCAR to my summer home.
In Maine.
No, it wasn't a great game, and no, it wasn't a heart breaking loss.
And no, it wasn't a moral victory.
Tennessee played just ok against a wounded LSU team and when the final whistle blew, the better team walked away with the win.
The Tennessee defense played an excellent game for the most part, with the glaring exception of third downs, which they allowed LSU to convert with alarming frequency. Even so, they held the Tigers to 21 points, a major accomplishment against a team that averaged almost 38 points per game. Unfortunately the Big Orange offense wasn't up to the challenge, scoring 20 points less than their 34 point per game season average.(These averages include overtime points.) Ainge made a couple of key mistakes, one of which, an interception for a touchdown, gave the Tigers the margin of victory.
Cutcliffe showed he was willing to gamble, bringing in wide receiver Gerald Jones at quarterback twice, resulting in two carries for 38 yards. Unfortunately the Vols weren't opportunistic enough to take advantage of multiple scoring opportunities, including two missed Lincoln field goals.
In short, I still get the feeling that this team is not playing the caliber of football that they are capable of. This team is better than they way they are playing.