Tag Archives: footloose

A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day.   Unexpectedly a good day.  I had made a plan to do a slow-cooker recipe for carnitas, and that honestly was the expectation for the day, in addtion to playing Railway Empire and Horizon Zero Dawn (which both are awesome and I’m obsessed).   I got the morning started off right with some yoga (I’m honestly past counting the days anymore as it is a daily habit now, and I intend for it to be that way from here on out), and then I got the slow-cooking started.

Slow-Cooking Carnitas – Aug 16, 2020

Larry would’ve been proud.   Used a pork butt that ButcherBox had sent to me (I’m still not sure what else to do with a pork butt besides carnitas), then got the mise-en-place done and about 8 hours later, I had delicious carnitas for dinner.   SOOO GOOD.

The main thing though that made the day surprisingly good was that I was taking some supplies over to the home where my mom is living.  It has been off limits for visitors so I expected I’d just get to drop the stuff off in the lobby but when I got there, guess what, apparently I should’ve read my emails from them as visitors are allowed again as long as you have a mask.  So I got to see mom again for the first time in over 5 months.  Even typing that just makes me sad.  She didn’t even recognize me at first as she obviously wasn’t expecting me there either – I had Gatorade in hand and she asked me to put some in the refrigerator and then asked a nurse for her phone to call me and then she realized it was me.   We hugged but I kept the mask on as it’s still an issue.   We spent some time together but neither of us are long-term visit folks, so I left and we knew that I’d come back the next weekend.   I took some pics of us together but she asked me not to post anything so I won’t.  But I really was glad to get to see her.

The evening was good as I had an amazing dinner and then I went and set up the rooftop cinema for another movie:

It felt appropriate to watch it as it was definitely one of those movies that my mom and I watched endlessly when I was growing up.  The soundtrack is still the best.  Footloose was already in my head to watch again as the Number Ones article series this past week was in 1984 when “Footloose” the song topped the charts.  Anyway, it was a fun way to end a good day.

What Else is Going on Besides Yesterday?

A lot of not much?   But I’m passing the time.  Most importantly and awesomely, Big Brother is back.  I’ve of course been posting about this All Stars season as it’s just something new but also something I have loved for so long.   I’m sad Larry isn’t able to enjoy it with me (despite his annoyance it he always would get sucked in).  I do have my friends Mel, Nicki, and Sarah to text about it while episodes are going on, so that’s fun.

With Nicki visiting frequently on weekends, we’ve taken to playing the hell out of Ticket to Ride, and so I’ve gone and bought some of the board game expansions for it.   We will have our enjoyment, dammit!

I re-discovered this picture of Larry from when we lived in Santa Monica (March 2013).  It was when Stacie and Trent had come over for the day and he was cooking dinner.   Larry looks so handsome here and has a great big smile while doing what he was amazing at, cooking and entertaining.

It’s my phone background now.  It makes me happy.

I’m going in reverse-chronological order through my pictures since my last post and while if I was better about frequent posting the pics would make it, now it’s like, eh, no need.   But I did try another recipe in mid July that was a Larry special:  the cajun chicken pasta recipe modeled on what Chili’s makes.   It’s soooo good.  Larry had the recipe in Paprika and I decided to go for it.   Honestly, it was really good, but not as good as he made it.   But I can always try again.  I was really happy to play with cooking chicken breasts though – butterflying them and then frying them on the stove makes them taste so delicious with a proper seasoning on them!

Cajun Chicken Pasta via Me – July 19, 2020

BTW, when Jon & Alyssa were out for last Thanksgiving, Jon, Michancy, and I went to pick up supplies.   One of the stops was Mission Wine & Liquor and thank GOD for that journey as it really is one of those fantastic liquor stores that actually carries a ton of wine with many options and always always has the MONTEPULCIANO.   I don’t think I need wine.com anymore although I did make sure to get my money back on that membership that gets your complimentary shipping!

I love Mission Liquor

Superman & Sound of Music – July 16, 2020

Watching movies on the roofdeck is awesome.   It’s a little bit of work to get the screen up and the projector and sound all put in place, but it’s just so worth it.   One night, I had it in me to want to see Superman up on the roof, because it’s awesome.  It’s also long, and I made an intermission for myself as I was getting a little tired.  I had posted a little about that online and Wendy brought up that maybe I could have The Sound of Music on the roof this year?   Part of me reeeeally wants to have that singalong here, but part of me is also like, is that irresponsible?   I don’t know what the best answer is.   I could see having a few people, maybe?  But it’s like, I think we could wait too.  I don’t know.   But for a moment I was excited and I decided to watch a few scenes from TSOM to make sure it worked up there!  I also discovered you really can’t go up and watch anything until it’s actually dark.  lol

I guess one last picture set to put up is actually what I ended up doing the night of my last posting, which was back on July 12.  I set up the movie theater again for myself (knowing how to do it was half the battle!) and watched The Empire Strikes Back which was having its 40th anniversary and amusingly was the #1 movie in the nation that weekend because everything else is shut down.  It’s quite awesome to watch on a big screen!

The Empire Strikes Back – July 12, 2020

One weekend when Nicki was here, we watched The Goonies up on the roof deck, so it’s been fun to watch some classics in that venue!

Those are the main pictures I’ve got.   Everything else?   Work is work, so that’s good.   I dream about Larry every now and then, and it’s nice.    Sometimes I want to post about those dreams so I can remember them later, but I usually don’t.   Some have been funny – a while ago I dreamt about us trying to get a table at brunch and it was so vivid.  Sometimes I can vaguely remember that he’s actually dead while in the dream and it makes it that much more surreal.  Like, do I tell him?

Alright, I think I’m caught up.  It’s close to September.  It’s crazy to believe Larry’s death was over 7 months ago.  I can’t really understand that 5 months have been lost just being stuck at home.   It’s fucking stupid and I hate it because if our nation had had a coordinated response that made the pain last just 1-2 solid months, we’d likely be in a position now to be rolling things out properly.  But no, that’s not this country.   We’ve got “freedom” to act as selfishly as we want and god forbid your “freedoms” are infringed upon by being asked to wear a mask.   People are just so fucking dumb.   We deserve all that we are getting.

Kevin Bacon’s Footloose Entrance on the Tonight Show

I have to post about this video as it is just SO GOOD.  Footloose’s 30-year anniversary – Kevin Bacon on the Tonight Show…..cue the epicness.  From the awesome “Never” dance scene callback throughout 30 Rock to the “Let’s Dance! / Footloose” moment in the studio….I need to watch that movie again right now.

This Week’s Pop Culture Media Addictions!

I’ve got so many addictions when it comes to pop culture, and you know what, I want to write about them.   Thank GOD I’ve got a blog…so I can do whatever I want!  We’ll run down all the major categories, as well, I love all pop culture.

MOVIES:

Footloose (2011): Well, well, well….a remake of what I would humbly declare one of the movies I was raised on, along with Jazz Singer, International Velvet, and Somewhere in Time.  I kid you not.  So of course I was skeptical upon hearing about the remake a few years back.  Then it actually got made.  And then reviews started coming in, and they were upbeat about the whole thing. WHAT?  So Larry & I rewatched the original on Blu-Ray when it came out recently and of course loved every minute of it.  With all these scenes fresh in our mind, we went to see the remake this Saturday.  Surprisingly, we walked out after the movie was done most content.  Sure, it’s not better than the original, but damn, it did a good job.  It wasn’t even cringe-worthy.  What I think I liked was that they used a few of the songs from the original, as in the exact songs. The opening scene was Kenny Loggins’ Footloose, but the dancing was all new, but eerily familiar.  And the title fonts were the same, which was amusing.  “Let’s Hear it for the Boy” in the teach-Willard-to-dance scene was also the same Deniece Williams version.  Then they just went to town putting their own spin on many of the classic scenes from the original, but also remixed them so that sometimes the same people didn’t say things in the same order as before.  Everyone in the cast is very charming, especially Ren and Ariel.  Ren is super cute.  Ariel is also cute, but I have to say I think Lori Singer was given more to work with and I bought her anguish much better than Julianne Hough’s.  Also, Dennis Quaid as Reverend Shaw wasn’t given nearly as much character development as John Lithgow was.  But if you are willing to look past some of these flaws, you are treated to quite a good show.  And the final dance scene is great, especially when you see some of those familiar 80s moves…and Willard is super cute in this one too, at certain points.  Just like the first one.  I highly recommend this and encourage fans of the original not to worry.

TV:

Community, NBC: I’m not just shilling for the parent company. I genuinely obsess and love this show.  Probably ever since Pravi and I watched the first episode before it premiered and both laughed our heads off when the character of Abed thinks he’s gone deaf.  So I was quite sad when in its third season, which started this year, it felt like the show lost something.  The first two episodes were alright and had glimmers, but the third episode was mostly meh.  And there is just too much Chang (Ken Jeong), which is unfortunate.  His first season character as the asshole Spanish professor was fantastic.  But he just became psychotic and quite frankly, skeezy.  So this last episode, Remedial Chaos Theory, was such a welcome return to form and frankly one of the most creative episodes I’ve seen for a half-hour comedy.  Ah, NBC Thursdays.  You’re so full of awesome.  In the episode, there was a die roll that determined who would answer the door to get the pizza, and each possible iteration was explored.  To hilarious, and sometimes Final Destination-y effect.  It was awesome.  So I breathe a sigh of relief in the hope that my favorite series is back on track.  I also have that sigh of relief for Glee too, but since that’s not new again until November, we’ll talk about it later.

Parks & Recreation, NBC:  Again, another NBC show.  I swear I’m not shilling.  But I can honestly say that NBC has the best comedy lineup on Thursday (the god-awful Whitney not-withstanding).  CBS has Monday night locked down, while ABC has Wednesday totally wrapped up.  Parks & Rec, which follows Community, is a show that after its first season, found a footing that it hasn’t lost since.  That footing?  Being utterly hilarious.  This episode was about Leslie having a rival girl scout troop to Ron Swanson’s scout troop.  Of course Leslie overcompensates and makes sure that it’s amazing, including fantastic candy, public forums, and naturally puppy parties.  PUPPY PARTIES. The B-story was equally awesome, with Donna and Tom taking a “Treat Yo’ Self” day to buy yourself whatever it is that makes you happy.  They notice that Ben is having a sad though and invite him reluctantly along.  He “treats” himself by buying socks, which isn’t flying, so eventually he ends up buying a Batman costume.  His other issues overwhelm him and he starts to cry in happiness and sadness…while dressed in Batman.  It’s utterly fascinating, and hilarious.  So if you’re not watching this show, you really should be.

I watch tons of other TV shows regularly, including How I Met Your Mother, The Sing-Off, 2 Broke Girls, Glee, Raising Hope, Modern Family, Happy Endings, Survivor, The Office, Project Runway (ehh….this one is on the edge of oblivion), and The Amazing Race.  By the way, I’m still writing recaps on the secret scenes of The Amazing Race, and you can see the links to those articles in the ARTICLES link found at the top of the website.

VIDEO GAMES:

Beyond Good & Evil, PC/Steam:  If you are an avid video gamer, whether it’s PC or console, you’ve probably heard of this game, or if you’re better than I was, you actually played it.  It came out early last decade (the 2000s, can you believe that is factually called “the last decade”?) and has always been heralded as a fantastic game very much in the vein of the Legend of Zelda.  Well, sports fans, I finally made it.  I picked this up on Steam and downloaded and eagerly began playing the game….and about 2 hours later, I came up for air.  What a fantastic game.  You explore areas, solve clever puzzles in diabolical factories and lairs, take pictures in-game of enemies to make money, travel around in a hovercraft that is upgradeable (I see in the shop that eventually I’ll get a space engine…sweet), and have a wise-cracking, yet caring pig as a companion who kicks major ass.  The voice-acting is top notch and the writing gives those performances something really good to work with.  I’m only about 5 hours in, and can’t wait to save my homeworld from the evil Alpha Company.  And get my pig friend back.

Batman: Arkham City, PS3:  Oh dear God, if you didn’t play Arkham Asylum, please, just go get that game and play it.  It’s an extraordinarily compelling game that makes you feel like a superhero but one that truly has to use his wits, as Batman doesn’t have superpowers.  Just super wits.  Well, I haven’t actually played Arkham City yet, but it comes out next week and I have my Amazon.com pre-order up and ready.  I don’t know how I’m going to play this damn game and keep up with everything else, like staying employed and such.  Can’t wait to try though.

Other games I’m playing at the moment (yes, I balance quite a few at the same time):  Rock Band 3, God of War (replaying the whole series, chronologically, so I actually just finished up Chains of Olympus in its PS3 HD port, which leads to God of War, which has also been ported to PS3), Civilization V, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, and Fallout: New Vegas (just playing the DLC so I can call this game done).

MUSIC:

B in the Mix, Vol 2, Britney Spears:  I was messing around in iTunes last week and noticed that this was available for sale.  I could barely contain my glee. You see, Britney Spears has become quite the pop/dance princess/queen.  Back with her album In the Zone in the early 2000s, she started becoming much more dance-centric and less that annoying-as-all-hell teen pop crap. Don’t get me wrong….Hobie loves the Oops, I Did It Again and Hit Me Baby….but that shit is fun for the goofy, kitschy factor nowadays, not for the beats.  Cue 2008 when Britney lost her damn mind.  She releases Blackout, basically one long dance album.  C’est INCREDIBLE!  That was my soundtrack for that year of living in NYC. Her next, Circus, was okay, but Femme Fatale, which came out this year….well, I fucking love it.  So many gay anthems, so many hot dance tracks, and well….it’s just incredible.  Here are some Youtube videos that some very attractive folks have made to her songs off this album.  Enjoy:

Drop Dead Beautiful:

Check out 1:20 and on….dear god….

Drop Dead Beautiful, again, by the Boys of Boston (gay):

Hold It Against Me, by some Army troops in Afghanistan:

Love the arm moves at 1:13….

Enough music for now…..I’ll share some more of my favorite videos in later posts.

BOOKS:

Game of Thrones (Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire), George R. R. Martin:  Of course I’d heard non-stop about the amazing HBO Miniseries, and I didn’t watch it.  The back of my mind was exerting control and wanted me to read the books.  Many of my friends had read these books and vouched for their awesomeness.  So in my Kindle app on the iPad, I downloaded it.  I ended up re-reading Stephen King’s IT first, which if you know how long that is, takes a little while.  Especially when you only really read at lunchtime at work or on the weekends.  Luckily I finished IT on the flight back home from Rome.  So no more delay, let’s see how this fantasy novel was.  Wow.  What fantasy novel?  How surprised was I when I read this compelling drama about pieces in a huge chess game of politics and intrigue set in a fantasy world!?  And better yet, it’s written for a modern audience and not overloaded with “ye olde this” or “my ladyeth, thoueth cannot beeth hereith”.  Whew.  I’m not actually done with the book yet, and it looks like I’ve got about 550 pages left to go, and this is just the first book.  There are five out now and two more to be released.  That’s a lot left….but I better not get stuck in a Dark Tower situation, where you wait endlessly for the next book.  But fortunately, that situation isn’t going to happen for a while for me.

HOTNESS:

Did you see that site called subwaycrush.net?  If not, yeah, go check that out.  In the meantime, here’s a quick pic to tide you over….God knows we could all use a little male physical perfection to get us through the day:

Le sigh.