home-alone « WordPress.com Tag Feed

November 29, 2009

rachelbirds — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 14:11:36 +0000

Home alone right now –
cup of joe in hand and head
full of ideas.

Harry Lyme: Cop and Robber.

Derek — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:40:17 +0000

At the start of Chris Columbus’s classic “Home Alone,” character actor Joe Pesci plays a smiley Chicago police officer named Harry Lyme. He’s dashing in the baby blue uni, and even a little charming as the McCallister kids run amuck around the family’s suburban mini-mansion. But Harry, the character he plays so well, is not an officer of the law — he is a bandit. A wet bandit, at that. A crook. A thief. A regular, everyday criminal who steals for a living.

Using his seemingly legitimate position as a policeman as a front, Harry scopes out the McCallister home from the inside prior to his attempt to rob it. His cover as a cop effectively makes him not one person, but two: who he really is (a thug), and who he really isn’t (innocent). There is also a touch of irony in his dual role, as the two characters he plays mirror each other. On one hand, he is Harry, the upstart, well-to-do man in uniform, ready and willing to serve a family in need as it prepares to vacay to Paris. But on the other, he is Harry, the disgusting, bottom-feeding piece of garbage so ugly on the inside it would make a normal person’s — i.e. Kevin — head spin.

Is Harry convincing as a cop? Is he convincing as a robber? That is up to the audience to decide. But there is something unsettling about his appearance as the former. He is obviously bad. Pesci’s face was all over the posters and papers prior to the film’s release as Harry, the wet bandit. Obviously, we are not supposed to buy him as a cop. But it is also in the way his character is written. John Hughes, the terrific, late bastion of ’80s nostalgia pieces, wrote Harry in such a way that he is so obviously not a cop, cluing people in to what his real motives are. It’s subtle. A look in his eyes, a peer around a corner. The tone of his voice. Though he wears the mask of a man of the law, it is more like a veil: thin and translucent; partially revealing the true monster beneath it, but not entirely.

That mask, as expected, slips off the second he and his accomplice Marv (Daniel Stern) hone in on the McCallister residence. Marv is much simpler than his partner in crime. Clearly not he brains of the outfit, it is his job to offer support where and when needed, physically and emotionally. If the television in the family room was too heavy for Harry’s small, round frame to handle alone, Marv would move in and lend a hand. That is the extent of his duties: to be there. Never did he stake out homes he wanted to knock over, nor map out escape routes. Whereas Harry lived a most insincere double life, convincing both himself and others of his “A” side, Marv wore no such mask. Marv’s motives were entry-level, and as such, he only identified as a criminal.

At the end of the film, after the bandits are burned, the day is saved and the old man with the shovel kicks some ass, Kevin’s father Peter (John Heard) finds Harry’s false tooth, itself a metaphor for the type of person he is. His fake life netted him real money to invest in a fake golden tooth. The beauty of that conclusionary scene is Peter’s reaction. “Huh.” Simple. But at the same time, completely complicated as it again clues the audience into the precise emotions of the character on the screen. Peter now knows that the cop he hired to protect his family was in fact there to kill him. Or at least rob him of all his material possessions.

That scene wouldn’t feel right if not for the brilliant writing of Hughes, who has a penchant for making his stories come full-circle. After all, what would “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” had been without a young Matthew Broderick rushing home through the suburbs, overcoming the odds to make it into his bed where he started the film? Had the audience not caught the initial glimmer of Harry’s tooth in the first 10 minutes of “Home Alone,” the meaning of that final scene, and much the movie itself, would be lost. So too would the audience.

What does Peter finding the tooth say about him? About Harry? For one, it shows that Peter is a busybody who hurriedly rushes through his routine to get his family on the plane to Paris. Conveniently late, he doesn’t make assumptions about the police officer at his door to “check things out”; he lets him in and doesn’t think twice about it. And Harry, the only character in the movie besides Kevin who understands the importance of planning ahead, fails himself by leaving behind the one possible bit of evidence that can convict him. Of course he and Marv are in cuffs by the time the credits roll anyway, but losing his tooth goes a long way to shatter his identity and further render his “good guy” mask obsolete.

But why the mask? The most intriguing part of the story is the duality of Harry’s character — or characters. While he uses the mask, on a surface level, for intel on the homes he plans to rob, part of me feels he puts on the mask to gain understanding of how the “real” world works: real people, real families, real jobs, real happiness. If those real people see him as a real person with real happiness, they can better identify with him and make him feel whole. Police officers, on the whole, are widely renowned and respected. They take pride in their work and uniform. Harry takes pride in being a cop, if only for a brief moment before transforming back into the slimy miscreant he really is. Criminals take no pride in their work. Criminals take no pride in their uniform. They rob houses and dress in black because it is necessary for their survival. Or so they often think. There is no point of pride in what Harry does.

The gold tooth, in this story, is the golden calf — the false idol to which Harry bears witness. It is why he steals and subjects himself to a life of crime, both petty and substantial. It is the reward of a long day’s (or night’s) work, and wearing it around serves as his trophy. When he smiles, the tooth shimmers and catches light, alerting all nearby to his wealth and success. Yet it is pride, the seventh of the deadly sins, that spells his eventual demise. Had he not bought the tooth, or even worn it in public, Peter and the rest of the family (minus Kevin) would have no idea who he really is. But isn’t that the point? To know who Harry the police officer really is beneath the teeth and mask?

The argument can be made that Harry’s mask is the police outfit itself. Like a kid on Halloween, he too plays dress up to conceal his true identity. Being a cop shows the world that he is happy and rich in life and spirit, and not living his days miserably as a two-bit thug. He is so dissatisfied with who he is that he slips on the mask every time he needs to feel validated or important. Whenever someone shows doubt in his most basic abilities or accomplishments, he slides on the blue uniform and revels in the moment that comes from proving somebody wrong. But deep down, Harry is not happy. He is not accomplished. He is only wearing the shirt and pants of someone with those attributes. He is only covering up how he truly feels and who he truly is.

“Home Alone” was well-received by viewing audiences but not so much by critics. It wasn’t a candidate for Best Picture, and won neither of the two Oscars it was nominated for. It was a financial hit and remains a holiday classic, but its deeper moral themes are oft overlooked and subdued by the ridiculous devices used by director Columbus, the timely score of John Williams and the famed “protect the house” sequence. Looking deeper, the film strikes a chord with its relatability. Who hasn’t worn a mask in a time of crisis? Who hasn’t put on a happy face to convince the masses of how you’re supposed to feel? Masks and uniforms and veils may cover up the true heroes — or monsters — but they aren’t uncommon. The moods of one’s friends, family, followers and faithful are so dependent on that of others that there sometimes is no other logical choice but to smile, nod along and let them know everything is all right when it really isn’t. It isn’t lying or being dishonest, rather, instinctual and defining of who human beings truly are.

TV Tips 29 november 2009 - Ensam hemma

Stefan — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:54:52 +0000

Jag missade det igår men såg nu att bloggen firade 1 månad igår! Kul även om tiden har sprungit förbi men samtidigt är jag ganska stolt över att ha levererat ett TV-tips varje dag. I besöksväg så blir det 100 – 200 unika besökare varje dag vilket jag anser vara otroligt bra för första månaden. Nu bygger vi vidare på detta och fortsätter växa!

Idag blev jag positivt överraskad när jag såg att nostalgifilmen Ensam hemma från 1990 sänds på TV3. Det var ett par år sedan jag såg den senast men jag är säker på att den fortfarande lockar till skratt och underhållning. Det var helt enkelt bättre kvalité på kärleks- och barnfilmerna förr. Det enda som egentligen har utvecklats är action och thriller.

Längre in på kvällen hittar vi Big Bang Theory på Kanal 5 följt av ett dubbelavsnitt av Entourage. Tyvärr tog jag mig inte tid att haka på nysändningen av Entourage utan valde istället att påbörja Psych. När jag har gått igenom samtliga avsnitt av den serien blir det dock dags för Entourage.

Handling för Ensam hemma

Filmen handlar om 8-årige Kevin McCallister (spelad av Macaulay Culkin) som blir kvarglömd hemma när övriga familjen åker på semester till Frankrike över jul. Under tiden de är borta kommer det två klumpiga inbrottstjuvar, Marv och Harry. Kevin får själv försöka se till så att deras inbrottsförsök misslyckas. Men Kevin är smart – och svår att lura.

17:55 – Ensam hemma på TV3
21:55 – The Big Bang Theory på Kanal 5
22:30 – Entourage på TV6
23:05 – Entourage på TV6

Länktips: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

It's Christmas!

jeckylphoto — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:53:52 +0000

Christmas time is my favorite holiday, I kid you not I start singing Jingle Bells in preparation in September. We have at least one Christmas CD in the changer in both our cars, we are Christmas fanatics. Our house is completely decorated for the holidays and God bless my wife she already had the Christmas lights hung when I got home from my trip last week, which meant I did not have to go into the attic to get the lights down.

Did I tell you how much I love my wife, she makes the holidays wonderful. All the decorations are hung in the house and both our trees are decorated. We have one tree at the front of the house in a bay window towards the street and another in the living room. Did I mention that my wife already had the Christmas cards in the mail the day after Thanksgiving, in fact we have already received several calls from you letting us know you got it, be patient if you haven’t they are in the mail.

The sights and smells of Christmas are just around the corner, I cannot wait until Christmas Eve, we have friends and family over and I cook a ham and we have more food than we know what to do with so if you are lacking a place for the holidays we always have an extra plate. Then on Christmas Day we head over to my parents and exchange gifts.

Stephen’s Top 10 Christmas movies not to be left off your list, these are in no particular order except the 1st one, it’s my favorite:

How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, A Christmas Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Polar Express, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life, Frosty The Snowman

Below are a few ornaments hanging from the trees and garland.

God Bless you this holiday,

Stephen & Jeanene

Napkin fun...

Brien — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:10:35 +0000

Thanksgiving was fun. Great food. Great friends.

During the Euchre tournament (cards), I got the opportunity to watch my wife play with the other card sharks, but more importantly I got in a few hours of doodle time.

Home Alone 2 was on, and the part where the kid is roaming around New York tripped me out when I saw the Twin Towers. Very chilling to think about that the whole landscape there is changed. I know that the directors and writers wanted to choose landmarks that would help the film be enjoyed for years, but that part yanks us back to reality that nothing stays the same. Even in our safe country. Change is a constant, never settle for the way things are, or the way things were. Just be ready for it.

Random doodles abound, ink on Zona’s high-quality Thanksgiving napkins. I also wanted to memorialize Pat’s incredible reflexes when he caught a flying bear puppet like some kind of ninja. This event is toward the bottom left.

More to come.

Vine Craciunul!

gorby15 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:15:31 +0000

Mai este mai putin de o luna si vine Craciunul.Deja apar anumite reclame cu si despre Craciun.Abia astept de Craciun filmele.Alea imi plac cel mai mult.Pe langa faptul ca razi,iti aduc aminte si de spiritul Craciunului.Si daca tot vorbim de televiziune aveti aici si una din cele mai frumoase reclame de la Coca-Cola:

Mi se pare amuzanta partea cu soarecele si pisica,cred ca is Tom&Jerry.Pe langa asta mai sunt si filmele.Stie vreunu dintre voi niste filme de Craciun??Cu exceptia “Singur acasa”,”Bad Santa” si alea cu Stuart,soricelul.Cine mai stie si altele,sa lase comment!

pepper+cookie+old+men

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:09:14 +0000

Ahhhgg. Ibland kan jag tycka att det är mysigt att vara hemma och sjuk, men inte nu. Har snor upp till hjärnan, en ständigt bultande huvudvärk och ångest över att jag borde plugga till sluttentan som är i mitten på december. Får börja med det imorrn. Idag ska jag bara äta kanelbullsskorpor, dricka rosa té och titta på julklipp på YouTube.

「Nu är det bra! Nu är det dåligt… Nu är det bra! Nu är det dåligt…」

Funderar på att börja på ryska igen.

Was there something else?

Jeena — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:19:57 +0000

I have done e-checkin on Emirates but on the leg from Dubai to London, doesn’t look like DH and I will be sitting together. Why does the system apologize when I try to swap his seat next to mine? I can change my seat anywhere, but system won’t budge DH! Is there a sinister reason? And just my luck that there is no empty seat next to DH.

I am hoping that they will be able to fix it at the counter – fingers crossed, coz that’s what I’ve promised DH.

Packing is half done, Siya has been put in a nice kennel where there will be loads of friends and just need to shut down the house.

Jazz and Sangi want to know whether they can join – packed as luggage, of course. Sorry ladies, 30 kg is max baggage allowance. I know both of you are over that limit by at least 20kg!

It looks like a night out! We’re to fly out in the wee hours and have to get to the airport at around 1am. So I may as well say goodbye sleep what with the loads of other pending tasks on that very short checklist. I have a feeling we are forgetting something. (Deja vu from Home Alone!)

TWENTY-THREE: SPECIAL FEATURE #5

sarahpingeton — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 02:56:56 +0000

Welcome to the Thanksgiving post. Thanksgiving is an important day of the year, and very well may be my favorite holiday. It’s a seriously great meal, and as a child I would often get birthday presents from Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents who would not have another opportunity to see me before the anniversary of my birth.

This Thanksgiving has been pretty standard with one major exception: Chuck did the majority of the cooking. This man, my father, has done little more than reheat pasta for himself over the course of the last 30 years, and has never cooked a complete meal for himself that I am aware of. But, beginning yesterday he took charge of the kitchen and managed to prepare a completely delicious Thanksgiving feast, with all the trimmings, on par with any of the previous 22 that I have tasted. Who knew that Chuck had so many talents?

So we’re having a completely wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving, just like we’re supposed to.

Originally, I planned a different SPECIAL FEATURE for today, because I wanted today’s pick to be the final SPECIAL FEATURE, so the category could be bookended by John Hughes films. (Yes, apparently, bookended is a real word. I was shocked, too). But there is only one true holiday tradition in the Pingeton house, and that is watching this fine, fine production every Thanksgiving day. Home Alone is not only the greatest Christmas movie ever made, it is the greatest movie ever, period.

Home Alone is, without any doubt or hesitation, my favorite film. Written and produced by John Hughes, this 1990 film follows Kevin McCallister through his adventures when he is accidentally left home alone when his family heads to Paris for Christmas. Kevin believes that he has made his family disappear when he wakes up to find them missing, after having stomped at the top of the stairs while shouting, “When I grow up and get married, I’m living alone!”, and telling his mother that family sucks and that he wished he didn’t have one.

His time starts out the way any 8-year-old might spend time if they were left home alone for an indefinite period: he makes messes, runs around the house, jumps on the bed, and eats an obscene amount of junk food while watching movies his parents told him he wasn’t allowed to view. Things turn sour for the young McCallister pretty quickly though, as Harry and Marv, the burglars who are scoping the neighborhood, pay him a visit. He keeps his cool and scares them off, but the rest of the movie centers around his encounters with the self-proclaimed Wet Bandits.

We see Kevin act very adult; cleaning himself and grocery shopping, preparing for Christmas, and doing laundry, and we see the parallel story of his mother trying to get back to Chicago; scared out of her mind that he’s going to burn the house down or find some other way to kill himself.

Home Alone relies heavily on quick-witted exchanges and the brilliant writing of John Hughes. I know most of the script by heart, and I can tell you with confidence that there is not a single piece of dialogue that is anything less than perfect. There’s a great story-line regarding the South-Bend Shovel Slayer, who is in actuality just a nice old man, and the crap Kevin pulls off is ingenious and somehow believable despite how implausible it is. When he creates the decoy Christmas party to make Harry and Marv believe that he is not home alone, he pulls off an amazing stunt, but you might think that two grown men might recognize that the Michael Jordan cardboard cutout gliding around the room on a train set isn’t human.

The best part of the movie is the excitement that ensues during the execution of “The Battle Plan” against the Wet Bandits on their Christmas Eve break-in. Kevin booby traps the house in fantastic ways, and really beats the crap out of Marv and Harry. The sequence is as true to action-adventure as a Christmas movie can dream of getting. Of course, I can’t reveal what happens, because if you haven’t seen it, YOU NEED TO and it shouldn’t be spoiled.

I find it nearly impossible to believe that Home Alone came out 19 years ago (original release date was Nov. 16, 1990), and I think that might be a sign that I’m starting to get old. I just can’t imagine a better film ever being created. It is an absolute high point in the works of John Hughes, and while Home Alone 3 & 4 might hurt the integrity of the original work (they probably hurt the integrity of all of John Hughes’ work), Home Alone stands as cinematic masterpiece.

Apparently other people don’t feel as strongly about the film as I do. It was slim pickings on YouTube. This is what I chose.

But really, just watch the damn film.

The Nightmare of Holiday Travel captured in a John Hughes Movie.

savorydish — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:17:26 +0000

Though John Hughes penned both Home Alone and Planes, Trains & Automobiles. I’ll take Steve Martin and John Candy trying to get home for Thanksgiving over Macaulay Culkin stranded home alone anyday. Leaving us to debate what is the best scene. (major spoiler ahead)

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

braingutshands — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:24:40 +0000

It’s hard to believe, but today marks my sixth American Thanksgiving as an expat in Canada. While I was in school, I was far too consumed with end-of-term exam preparations and long nights writing papers to give the holiday much thought, but now that I’m graduated and off in that bizarre mobius strip that is the “real” world, I have a little more mental energy left to expend on the whole concept of Thanksgiving and my own complicated relationship with the celebration.

Growing up, I always had mixed feelings about the holiday. Sure, I loved the opportunity to get together with my extended family and I’ve always been fond of stuffing my face. I definitely appreciated the four-day weekend. I liked other things too: watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade with its ridiculous floats and mind-numbing commentary; pretending to enjoy football alongside my dad and uncles in my grandparents’ den after dinner; catching the first holiday screenings of Home Alone (which, during the ’90s, was a network television staple of Thanksgiving Day) and blindly absorbing the first seasonal inundations of commercial “must-have” toy propaganda. In a partial food coma, I would begin mentally crafting my holiday wish lists as little Kevin McCallister outfoxed Joe Pesci and the narrator from The Wonder Years.

Just one big, happy family? Yeah, that didn't last too long. (img courtesy of http://angryindian.blogspot.com)

I also dug the glass-half-full Eurocentric holiday narrative that, despite my largely progressive public Montessori education, I was still fed. (Somewhere in my parents’ Milwaukee home there exists photographic evidence of a cringe-inducing “Thanksgiving play,” penned by a seven-year-old me, in which my blond haired, blue eyed younger cousins were enlisted to play the rosy-cheeked pilgrims against the dark haired, dark eyed “Indians” that were my brothers and I.) The heartwarming fairytale of those “nice,” “simple” Indians who were so kind as to share their harvest with the industrious but unprepared pilgrims really spoke to me, and to the principles of humility and generosity I’d been taught to value within my Catholic upbringing. The only person in my life to really challenge this starry-eyed narrative was, oddly enough, my mother.

My mother is not always the most politically correct person in the world. She doesn’t try to be. She says what’s on her mind, and the results are often hilarious. Anyway, my mother was the first person, in the early-mid ’90s, to tell me anything contrary to Thanksgiving story I was being told at school. “The pilgrims were thieves,” she said, casually, when I told her the version I’d been given. “They were the bad guys.”

My mother also routinely shit-talked Christopher Columbus, so I shouldn’t have been too surprised. But, coming from a family where the word of Teacher rivaled that of God, I was skeptical about this one. My beloved Ms. Allison had told a story where there were no bad guys, and furthermore, isn’t teacher always right?

Mama broke it down. She said the pilgrims might have been nice to the Native Americans at first out of necessity, but once they were able to figure out how to survive on their own they became consumed by greed and imperialistic notions of entitlement, at the expense of indigenous lives, lands, and cultures. Of course, being that I was an elementary schooler, this alternative history was probably boiled down to a few choice words and an eyeroll, but it left a lasting impact. My Salvadoran immigrant mother, perhaps unknowingly, gave me my first lesson in anti-Colonial discourse. She also, unwittingly, taught me that the teacher isn’t always right (a sentiment that I may have taken a little too far throughout most of high school, but whatevs).

Anyway, I write this fully knowing that I am going to be partaking in a huge and elaborate Thanksgiving feast later this evening. I still had a full day of work today, and I’ll have another tomorrow. It doesn’t particularly feel like a holiday, or anything other than an excuse to experience the kind of gluttony that only a fraction of the earth’s population would be privileged enough to enjoy. But, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thankful, because truly, I am.

-K

Youngstown's Hollywood Connection

Scott W. Smith — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:27:02 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving. Before I take a circuitous route to point out yet one more connection between Yo

Where the Hell is Mel Day # 0/32

Victorino — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:30:45 +0000

A Mel foi embora e eu não consegui me despedir. Tomara que isso não seja um mau sinal. Boa viagem Mel!

Thanksgiving Edition

bladeimsande — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:39:20 +0000

Shout out to…

The Reader of the Week, Miss Mary McRae! I’ll be thinking about you over the holiday weekend and am super excited to be home with the family over Christmas. You not only win a free cocktail, but also a village inn pizza, which I may or may not take out of the allowance I get for the night. Love you!

Shout out to…

Also a bonus shout out to all the readers of the daylight savings times. I’m thankful you’re my friends and I’m going to pick you up next time I see you. Heather I’ll see you at Christmas for some holiday pizza and tacos.

Lately I’m thinking…

“Buzz I’m going through all your stuff, you better come out and pound me”. Yep, Home Alone season starts tomorrow! I’ll be taking the dvd and my kansas snuggie with me to the Klitz residence – who wants to hang out? “Ma’am, I’m eight years old. You think I would be here alone? I don’t think so.”

This is really interesting…

I just seriously made up a joke – i’m going to try it out here – Q: How do you cook a parrot? A: Make sure you pre-parrot first with glaze and stuffing. Get it? “prepare it” HAHHA personally i’ve laughed out loud 3 times in a row

The Soapbox:

Have a safe and fun thanksgiving everyone! (RHYME ALERT bee boo bee boo) Wow who knew, all i had to do (rhyme) was switch the safe and fun around and i’d have a rhyme every time (rhyme). Go Huskies

Screenwriting Quote of the Day #116 (Chris Columbus)

Scott W. Smith — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:07:31 +0000

Since I agree that creativity is simply connecting influences (not my phrase) today’s post is

Star Wars en concert au Centre Bell avec un orchestre symphonique

raymondviger — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Star Wars en concert au Centre Bell avec un orchestre symphonique Le Groupe Spectacles Gillett et An

Before John Hughes was John Hughes (part 1)

Scott W. Smith — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000

I have no idea how many advertising copywriters have become produced screenwriters, but I have an id

Eating too much "RAW" nutella, I feel sick

honeyhayes — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:55:50 +0000

Wind, and why I don't like it

Tara — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:34:41 +0000

I really, really don’t like windy nights. I find it very hard to sleep, especially when I am h

We Just Can't Cope

karyninla — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:00:39 +0000

We were in Long Beach with a friend this weekend, and Eric totally walked up to a group of young kids and said, “Boo”. Ha! How mean! He asked me if he could growl at another group. I told him to behave.

Also, walking through the child’s playroom-type section to get through to the register at Ikea this weekend was total madness. I thought I was going to cry louder than those kids. The whole experience made me all itchy and worried. BIG KIDS CAN GET SCARED TOO! -K

Hobnobbing with the Elite

arzupancic — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:23:03 +0000

December is quickly approaching and that means preparations are beginning to be made: gifts are gotten, the house is decorated, Christmas DVDs are brought out, David Sedaris’ holiday classic “Holidays on Ice” is dusted off and placed bedside, a sweater is procured, and facial hair is grown. Yes, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Next year, take the holidays to another level. Adopt my perfected routine and start growing your Christmas ’stache in October. Thanks to the American Mustache Institute, aficionados of life have a reason to start the holiday season with Halloween, not Thanksgiving. Every year, St. Louis hosts a party for the elite- the Mustache Bash- at Lumiere Place casino. So next year, forget your neighbor’s “costume party” or a haunted hey ride and head to the Bash, facial hair at the ready and have a blast knowing that you will wake up the next day feeling great to have gotten a jump on your holidays stache.

Yours truly is featured circa 1:40 in the commemorate video for the 1st Annual Mustache Bash, enjoy. I look forward to posting posting some holiday video that features a much improved and far more dashing crumb catcher, but until then, rejoice in the knowledge that it’s growing. It’s growing.

Viral Videos

shamusoconner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:59:51 +0000

I’m pretty sure that if I had a barrel of trash to burn that I would make sure that there are not any gasous and explosive fumes to fuel a hazardous rocket-can of self destruction. I mean… you never know what might singe your face into a Kentucky Fried Chicken Secret Recipe. {Failblog}

The Easy Toner is a new shoe from Reebok that claims to give you “better legs and a better butt with every step.” I’m gonna have to put my support behind this because a world with better butts is a better world. {With Leather} Update: Two more Easy Toner commercials. {Warming Glow}

While stuffing her face, Molly Sims lets us know that she’s not just a model with a great body in a bikini, but a model with a great body in a bikini that can act… in a bikini. I would watch her movies. {Hollywood Fail}

Remixed: Home Alone meets Saw. Kevin McCallister sets traps and plays a game with unsuspecting burglers, Harry and Marv. I have a feeling that Old Man Marley may have his hands in helping Kev out. What else could a trash can full of salt be good for besides torturing people. {College Humor}

Remember, They have to Adjust too!

perfectlypawsible — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:36:46 +0000

For those of you that follow this blog, you know I’ve been moving for the last several weeks. While Amanda, my office assistant, helps here and there, much of the work falls on my shoulders. So everything goes slow. Very slow in some cases. Then there’s running the business, doing various Chamber events (we support both the Canton Regional and Jackson/Belden Chambers of Commerce), singing at Primavera’s Italian Restaurant on Friday nights, teaching for Portage Lakes Career Center – oh yeah and sneaking in some sleep here and there! So my apologies yet again for not being as “on top” of this blog as I’d like to be.

That preamble sets up something we tend to forget: The dog. Lexi, my German Shepherd, is an amazing dog. Incredibly smart, more obedient than I even understand, and a great companion. This week, I finally brought her to the new pad/office; our new home. We tend to think because we understand something, so will the dog. How ignorant we are sometimes! More than that, I think it’s how much we take our pals for granted. Even though I had brought her here to visit several times, for the first three days she pretty much had the runs. It’s called stress.

Remember that anything outside of your dog’s normal routine will cause stress. Sometimes its no big deal, sometimes it is. It depends on the cause of the stress, the intensity, duration and then just how your particular dog will react to those variables. She also ate less food for a couple days. Both reactions are perfectly normal.

Another way we take Fido for granted is that while we have meetings and work and all kinds of ways to help us or entertain us, all your dog has is you. We’ve had Lexi since May. In that time, I can’t think of a single “human” thing she’s gotten into. She just doesn’t touch stuff unless it’s specifically placed in her mouth. This week has been particularly stressful working with utilities and many, many meetings. Yesterday I was in and out way too much; every time allowing her out to do her duty. But when I got back yesterday, she had found a roll of masking tape and a carpenter’s pencil. Both items had my scent on them. Both were chewed to throw-away status. Many people think their dog is “punishing them” for a lack of attention. I don’t think that dogs think that way. I DO think, however, that my dog so craved SOMETHING from me, that she found some stuff with my scent on it in an effort to help her comfort level.

What did I do? No punishment whatsoever (Why punish the dog because I was an idiot?). I threw them away and spent about 30 minutes on the floor with her, petting, playing and giving her attention. The rest of the night she was under my feet, which is very unusual for her. Lonely? I think so.

Remember that you brought the pet into your home. They really didn’t choose you. We have to make sure we honor that responsibility. If you’ve never read it, we have a Pet 10 Commandments on our website. I didn’t write it. Many pet sites have borrowed it. Read it and remember; they need to adjust too!