Just because it seems better doesn't always mean better

      Always thinking if you want to remake a movie or sequel to make it better, or remake a song to make it better, doesn't mean it will always mean it gets better.



   Sometimes it's better never to remake a good movie like Psycho (with Vince Vaughn playing Norman Bates the villain) or having them have sequels to movies as well. Toy Story being an example of having good sequels. But some movies should not have not even made a sequel. First off, Home Alone (the first one) was a classic. A great film and I loved it. When the second one came out, it was ok. Not too bad, still had the same corny jokes and still has Maculy Culkin, but when it got to the third, lets just say, the franchise died with the jokes and the tiring subplot of catching burglars. And there there was a fourth and fifth that made it worse.

  They also have movies that just release to video (mostly Disney) some good some bad, mostly bad. That are mostly sequels and some of them don't deserve to even have been made. Let alone have needed to be made into a sequel like for instance Fern-gully 2: the magical rescue (or as I like to call it the tragical rescue) and there are even lamer Disney sequels like "Return of Jafar" from Aladdin or "Hunchback of Notre Dame II" and even "Mulan II" because mostly sometimes with the sequels or pre-quels, usually the same voice actors are replaced with other voice actors that try too hard, or try to match the same as the previous person but fails to do so. (ALA: Mulan II did not have Eddie Murphy voicing the dragon and they had someone else doing it half-assed) Now I'm not going to nit pick on it on it, because there were some that were actually good like the third and last Aladdin movie that revealed Aladdin's father. That wasn't half bad, and  Cinderella III wasn't too bad either (although it might have some issues)


   With songs, that's a whole other thing. They have something called "cover version" and with one song, it could played by many other people. For instance the famous "Hallelujah" song (originally played by Leonard Cohen) has been performed by many other artists. Some good, some not so good, but the best had to be form the late Jeffrey Buckly. He did the greatest performance of "Hallelujah" ever performed by anyone else, and has been considered one of the best versions of "Hallelujah" ever played. Even Peter Gabriel's song "In your eyes" also had cover versions as well such as George Benson and Kylie Minogue, but Gabriel's is better.

   Sometimes, some artist have been known to steal songs or backup tempos for a song. Like the famous "Jack and Diane" song by John Mellencamp, the background beat was stolen with use of another song by Jessica Simpson. Forgot the name of the song though. Another song stolen was "Gangsta Paradise" by Coolio, who thought the song was too dramatic to be made into a hilarious "Amish paradise" song by Weird Al.  Even "Kashmir" had a different tune when the movie "Godzilla" (another remake) came around and P. Diddy wanted to make a song with a "Kashmir" a little different, and so many Led Zepplin fans were not happy about it one bit, even if Jimmy Page was part of the project.


   So sometimes, things that people thinks can get better with a cover version song or a sequel/prequel sometimes, it is best not to fool around with a classic song or movie. Till then, Ciao bloggers!

COLD!!!!

   I know it's January, but does it have to feel like Alaska too???? It has been very cold lately and it will get colder. That got me to thinking, what will summer be like?? Will it be hotter, and hotter, and HOTTER??


    Seems mother nature likes to make the world a living hell. Wether we like it or not. Sometimes, we don't realize how cold it will get before it hits us like a bold of frozen lightning and it chills us to the bone. January is almost over, but winter is till within us until mid to end of march. It will one quick spring this year and Easter is on the last day of March this year that is for sure. Old man winter has knocked on our doors too many times and let himself in without us opening those same exact doors he's knocked.
  Winter sometimes can be an ugly word for people, but sometimes others don't mind the cold, they live the cold, they breath the cold. They'll take anything just to go into that first step of winter snow and live it.

   I, on the other hand, prefer cold over hot. I don't mind it being it cold, but not so cold that you can freeze to death out there. I'm not a big fan of the hot heat that can scorch the skin of a human being. I mean if the temperature was the "devil's oven" as I like to call it.  What I like to do if I'm too cold, cuddle up with a nice blanket and just relax in a warm house and when it's just too hot for me to handle, fans away. Ever heard of the old expression: "Man wants hot when it's cold, Man wants cold when it's hot, Man always wanting what is not" Till then, try to stay warm because spring will come soon. Till then, Ciao Bloggers!

What are your fears????

    Everyone has a fear. If we didn't we would be robots. I have many fears, and I'm trying my best to conquer some, but I don't think I can conquer them all. There are a list of fears I have that have a certain name with them. Such as...


       Arachnophobia....which is a fear of spiders. I've been fearing spiders since I was a young girl. I don't why spiders creep me out, but I just don't like it when little bugs like those spiders decide to crawl on the floor and even some spiders are known to kill. NO JOKE!!! For some reason, I don't have a huge fear of snakes unless they camouflage in the ground and yes snake bites kill more people than avalanches alone. For some reason though, I fear spiders more than snakes. Not as much as I use to when I was a little kid, but I still get creeped out when I see spiders or spider webs.


   Achulophobia... which is a fear of darkness. That's why when I sleep, I need to have my bedroom door open, or have a nightlight on when I was little. I just don't like the dark so much. I mean unless if I'm in a movie theater, and they dim the lights and you can still see a bit of light. and there is brightness on the movie screen, but where there is no windows, such as closets, pitch blackness, I just need a little light to feel safe. That's just how I am.


 Acrophobia... which is a fear of heights. I still fear heights to this day. I can't even see Hitchcock's "Vertigo" without even squinging. I don't mind staring at an airplane window but don't say the words don't look down or else I will end up looking down. I don't like going on roller coasters as well (well my heart condition won't let me) Just don't want to stand on a very, very high building and imaging vertigo straight down. I would feel like an ant would if it was on top of bed, on the edge of it, looking down.


Astraphobia.... which is a fear of thunder and lightning. Although I'm all right with the sound of thunder, it's lightning I'm more afraid of, mostly because of lightning kills more people than thunder ever would. Thunder is just a sound. Lightning is a bolt of light that comes from the sky. Plus, when I was an eight year old girl, I got my first taste of lighting when it flashed right in my face from my bedroom window. Ever since then, I've been scared of it since. I just don't like the bolts of lighting.


Colurophobia.... which is a fear of clowns. Although Krusty the clown is an acception (along with Bozo) all other clowns scare the shit out of me. I don't even like going to the circus because of them. I feel like Kramer on Seinfeld. He's afraid of clowns too. I don't even like reading Stephen King's "IT" since it's about a clown (or a spider). I never cared for clowns. I never liked clowns. I am afraid a clown will come and scare me to death. I don't know why, but many people, even my dad, aren't big fans of clowns.

    I have another fear as well.. Fear of going on TV or in public. Not huge as these five, I want to conquer that fear more.  I'm trying my best to not be afraid of speaking to people in public. I use to be shy. I use to even have a fear of dogs, but I don't anymore. Now I have a new dog name Shadow to love and care about. 


Here's another strange fact: Some celebrities have fears. Lyle Lovett has a fear of cows, that's right cows. Hillary Duff can't sleep until after she cleans her room. She has a fear of dirt. Even the actor that played Harry Potter (like me) has a fear of clowns.  Woody Allen mostly has a fear of everything!!! (Well except Manhattan)  

   We have fears. Some we want to conquer, some we are afraid to conquer. It's ok to admit your fear. It shows that your human, you are better than your fear, and someday, you'll get over it. Like I did with dogs and public speaking and soon I'll conquer my fear of heights and clowns... but till then one day at a time.... Caio Bloggers!
 

Merry Christmas to all (2012 in review)

  First off, a lot of people are in great turmoil over what happened in Newtown, CT. I am too. I just want to cry. Deep down, those 20 didn't deserve to die so young, neither did those those six adult women. Their family has my condolences. They are hurting inside as much as I am. We've been through so much grief in 2012.
    So much gun violence. From a movie theater in Colorado to a Mall in Oregon, now this. Something has to be done about this. 
      We've been through too much sadness all ready. Every time I see a child it reminds me how precious life is and how fast it can be taken away, by a maniac with a gun. It is just too sad. God rest their souls.



     And with Christmas coming up now, I don't know if Connecticut will ever be the same. I know Newtown won't be. They won't ever open Sandy Hook elementary school ever again :(  
            

    This year has been crazy, we've had a lot of ups and downs. Mostly downs. First off, we had Whitney Houston, Davy Jones and Etta James die in the early winter. Three great talents taken away from us.

   Super Storm Sandy in October (I know I'm going ahead of myself) that destroyed and brought devastation to NYC and most of New Jersey boardwalk like Atlantic City.

   Penn State Football would never be the same again after what happen with Jerry Sandusky and the infamous sex scandal with kids, plus the death of Joe Paterno (who had nothing to do with it)

  The Movie theater shooting in Colorado... I just don't want to go any further with that.
    But so much has happened. But a good thing did happen this year...

My cousin gave birth to her third child Riley. He is so adorable and full of life.. He makes every day a special day in that family. A lot of good things did happen this year.

   Obama became president again, we got a new American Idol (Phillip Phillips) Although we did lose Dick Clark this year, his spirit will live on every year the ball will drop on New Years Eve (even if Ryan Seacrest is taking over) nothing will take over Dick Clark's spirits of New Years Eve

   We also lost Neil Armstrong, Ernest Borgnine, Andy Griffith... a lot of great people, but happily they are looking down from Heaven knowing how much they've inspired us.

    This year was a great (although sad year) next year will be the sad happy and sad.

Want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and sending my condolences to the lost souls in Connecticut. Till Next year, Ciao Bloggers!

My 10 favorite Christmas Movies

   I know Christmas is coming very very fast, so I have watched many Christmas movies in my life and I have 10 that I want to list. 10 being the bottom and 1 being the best, in my opinion, Christmas movie of all time. Other people have their versions, but this is mine.


Number 10:   "Olive the other Reindeer" Yeah I know it's not much of a Christmas movie as it is a special. A dog (voiced by Drew Barrymore) named Olive of course, thinks of herself not as much as a dog but a reindeer and wants to fly to save Christmas since another reindeer was grounded during a flying lesson so she gets help from a talking penguin to get to a North Pole, but half the time her plans are side swiped by a Christmas hating postman who wants to cancel Christmas. But eventually at the end she helps Santa save Christmas.


Number 9:  "Scrooged"  A strange version of A Christmas Carol none of the less, Bill Murray plays Frank Cross, a cold hearted person who has a task of creating A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. He meets a cab driver to takes him back to his childhood (ala ghost of Christmas past) Ghost of Christmas present is a Pixie and yes they even show Frank his horrid future. But at the end, like any other Christmas Carol movie, I think although I felt it had a different way of showing it, he sees his misdeeds and eventually comes to terms with himself and becomes good.


Number 8:  "Home for the Holidays"  I know this is a Thanksgiving movie, but it could also be watched on Christmas as well. Holly Hunter plays Claudia who is a single mom and just got fired from her recent job. She wants to spend Thanksgiving with her family and gay brother Tommy. Tommy has a new friend named Leo, but he's in a long term relationship with someone else and everything goes all crazy. If you haven't seen it yet, see it. It's really funny, and it doesn't matter if it's Christmas either.


Number 7: "A Muppet Christmas Carol" Yes I know I'm know I'm putting another one up there, let me explain. I like this movie. Michael Cane, great actor. Can do a great Ebenezer Scrooge (so can George C. Scott, Kelsey Grammar, Patrick Stewart and so on and so forth) but this is a dark side of the Muppet you've never seen. It's more darker, plus you have a combination of humans and Muppet in this as you would in any other of their films in but doing Charles Dickens. There are two ghosts that are Jacob Marley. A ghost of Christmas past that is more like a child, a fat Muppet that is the ghost of Christmas present, and you don't know who is the ghost of Christmas yet to come. It was a very good one.


Number 6:  "Home Alone" Before I go any further, the third fourth and fifth one (yes there's a fifth) one were horrible. The best one to see is the classic. The original that started it all in 1990. The late John Hughes and director Christopher Columbus gave us this wonderful movie of a boy left home alone by his parents while they go on a trip to Paris. Kevin (played by Macaulay Culkin) has to deal with two thieves that break into his house and try to steal. He won't have that. He decides to take matters into his own hands by setting traps for them. But I have a question, how could he get out of the house when he was setting up the traps and not get hurt? Wow. Well still a great movie to see after I eat Thanksgiving dinner.


Number 5: "How the Grinch stole Christmas (the cartoon)" First off the Cartoon was five times better than the Ron Howard version, why? because it is short, it made more sense and it was more colorful. But that's my opinion. First off you have an awesome song "you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch" sung by Tony the Tiger, plus the person narrating the story also voicing the Grinch. Thank you Boris Karloff. But now a days, people want 3D and Canadian actors in cat suits and green makeup to play Dr. Seuss characters. God Oh mighty this cartoon should be in 3-D, along with the original Lorax, and I'm not talking about the Danny DeVito version


Number 4:  "Meet me in St. Louis" Yes this is a Christmas movie. Why is this in my list? Because it is a classic movie that deserves somewhat a mention. You have Judy Garland playing Esther Smith, and this all takes place during 1904 St. Louis world's fair of course. And an elegant ball takes place around Christmas Eve where John (played by Tom Drake) cannot Esther out to because he left his tuxedo at the tailors... well you have to see it and you get to her Judy Garland's randtion of "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Loved that version for sure

Number 3:  "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" I think this is another great and funny John Hughes movie to see if you haven't seen it. First off, Chevy Chase, Funny as hell! He plays Clark Griswold as he and the family go off to get a Christmas tree, end off getting a huge ass one, and what else leads off to is nothing but hillarity. Clark is trying to get a Christmas bonus from his stingy boss so he can get a pool built in his backyard. His neighbors, (one played by Elaine's Julia Louise- Dreyfus) think of them as psychos, he and is wife's parents are going to stay at their house, he wants to have the most lights on his house, his cousin Eddie stays over as well, and are poor and Eddie's kids don't believe and Santa and eventually, the bonus never comes and Clark goes crazy and eventually, almost ruins Chrismas eve.... What am I trying to say about this great movie??? "I pledge allegence, to the flag of the United States of America," you gotta see this movie.

Number 2:  "A Charlie Brown Christmas"  First off, best Peanuts short ever!!!!! Second would be would be that great pumpkin one. First off, Charlie is in charge of holding a play, although Charlie thinks that Christmas has gone too commercial and no one but him thinks he's nothing but crazy and as Luck quotes, "A blockhead" He tries to find the true meaning of Christmas without commercialism while his sister tires to get a letter to Santa on time and Snoopy decorates his dog house. It's so funny, but near the end, when Charlie ask what Christmas is all really about, he gets his answer from Linus who quotes from the bible saying: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which  which shall be to all people." and so on and so fourth  and he also finds a small tree to bring back and it needed was some love. I loved this special from beginning to end.


I know I should show you the number one Christmas movie I love the most, but there is another I want to mention.

Number 1/2: "A Christmas Story" When this came out, I wasn't born yet, but when I got older, I saw it and I laughed it and quoted almost every line of the hilarity that this movie had about a boy and his b.b. gun and the line his mother would always say "You'll shoot your eye out" and he would always have visions of what it would be like to have one. Also another scene where his friend put his tongue to a frozen pole and that... well never do that is the main lesson you will learn in that. Another one is the fragile leg lamp his father loved and his mother hated and "broke by accident" or uttering the curse word and soap in his mouth, or asking Santa for the gun and getting the same response he got from his mom. It's like if some adult wanted to tell his side of the story of what happens when he was a kid on Christmas day and told it through his point of view, you get this wonderful movie.

And now what I think is the best Christmas movie of all time

Number 1: "It's a wonderful life" Why is this number one on my list? Let me tell you why. When I saw this movie of a poor man, down on his luck wishing he wasn't alive, wondering what the world would be like if he wasn't around... it was just incredible. Jimmy Stewart is one hell of a great actor, plus seeing a different version of  George Baily's life. Shows every moment of his life from when he was young to his adult years, where he seemed more troubled and when loses a big chunk of money to a greedy man named Henry F. Potter who quotes that he is worth more dead than alive, and Clarance being his angel showing him everything that happens if George wasn't around. The town is not called Bedford Falls anymore, His brother would have died of a young age through that thin ice while he went ice skating, his wife would have been nothing but an "old maid" never married. He gets so upset hoping to change his errors of his ways, wanting to come back, not knowing what was going to happen. Happily running down the street seeing things were back the way they were (even greedy old Mr. Potter) and it seems when he got home, things to him were looking up. It seemed so many people heard about his troubles and were giving him some money to make up for the $8,000 that he lost. His brother toasted him saying, "To George Baily, my brother. The richest man in town" Soon the bell rings and Zuzu, his youngest says, "every time a bell rings, and angel gets his wings."  I think that's true.   That is my favorite and most loved Christmas movie of all time, and I just can't wait to see it again and again and again.


That is my top 10 list best Christmas movies ever. You might have yours but this is mine. Will blog again before Christmas, till then, ciao bloggers!

saying goodbye to home pride

   First off it's weird blogging about a bread that I have liked since I was young, but I just found out that Home Pride bread, the bread in the yellow package is from the same company that produces Twinkies. That's right HOSTESS. They made Home Pride Bread. I just found that out today.

    I thought, going in the grocery store, I thought they were just out of stock and would bring more back. Went shopping today, was so wrong. Thought it was just a weird coincidence and everyone in my family thought I should just try another bread. It's not that. I don't hate the other breads or anything it's just, I grew up loving Home Pride Bread most of my life and it's been with me for a long time.

    I also thought another company distribute Home Pride Bread, and wasn't upset when Hostess was going out of business.

        BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!

 

  I just could not believe the same company that had Twinkies, Ding Dongs and even Wonder Bread made Home Pride. One of my favorite breads ever. I've had other breads before, but nothing was like Home Pride bread of course and why? Maybe it tasted really good and it was very buttery on top with it's butter top cut and it's just not going to be the same without it. I don't care if Hostess isn't making it anymore, but if any of you read this, and love this bread as much as I do, maybe you can ask some company to bring it back so we can have it again. But till then, I'll try something new, and hopefully it'll be as good, but believe you and me nothing will be as good as the one and only yellow package of Home Pride Butter top bread. Till then Ciao boggers! and remember food comes and gos but the memories will always be fresh in your mind.

goodbye twinkies

  Hostess has gone bankrupt so it seems that we might have to say goodbye to our favorite snack foods.
But I, on the other hand, was never a huge fan of the twinkie or the ding dong or the ho hos or the sno balls.

   Nope, wasn't a big fan of any of them, but it was still a part of people's childhood that they liked and they cherished, even those old 50's commercials still ring in their ears today on how those kids still want to see Twinkie the kid or king ding dong give them.

   I'm more a fan of Tastykakes. Tastykake sadly almost went out of business but eventually bounced back, but Hostess had to let go of many workers, some of them hit the picket lines and it seemed that if they didn't come back to work, they would shut down the factory for good.
   How stupid is Hostess???

  They're even going to get rid of Wonder Bread too. Some people really love Wonder Bread, again I am not one of them. Hostess owns the Wonder Bread company as well, and sadly, when Hostess closes, Wonder Bread will go with them. Drakes bakery was sold by Hostess as well, so when Hostess goes out of business, Drakes might use another bakery for their cakes or something else will happen.

    I don't know if Twinkies will really be gone forever, but I know that Hostess bakeries is in for major liquidation and bankruptcy problems. But we still have entiments, little Debbie, and Tastykake to make our snacking satisfying.
    Till then Ciao Bloggers! and Happy Snacking