The Prince That Lived In King George, Virginia

For local historians, the Tayloe family has an important role in the early history of King George County. But did you know they had ties to one of the most famous impostors of the 20th century?

An early settler to the Northern Neck, the Tayloe family had ties to other major families like the Lees and Taliaferros and they held land in several counties. One of those pieces of land was Powhatan Farm in King George. As the land was divided over several generations, Powhatan Farm came to be held by Bladen Tasker Tayloe. Falling on hard times in April 1935, Bladen sold Powhatan Farm at public auction to John W. Walters from New York. Mr. Walters would eventually sell the farm in 1955 to the current owners, the Guest family.

While the Guest family may have real royal connections, there was a Russian Prince living at the farm before they purchased it. Prince Michael Alexandrovitch Dmitry Obelensky Romanoff. Don't worry if you've never heard of him. I only knew him from Miracle on 34th Street (1947) when the Doctor is trying to argue his case that Kris Kringle isn't a danger to society and he says:

"Why there are thousands of people walking around with similar delusions, living perfectly normal lives in every other respect. A famous example is that fellow — I can't think of his name — but for years he’s insisted he’s a Russian prince. He owns a famous restaurant in Hollywood and is a highly respected citizen."

That's right, Prince Michael Alexandrovitch Dmitry Obelensky Romanoff, or Prince Mike if you prefer, was an imposter.

Prince Mike went by countless aliases, false names, and false titles. He claimed to be everything from a Count to a Captain and a Vanderbilt to a Rockefeller. In the end, or really the beginning, he was Harry Gerguson. In 1935, with Mr. Walters as the new owner of Powhatan Farm, Prince Mike came to take charge of the farm. Using the alias John William Adams, and posing as a professor from Yale, Prince Mike took over managing the farm. Reportedly in ruins, he kicked out the sheep living in the house and made repairs, built roads, and cleared fields.

Prince Mike was apparently isolating himself so that he, acting as the Yale Professor, could write "The Philosophy of History." Despite his isolation, he did make friends; a horse named Betty and a cat named, of all things, Gerguson. He was friendly with the Tayloe family as well, even gifting them a small puppy that would end up bearing his name.

From Return to Powhatan by Roberta Love Tayloe

His self-imposed isolation only lasted a year. He made a trip to Richmond to see a show and was identified by a society reporter as Prince Mike. He would leave King George in an old, junky car and would turn up in Hollywood a few years later sporting a wad of cash, a fancy car, and a new restaurant.

Prince Mike would become Hollywood royalty after opening his restaurant. Here are a few names from the very long list of Hollywood types he associated with; Charlie Chaplin, James Cagney, Jack Benny, Barbara Stanwyck, Clark Gable, and David Niven. Prince Mike reportedly only came back to the Fredericksburg area once shortly after his re-birth in Hollywood as a restaurateur. He would eventually die in September of 1971, nearly a decade after closing his famous restaurant.

One parting ironic twist. Prince Mike's early childhood was nearly a mirror to that seen in Boys Town (1938) staring Mickey Rooney. As an orphan and runaway and petty criminal, Prince Mike needed a father figure in his life to set him on the right track. While he wouldn't find it until he left King George, both Prince Mike and Mickey Rooney would follow the same path, this time in real life, as they served as pallbearers for Errol Flynn in 1959.

Sources:

• http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/11/story-behind-infamous-sophia-loren-jayne-mansfield-photo
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tayloe_I
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_R._Guest
• http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/KingGeorge/048-0018_Powhatan_Rural_Historic_District_1992_Final_Nomination.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Romanoff
• https://books.google.com/books?id=tEsEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=life%20magazine%201945&pg=PA141#v=onepage&q&f=false
• http://www.amgpolo.com/index.html
• https://books.google.com/books?id=UgO2DgAAQBAJ&lpg=PT246&ots=HXTb5V5u_X&dq=mickey%20rooney%20mike%20romanoff&pg=PT246#v=onepage&q=mickey%20rooney%20mike%20romanoff&f=false
• Return to Powhatan by Roberta Love Tayloe

Movie Time

Lots of pleasant excitement at work today. But more interesting is what I found in my research. First, King George County had a drive-in theater! Somewhere in the Arnold's Corner area (that's where Routes 3 and 206 intersect near the middle school that was the high school). And they showed movies every night. How cool!

Second, the Dahlgren Naval Base once operated on it's own time zone. As in, the high school bus would make a stop outside the base at 3pm, on the base at 2:10pm, then off the base at 3:15pm. Okay, so the times are just examples, but you get the idea. They were like Arizona is now and didn't recognize the whole Daylight Savings Time adjustment. Crazy!

Okay, on with today's run. I got out the door earlier than expected this morning which was great because I wasn't awake and my brain probably would have said nope to the run. But I did it and got outside. The weather felt decent during the first loop but muggier during the second. Didn't see much while I was out and about. Except my dad. He looked like he was just starting his walk as I was finishing mine.

Photos:
That orange speck way up there is my dad.

Bus route time zone confusion. 

King George Drive-In Movie Theater. 

THIS is my favorite kind of traffic jam - picking the kid up from school.

Weather:
Temps were about 70F at the start but probably warmed to 75F by the end. Humidity kicked up a bit from low to moderate. Sky was clear. No wind.

Fluids and Fuel:
One coffee before the run. Plain water during the run. Recovery was three slices of toast, two eggs, and two sausage links. And more coffee.

Aches and Pains:
None.

Gear:
Wore shorts and a t-shirt.

Today's Motivation:
I think I was too tired to be motivated this morning. Thought several times about just not finishing but I knew this was the only time I could finish so I finished.

Naughty Neil:
Getting back on track with my food. It's a damn tough row to hoe but I think, THINK, I'm back on track.

Splits:
Loop 1 - 19:36
Loop 2 - 25:33
Finish - 45:09

May the Fourth Be With You

May 4th is also known as Star Wars Day to many fans. Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure it started out as a joke before it became known as Star Wars Day. At least that's how I remember it. All my fellow Star Wars nerds would gather would come up to you, knowing you were a Star Wars fan, and say "May the Fourth be with you." Some would even use a really bad Yoda voice. Or wave their hand in front of you like it was supposed to be a Jedi mind trick.

1983 Me - About as 1980something as you can get. Watching Garfield.

This is not going to be a re-hashing of the entire series of movies. That would just bore any fan out there. There's no need to summarize the plot, prattle on about random points of trivia, or give favorite quotes. Instead, I'm hoping to look at the series as a whole and how it stands up over time. The movies were created generations apart but do they still hold their sway for an old fart like me?

Prologue (1980 something)

I was but a child when the first string of movies came out. I remember seeing one in the theater and being afraid of Chewbacca. He was hairy, roared really loud, and he had big teeth. But growing up watching, and re-watching, and re-watching the original trilogy has left me jaded towards these three movies. When George Lucas re-released them, I was excited. But I didn't like all of the new edits he made. Don't even get me started on Greedo.

1977 Me. Too young to watch Star Wars.

When the second trilogy came out, I was again excited but things were a bit more tempered. That may be why I enjoyed the movies more than some of my fellow fans. Sure, I'm not a huge Jar Jar fan, but I don't hate him. I just see him as a patsy for Palpatine. But the trilogy turned dark in a hurry and the acting wasn't what I had hoped for. But seeing Darth Vader at the end made up for some of it.

1980 Me. This was not the Yoda I was looking for.

Now as a father of a young boy who loves Star Wars as much as I do, I'm falling in love with Star Wars all over again. As a kid, I never would have seen Star Wars in the theater as much as I did with my son. But it was fun. I think we both enjoyed the experience but on different levels.

Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

The visual beauty of the movie is clear and crisp and sometimes stunning. Yes, some of the effects are plainly, or painfully, obvious, but at least it looks pretty. The battle droids and Jar Jar are clearly comedy generators. And just like young Anakin Skywalker, it seems to be a movie made for kids.

Unknown.

I think what strikes me the most is how clean everything is. I'm hoping it's part of the overall trend where things get more run down and dirty and re-used as the Jedi fall out of power. But I think there's a part of it that comes from the nature of films from that time where things are just cleaner and more crisp. We see a lot of this in the special effects and how props are built in the movie. It's almost like they knew they had the power but instead of using it wisely, they just used it.

This is Roger Roger. I won him as a book signing.

So how does it hold up? It does okay. There's political intrigue, podracing, space battles, and of course lightsabers. I think visually it holds up quite well. At least a stand alone movie. Within the franchise, not so much. It doesn't have that gritty, realistic feeling the others do. The acting is okay. Story is okay. So I guess overall, it holds up okay. But it holds little sway over me now. It was very easy to get distracted while watching.

Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Here we go again. Another movie with crisp and clean shots and not a lot of grit and grime that makes it realistic. The acting takes a step down unfortunately. The overacting by Hayden Christensen and painfully obvious scheming by Palpatine is sad and at times enraging. The overt plots by Palpatine are mostly enraging. But even the Jedi were irritating at times. Mostly because of their lack of action. Patience they say. Bah.

Unknown. 

And oof dah, the acting. It starts out small but then develops into a growth that just can't be ignored. Like a bad mole that starts out like a cute little freckle but ends up sending you to the doctor because you know it needs to be removed. Ouch.

Unknown. 

At least the clones were interesting. Now I can see why they spun those off into TV shows of their own. They certainly had more depth than a lot of the other characters. And I think that's why it holds up a little better than Episode I. But it holds little sway.

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

A more battle heavy and emotionally heavy movie. But it's also heavy with some over-acting. Again. While the CGI seems to be a bit better than the last movie, it's still a struggle so see some of the reality of things.

Um, yeah. That's me.

I know it's a sci-fi movie and it's just a movie, but that's what the industry lacks is the believability of special effects. There are a few exceptions of course, but as a whole, I think the movies of today lack something. That rustic feel of physical film is a part of it, but even then, there's something to be said for practical, physical effects. Movies like this that rely on so much computer generated magic lose some of that magic when they go too far.

Taken circa 2005.

Speaking of going too far, the movie again shows Palpatine going too far with his schemes. He's so overt it makes you wonder if he's so strong in the Force that he can dupe Jedi into thinking he's the good guy or if it's just bad writing. Then we have Anakin going too far with his pouting teenage angsty self. He's like Kylo Ren but so much more obvious. And like Palpatine, we're left to wonder if he's so strong in the Force he can dupe Jedi or if the Jedi are just blind to the obvious.

Just a minor glimpse of my collection.

In the end, it holds up about as well as the other two prequel episodes. But holds no sway over me. As with the other movies, there's just not much these first three movies seem to add to the franchise other than a bit of backstory. ::sigh::

Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

I'll admit openly and freely that this is my favorite movie of the series. Which means I have a lot of bias towards this movie and how the others measure up to it. With that said, this is also the first time I've watched it on Blu-ray and the first time I've watched it right after watching the previous movie. In fact, this is the first time I've watched all of the movies in order and within a relatively short time frame (3 days to be specific).

Unknown. 

The first thing I noticed was how clean the newly released versions are. Some of the older special effects have been feathered out and it's generally brighter and cleaner. But there's still enough grit and grime to make it more realistic than the prequel movies. So yeah, it's going to be hard to top that.

My old car.

Despite the modifications Lucas made well after the original release, the movie holds up. The story is solid, the acting is great (for some characters but not others), and it still holds sway over me. It is the epitome of the franchise. Yeah, like I said, I'm a bit jaded in my opinion.

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

I know a lot of people love Empire but for me, it loses me after the Battle of Hoth. The rest of the movie is fine, better than the prequels, but it just leaves me feeling a little meh. I will say that the character development of Luke is progressing nicely. We see him grow from a wimpy farm kid to the leader of the Rebellion and, even though he whines on Dagobah, he's at least growing as a Jedi Knight.

Unknown. 

Speaking of Dagobah, it just creeped me the heck out as a kid. That's probably part of why I never liked Empire as much. But at least Yoda was real. Jim Henson's magic is so clear and obvious even after all these years. That's not just a sock puppet talking or some computer generated character using the Force. That's a person acting there and it shows.

Unknown. 

In the end, Empire holds up over time but holds little sway over me. Yes, Hoth was great and the final battle between Luke and Vader was good, but still, it just doesn't make my lightsaber rattle much.

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Sure, sure, there's Ewoks and they're cute and vicious. But the scenes on Endor really make this movie. I think it starts out well enough with Luke going full Jedi but I was never a fan of Yoda's death. I guess it was too sad for me as a youngling. But as an adult, it was an appropriately emotional moment between the two. Three I guess if you count Obi Wan.

An animation cel I own.

I think what makes this movie hold up over time, and hold some sway over me, is that the effects are mostly physical and those computer effects that are used, are done so sparingly but with enough quality to keep you in that particular moment in the movie. In other words, it doesn't gut-check you when you see an Ewok or an AT-ST on Endor. Nor are the space battles so full of CGI that you don't know what's going on anymore.

One of the only comics I have.

So yeah, Return of the Jedi is right up in the top three for me and easily ranks higher than Empire.

Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

As we enter a new generation, we get a new trilogy of movies. I went into this with my jaded thoughts about which movie was best and how little I expected of the new installment. While I expected a good movie, I just didn't think it would carry much weight with it. To use an out-of-universe analogy, I figured it would be like a new Star Trek movie and just be meh.

My movie collection.

It wasn't. Time will ultimately be the final judge but for now, I'm ranking this right up there with the original trilogy and would even put it ahead of Empire and Jedi. That's right, I like this movie just as much as I like A New Hope. Some days I like it more, some days less, and some days the same. But in the end, it's always in my top two of all Star Wars movie out there.

Chewie (Peter Mayhew) and the man who killed him (R. A. Salvatore).

As a collector of the books for many years, I was seriously disappointed that they would not hold true to the stories they came out with revolving around the Solo and Skywalker families. They were pretty darn good and a solid arc of storytelling about the galaxy. But as much as I wanted to see those stories on screen, and still do, I'm okay with the new direction they've taken things.

Epilogue (almost 40-something)

So where does this leave us? Well, how about I keep things simple and rank my favorites based on how much they've held up over time and how much I think they've impacted me.

1. A New Hope
2. The Force Awakens
3. Return of the Jedi
4. Empire Strikes Back
5. Attack of the Clones
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. The Phantom Menace

But there's more to it than that, isn't there? No, I don't think so. That pretty much sums it up. But remember, that's just the movies. That doesn't take into consideration any of the spin offs and homages.

You want to check out the FANBOYS movie by Adam F. Goldberg.

Finally, one parting shot of the next generation of fans.

Note: Many of the photos in this post are not mine. I'll freely admit I downloaded them years ago and take no credit for them.

Home Alone - A Classic

The family and I recently went to a limited showing of Home Alone in the theaters. It was a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the movie. But for us, it was a celebration of family time as we enjoyed one of our favorite Christmas movies.

We weren't the only ones in the theater but it was surprisingly empty. The small theater was maybe 25% full and most of the viewers were older, like my wife and I, putting them in the age-range of having seen it in the theaters as children when it was first released. Our favorite fans in the screening with us were the family of four that wore matching shirts that read "Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal," but in different colors of course.

As we sat down to enjoy the show, there were no previews. I really wish they had shown something like Rocky V, Look Who's Talking Too, or even Kindergarten Cop. Something from that era of the early 90s that would have set the tone for a great movie.

I think the lack of media coverage was due to everyone focusing on Back to the Future Day. Or maybe they were hungover or overdosed with nostalgia to think of another classic having an anniversary. Thankfully, I read the USA Today article, found a local theater, and bought tickets. THe rest, as they say, was history.

The most I got out of the showing, besides the family time, was catching some of the scenes and dialog that I missed after all these years. So let's walk through them.

The man at the desk.
In a great camera shot, we see Joe Pesci ask for the parents of the house by seemingly talking to every kid that walks by him. But did you notice the guy at the desk in the background? In the same window where we see the lamp move near the end of the movie, there's a man, sitting in a chair, at what looks like a desk. Who is it? Uncle Frank is my guess. He looks a little bald and is wearing a sweater vest.

"You probably have the kind of traveler's checks that don't work in France."
I remember the scene distinctly, it's when Buzz chokes on the pizza in the kitchen. And I remember them trying to get money to pay the pizza boy. And I remember Uncle Frank claiming he had no cash, just traveler's checks. But I've never heard this line before. It's in there, but it's in the background, hard to hear, and I think Peter, the dad, says it under his breath a bit.

Was Kevin's mom a seamstress?
Check out the basement. Notice all the mannequins? You may remember Kevin using them in his first attempt to deter Harry and Marv from breaking into the house by hosting a fake party. But I never really paid attention to where they came from. Then my wife mentioned that the sewing machine in the Master Bedroom was older than the sewing machine in the basement. Which got me to thinking, was Kevin's mom a seamstress? There are mannequins, sewing machines, and even a dressmaker's mannequin in the house.

Marv swears.
Again, I knew this. But in the theater, it was much easier to hear. Sure, Harry says some stuff that sounds like swearing, but it actually isn't. And Kevin says "ass" at least once. But it's the Marv scene that stood out. If you're not sure of the scene I'm talking about, it's when Marv checks out the kitchen door by himself, sticks his foot in the dog door, then looses his shoe. He says "shit" but you can't hear it clearly on the DVD. It's pretty clear in the theater.


The deeper link between Kevin and his neighbor.
It never dawned on me before, but there's a deeper link between Kevin and his neighbor, Old Man Marley (aka The South Bend Shovel Slayer). It hit me when they were in the church talking before Kevin heads home to defend his house. Kevin admits to saying things he shouldn't have and thinks that it has driven his family away. Mr. Marley then goes on to admit essentially the same thing. They have the same family issue and I never noticed it before. I always glossed over this scene because it was light on action and only had a few good jokes.

Old people as friends.
About the same time I caught on to the link between Kevin and Mr. Marley, I realized that in the second movie he befriends an older woman. Not much else to say here but thatjordangirl has a nice image to share.

The lamp moves.
I knew about this one. So did my kids. But did you? Check out the last scene or two from the movie where Kevin greets his mom and the rest of his family. In the background you see the lamp in front of the window. Then as he goes to the window to look at his neighbor, The South Bend Shovel Slayer, the lamp has moved.

Classic.
This wasn't really a scene from the movie itself, but a scene in the theater. The audience was laughing at something, there was that lull in the laughter, and my son says, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Classic!" Indeed it was son, indeed it was.

Not only was the movie a classic, but his reaction and the experience is classic. I can only hope your holiday season brings about positive memories and scenes to remember for years to come.

World War Zeke

I wanted to go back to bed, go outside for a run, and eat breakfast all at the same time. Instead I ran on the treadmill and opted to watch World War Z. Running on the treadmill shouldn't be a big shock but my watching that movie was a surprise. I added it to my playlist because it was free but was always reluctant to watch it because, well, it's a scary movie. And I don't do scary movies. I've never enjoyed them. Even when I was in middle school dating a girl that loved them, I would have rather gone the night without some tongue lashing if it meant I could have skipped the scary movie. And if a teenage body full of hormones can't conquer that kind of fear, then nothing can.

But I gave it a shot. And before I knew it, I was 20 minutes into my run. 40 minutes into my run. 65 minutes into my run and almost time to quit. I maintained a decent pace and only got a little spooked during a few scenes. Thankfully I stayed up-right on the treadmill and didn't bob and weave like they did in the movie.

And to set the record straight, yes, the movie is scary. I might even have nightmares tonight. But it's a compelling enough story so far that I actually want to finish it just to see what happens.

Weather:
Indoor temps were about 75F.

Fluids and Fuel:
Had a little coffee before the run. During the run I had an applesauce and plain water. Recovery was a breakfast of two eggs, four sausages, three slices of toast, and coffee.

Aches and Pains:
None. Lower right back is still a bit tweaky, but it's been getting better over the past week or so.

Gear:
Wore t-shirt and shorts.

Treadmill:
Time - 69:17
Distance - 3.4 miles
Incline - 3
Speed - 2.0 to 4.0 (AVG 3.0)
Elevation - 534 feet
Entertainment - World War Z

Naughty Neil:
::sigh:: In a moment of weakness yesterday I went to the local gas station and got a medium coffee (I usually get a large), a hamburger, and churros. I really wanted french fries but didn't get them. At least dinner was healthy as was my late night snack (which I only had one serving of).

Today's Motivation:
Not really sure I had any motivation today. I just went and did what was on my plan without thinking too much about it. I've tried to make a bit of a mental shift on a few things and it seems to be working. So far. Knock on wood.

Splits:
Finish - 1:09:17

10 New Christmas Movies

In years past*, I've covered Christmas movies. My favorites; those I think are under-appreciated; even some really bizarre ones. So this year I thought I'd try something a little different: new movies. Not new as in "in the theater new," but new as in "this is the first time I've seen them new." I've also tossed in a movie I'm actively looking for but haven't found yet.

Yet To Be Watched:


The Man In The Santa Suit
Why this one? Because it had Gary Burghoff in it! That's all I need to know.

The Ten New Movies:

#10 - A Christmas Story 2
Oh dear God, please don't watch this movie. If you like the original, don't waste your time on this one. It's not worth it. If you're a fanatic of the original, then okay, go ahead and watch it. but be prepared, it's kind of the like Star Wars Holiday Special. You really only need to watch it once every decade or so.

#9 - Fred Claus
Only slightly better than the Christmas Story sequel, this is another movie that you can feel free to skip. The premise sounds interesting, the brother of Santa Claus, but the acting, plot, and the special effects just suck. There are a few stand-out scenes but they are sadly lost in the mire of everything else. And it's pretty rare when special effects take me out of a movie, but these were below even the SyFy Channel's requirements.

#8 -  Rise of the Guardians
Not necessarily a Christmas movie but it does star Santa Claus. And Jack Frost. And, line the Santa Claus series, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. It's billed as a kid's movie but there are a few scary parts in here. Not scary to me but I can see how a smaller kid would be afraid. As for the plot, meh, it's okay.

#7 - A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
I don't know what possessed these people to make this movie but it is Christmas related and it is funny. Not the best in the series but funny enough to keep you occupied. And the waffle robot is pretty cool. Maybe if I watched it in 3D I'd like it better. But probably not.

#6 - Home Alone: The Holiday Heist
While it doesn't come anywhere near touching the humor in Home Alone 1 or 2, it does a fair job of giving 3 and 4 a run for their money. The kids hated it but I kind of liked the old house and the actors. Even though it was yet again another new cast, they seemed to do a better job of handling the acting part of the movie.

#5 - Good Luck Jessie
Technically not a movie, this TV special is a cross-over between Good Luck Charlie and Jessie. Both are on the Disney Channel and both are shows that my daughter likes. Which is pretty much the only reason I watched the special. The best way I can describe the special (and the shows) is to call it generic. Yes, the jokes are funny, there's some drama, and even a little romance. But it's Disney. So you know what's going to happen. There are no big surprises or sad endings, it just is.


#4 - Trading Christmas
I stumbled onto this one when I thought I had recorded Pete's Christmas. I kept watching and watching waiting for it to repeat itself. Finally, after I was nearly halfway through, I realized it wasn't the right movie. A check of IMDB revealed it was something else. But I was invested enough into the thing that I couldn't delete it. Instead I finished watching it and was mildly surprised at how good it was. Sure, it was some sappy Hallmark movie, but at least it had a decent plot, decent acting, and a good ending. Better yet, my wife and daughter enjoyed it well enough to want to finish it too.

#3 - Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas
While based on the TV show Good Luck Charlie, this is actually much better than the crossover show. And it's more of a full-length movie. Certainly entertaining and as usual, lots of Disney values forced down your throat.

#2 - Pete's Christmas
Why this one? Because I didn't get to watch it. And I'm pissed about it. It sounded like a great cross between Groundhog Day and Christmas Day. But the stupid Hallmark Channel decided to not show it and instead it's on a blocked channel. Humbug! Thankfully I have a great wife and daughter looking out for me and they picked it up on DVD. Turns out, it was pretty good. Not as good as Groundhog Day but still enjoyable enough to keep me glued to my seat.

#1 - Surviving Christmas
This movie was so bad it was good. A rich guy basically rents a family to impress a girl. But this damn thing was so sloppy, so badly done, that it snuck up on you. It was almost like a car accident that you just had to watch to see what happened in the end. Now the actors are pretty good with James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, and Ben Affleck, but the mom from Home Alone, Catherine O'Hara, is also in it. And be warned. You may never watch Home Alone the same way again. Let's just say there's a few scenes that show how well she hasn't aged.

*If you want to step back in time, here are some of my older posts on Christmas movies:

- http://tk42one.blogspot.com/2006/11/holiday-movie-guide-preview.html

- http://tk42one.blogspot.com/2006/12/holiday-movie-guide-part-i.html

- http://tk42one.blogspot.com/2006/12/holiday-movie-guide-part-ii.html

- http://tk42one.blogspot.com/2012/12/top-5-under-appreciated-christmas-movies.html

What do you do when your child is afraid?

Last night was a bit of an epic night for us as a family. Or maybe just me as a parent. Or maybe it wasn't really as epic as I thought and it was just a regular night that parents have encountered countless times before. It's hard to know if it really was as important as I think it was. Is. What ever.

So, what happened? Well, Elizabeth came out as I was popping some popcorn and said she was afraid and couldn't go to sleep. She'd been in bed all of maybe ten minutes so I was prepared to just brush it off as the usual "I'm afraid of the dark" kind of stuff she and her brother have done in the past. Even I remember doing it as a kid. Anything to get a few extra minutes of awake time. Anything to push back that bed time.

So as she was saying she was afraid, I was gearing myself up for a brush-off answer to get her back to bed. Then I saw the look on her face and she continued with her story saying she was afraid of "bad guys." I could tell by the look in her eyes that this wasn't just a fib to stay awake. This was some serious stuff weighing on her. So I had her explain. She said something along the lines of being afraid of bad guys because she accidentally saw a scary show during vacation. She's been afraid of bad guys since then and apparently it just became too much for her and she needed help dealing with it. I'll get into that in a minute.

So I left the now popped pocorn in the microwave, left the now open beer on the counter, and started her on a short, but hopefully helpful, journey to not being so afraid. I took her by the hand and walked her to the back door to show her it was locked. Then I did the same thing with the front door. Then the same thing with the window in her room. And showed her there was no bad guy under her bed or in her closet. It felt a little silly in the moment and by the end I think she kind of picked up on that. She had a bit of a smirk when she looked at me like "geeze dad, you're such a goober" kind of smirk. But that's fine. It wasn't my goal but I went with it. I wanted to physically show her the house was secure and I lightened the mood while I was at it, great.

We then sat down for a bit of a talk. While my popcorn was getting cold and my beer was getting warm, I did my best to give her some coping mechanisms, some sort of tool, to help her deal with the anxiety of being afraid. I gave her the usual diatribe on "I'm your dad and it's my job to keep you safe." but I also tried to keep things real. It was a fine line between scaring her with too much information and leaving her ignorant of how the world works. So I walked that fine line as best as I could. I said there were bad people out there that did bad things. I told her I had seen bad things happen, both real and make believe, and when I thought about them too much I had nightmares. I tried to make her feel okay with being afraid of something and tried to make it not really a big deal. Again, a fine line between "everybody feels this way" and "you don't need to feel this way."

I also tried to explain that the show she accidentally saw was probably make-believe or fiction but that some shows were real. We talked about the news and how sometimes they seem to only report the bad things that happen in the world. She said that while the show is what started it, the news she saw sometimes didn't help. And while I do try to shield the kids from the really crappy news, sometimes I don't pay attention and something slips past. But I don't feel too bad because they usually don't pay attention and it's true so they do need to know what the world can be like.

Anyway, once I made it clear that television can show fictional bad stuff and that it can happen in the real world, I then tried to give her some tools to cope with those scary thoughts. She said when she was afraid of fires last year, the "fire alarms would creep her out" when she saw them. This made me immediately think of anxiety issues so I started there and said something along the lines of "well, if I saw a fire alarm, I'd tell it 'thank you for keeping me safe' because I'd know that when it went off, it meant there was a fire." She seemed to bite at the bait of that tool so I went with it and tried to apply it to her fear of bad guys. I told her the next time she thought of some scary bad guys, she should think of a paint can hitting their face. Or a spider crawling on them. Or an iron hitting them in the head. All those funny scenes from Home Alone that she laughs at, she should use to make the scary bad guy not so scary anymore.

It seems to have worked because she loved the idea. She started rattling off other funny and silly stuff that happened to Harry and Marv in Home Alone and was smiling and laughing. Now, I don't know if it actually worked or not, but to me, if she understood the concept well enough to add her own ideas, then it must have made sense to her. Which means she should be able to use it. I tried to tell her it may not help right away and she would need to practice it. I told her I used to have bad thoughts about scary things and that over time I had learned to stop thinking about them and making them happy thoughts instead. She didn't quite get this but I didn't tell her all the details about my bad thoughts. No sense giving her imagination more material to work with.

So in the end, I tucked her in, reminded her to think of those silly things from Home Alone, and went back to my popcorn and beer. I have yet to talk to her today about how things went but I'm hoping she survived the night and used her mental tools to fight off the bad thoughts. I'm also hoping this doesn't develop into some sort of full-blown anxiety issue with her. But that's just my own paranoia and anxiety kicking in. And being a protective parent. And just being a human.

Oh, and here's a little video to refresh your memory of Harry and Marv in Home Alone:

PS - I had to think long and hard about sharing this story. I didn't want to over-share as I'm often prone to do but I also wanted to share in case other parents have a similar scenario. I'm also becoming an advocate for speaking openly about mental health and removing the stigma that it often carries. I do go to therapy and I'm not afraid to say it. It's not something I advertise because I do fear that people will look at me like a freak but I will also talk about it because I want others to understand that it doesn't make me (or anybody else) a freak just because I get help. Along with all this, I struggled with the whole doctor/patient privilege theory about certain things remaining confidential. And while I'm no doctor and my daughter isn't a patient, I didn't want to violate that trusted bond. In the end I opted to share the meat of the story so that others may learn from it and to, maybe, drive some discussion about it. In the end I don't think I violated her trust in me by talking about it and I don't think I made her feel bad about being afraid.

From Ringing Ears to Shedding Tears

Well that was an eventful 24 hours I'd just as soon not repeat. Here's the situation....

A few days before a vacation, a storm decides to roll in. One of those big ones. One of those that will repeat itself tonight if the weather gods hate me. And what does foul weather spell for our house? Here's the checklist:

- Drooling, shaking dog that is so scared he throws up.
- Loss of satellite signal followed by loss of power.

Now that doesn't sound so bad by itself. But there were a few extra factors last night. Like, because I neglected to pull up the rugs in the bathroom, Henry throws up. Time to wash the rugs and clean the floors. And Elizabeth steps in the dog vomit. Time to clean her shoes and reprimand her for screaming bloody murder because she stepped in it because we thought she fell in the tub which was half full of water in the event of a black out. Might as well clean the bathroom while I'm at it. Might as well empty the tub since it looks like it won't rain anymore. Oh wait, there's more thunder coming. William goes to bed and was so scared he threw up. So we had to change him and the sheets. Yvonne snuggles with him in our bed while I watch a movie (Western Union) on the DVR (remember, no satellite signal).

And the storms roll on and on and on. The power goes out so we go to bed. This time though, I'm sleeping on the living room floor. Just not enough room for three people in our bed. Sometime during the night Elizabeth wakes up and joins them. Guess there is room for three people. So I sleep in her bed. And Henry needs to go out to pee. Fastest I've seen that dog pee in a long time while the thunder rolls across the sky. Finally, around four in the morning, the power comes back on. But we've all had very little sleep.

So that was the rough part of last night. The odd part was my dream. My old college roommate (not old like he's an old guy, old like it was a long time ago) gave me a present of an old camera. He works with old film so on his recent visit he brought his old camera. As in you have to wind it to get 16 seconds of silent film. Anyway, he gave me a camera like that (although it looked an awful lot like the surveyor's scope from Western Union) and I was so happy, I cried. And I woke up crying. Yeah. That's never happened before. Me crying doesn't even happen often. And to cry over a gift? Um, yeah. I can only explain it by blaming the lack of sleep and flashing lights in the sky. Maybe aliens abducted me or something, I don't know.

So, how was your night?

Wanna be in a movie?

I just had to chuckle at this one. Octomom gets an offer for a porno? Wonder if they can use the title from that James Bond movie...oh what was it called? You know the one I'm talking about...it had Roger Moore and Maud Adams...

Watch out Zach and Miri!

The AFI Top 100 Movie List

I've long been a fan of movies. I grew up watching them nearly every week as a kid, so it's no surprise that there was once a time when I knew the production company associated with each logo. Flying unicorn? Tri-Star.

Anyway, AFI published this list back in the mid-1990's and I've been slowly trying to cross them off my "to watch list." Those in bold I've seen and those in italics and underline are on my DVR.

And no, this isn't a new idea. Take a look at January of this year where I stole the idea from Paulie (and you can check my progress).

1 Citizen Kane
2 Casablanca
3 The Godfather
4 Gone with the Wind
5 Lawrence of Arabia
6 The Wizard of Oz
7 The Graduate
8 On the Waterfront
9 Schindler's List
10 Singin' in the Rain
11 It's a Wonderful Life
12 Sunset Boulevard
13 The Bridge on the River Kwai
14 Some Like It Hot
15 Star Wars
16 All About Eve
17 The African Queen
18 Psycho
19 Chinatown
20 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
21 The Grapes of Wrath
22 2001: A Space Odyssey
23 The Maltese Falcon
24 Raging Bull
25 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
26 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
27 Bonnie and Clyde
28 Apocalypse Now
29 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (on my other post, I had this as Rosemary's Baby)
30 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
31 Annie Hall
32 The Godfather Part II
33 High Noon
34 To Kill a Mockingbird
35 It Happened One Night
36 Midnight Cowboy
37 The Best Years of Our Lives
38 Double Indemnity
39 Doctor Zhivago
40 North by Northwest
41 West Side Story
42 Rear Window
43 King Kong
44 The Birth of a Nation
45 A Streetcar Named Desire (on the DVR)
46 A Clockwork Orange
47 Taxi Driver
48 Jaws
49 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
50 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
51 The Philadelphia Story
52 From Here to Eternity
53 Amadeus
54 All Quiet on the Western Front
55 The Sound of Music
56 M*A*S*H
57 The Third Man
58 Fantasia
59 Rebel Without a Cause
60 Raiders of the Lost Ark
61 Vertigo
62 Tootsie
63 Stagecoach
64 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65 The Silence of the Lambs
66 Network
67 The Manchurian Candidate
68 An American in Paris
69 Shane
70 The French Connection
71 Forrest Gump
72 Ben-Hur
73 Wuthering Heights
74 The Gold Rush
75 Dances with Wolves
76 City Lights
77 American Graffiti
78 Rocky
79 The Deer Hunter
80 The Wild Bunch
81 Modern Times
82 Giant
83 Platoon
84 Fargo
85 Duck Soup
86 Mutiny on the Bounty
87 Frankenstein
88 Easy Rider
89 Patton
90 The Jazz Singer
91 My Fair Lady
92 A Place in the Sun
93 The Apartment
94 Goodfellas
95 Pulp Fiction
96 The Searchers
97 Bringing Up Baby
98 Unforgiven
99 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
100 Yankee Doodle Dandy

Now, on top of that, I have another five planned out for the rest of this month, but I'm not sure if it will conflict with other recordings or events. Trying to get something on the weekend is often hit or miss since we may or may not be home.

So, to steal a line form Friends, challenge extended. Where do you stand with AFI's Top 100 list (the original, don't even get me started on the 10th anniversary one)?

Make me an offer I can't refuse

So I'm actually watching The Godfather. After Roger Rabbit getting dipped, I decided for some action. And, like Lord of the Rings, I never really got into the Godfather series. One would think if I could stay awake and enjoy Lawrence of Arabia, I could do the same with The Godfather but when I was younger, I'd fall asleep. I knew it was out there, I knew it was good, but I'd only seen bits and pieces of it.

So far, it's decent. No Untouchables yet, but decent.

Moving on, we have two interesting articles from Publisher's Weekly. The first covers covers. As in book covers. Something I'm utterly fascinated with and, honestly, biased about. If a cover is good, I'll buy your book. If a cover is bad, I won't even pick it up. Simple as that.

The second answers some queries about query letters. Quite an interesting insight into how a slush pile is dealt with and how query letters may become passe.

My day in pictures

So last night was the second night in a row that I've had a scary dream. And no, not scary like monsters. Scary like, like, I don't know. I didn't so anything illegal, but I was scared by what I was doing. So scared, so freaked out, I don't even want to talk about it, let alone think about it.



Moving on, I went to the gym and did a regular work out. Then, as I was getting into the shower, I dropped my underwear. My clean underwear. In the water. Damn.



As my day progressed, things looked better. I even got the chance to finish watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit. But the DVR decided to record all but the last 5 minutes. You know, when the bad guy gets it. Double Damn.



And I finished my daylight hours replacing the headlight bulb in Yvonne's van. In the freezing cold. Triple Damn.

Jason Statham

So, this is inspired by a recent run to Best Buy with a gift card. I picked up In the Name of the King and The Bank Job. I had not intended to buy two movies with Jason Statham, it just sort of worked out that way. I also got Young Guns, but silly me didn't realize we already had it.

Anyway, In the Name of the King was a generic D&D movie. But it had a surprisingly stellar cast. Ray Liotta? Check. Burt Reynolds? Check. Leelee Sobieski? Check. John Rhys-Davies? Check. Matthew Lillard? Check. Ron Perlman? Check. As to the movie itself, meh. It was okay. Thankfully I had a gift card.

The Bank Job? No idea, haven't watched it yet. But I did read an interesting article about Statham today in the remake of Death Race. Damn, Ian McShane is going to be in it? Swearengen!

And suddenly I realize this is nothing but a bunch of links. Oh well. Watch Crank and Transporter if you haven't already. Awesome movies.

Accomplishments and Book News

Accomplishments:

So this weekend was very productive for us. Here's the short version of what we did.

• washed my car and Yvonne's van
• vacuumed my car Yvonne's van
• vacuumed most of the house (just didn't get to the living room/toy room)
• dusted our bedroom and William's room
• cleaned our bathroom
• watched Stargate SG1: Continuum
• watched Monk
• watched Psyche (last week's episode was waaay better, but I'm never disappointed with this show)
• finished The Cipher
• started The Tower of Shadows (Elizabeth picked this book because it had "horses on the front")
• I got new shoes and William got new clothes
• I got a new pillow (feather and it's awesome)
• there's more but I forgot it all!

Books arriving in September:

• Dark Curse by Christine Feehan (Berkley, $24.95). 250,000 copies
• Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland by Jon Scieszka, illus. by Mary Blair (Disney, $16.99). 100,000 copies.
• Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett (Putnam, $17.99). 300,000 copies
• The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone, $25.95). 300,000 copies.
• Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (Tor, $27.95). 250,000 copies.
• Star Wars: Order 66 by Karen Traviss (Del Rey, $27). 150,000 copies.
• The Forever War by Dexter Filkins (Knopf, $25). 150,000 copies.
• Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (Knopf, $27.50). 2.5 million copies.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Special Anniversary Edition by J.K. Rowling, illus. by Mary GrandPré (Scholastic/Levine, $30). 180,000 copies.
• Tsar by Ted Bell (Atria, $26.95). 175,000 copies.
• Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins/Cotler, $15.99). 125,000 copies.
• Planet Google: How One Company's All-Encompassing Vision Is Transforming Our Lives by Randall Stross (Free Press, $26). 100,000 copies.
• If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff, illus. by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins/Geringer, $16.99). 1 million copies.
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean (HarperCollins, $17.99). 250,000 copies.
• Jon Scieszka's Trucktown: Snow Trucking! by Jon Scieszka, illus. by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon (S&S/Aladdin, $3.99 paper). 100,000 copies.

So there's a nice long list for you to look at.

Beyond HBO

I just finished reading Beyond Band of Brothers by Dick Winters. If you have never seen the Band of Brothers HBO miniseries, then you have no idea what life was like in the European theater during WWII (unless of course you were there). I'm a bit of a WWII movie fan, so I have a fair number of DVDs in my collection. Most are good. But until Saving Private Ryan came out, nothing really showed you what it was like.

Band of Brothers was even better at that. It showed the gruesome side, but mostly the human side. And that's why I like it.

Beyond Band of Brothers is like reading Ambrose's Band of Brothers. But from a slightly different perspective. Big surprise, I know. But it was good. And it was a fast read. And it gave some updated news on the survivors, mostly who died since the series came out.

Supercilious Superstitions

Sit down while you read this. It'll make the fall to the floor shorter as you laugh at me.



I'm sitting here listening to the Proclaimers Sunshine on Leith album remembering a previous girlfriend. More like a summer crush, really. I was getting ready for my Senior year of high school I believe and was a lifeguard at the pool next door (literally next door). The Proclaimer's I"m Gonna Be (500 Miles) was the song of the summer and I quickly made it "our song" whether she knew it or not.

And that's where we enter the oddities of my brain train. Because my brain train then jumped to Ace of Base's I Saw the Sign song which was the song I made "our song" with the girlfriend before that. This particular young lady had been my gal pal on and off for months in middle school. She taught me to kiss. Hold hands. And generally get pissed off. She was a bit moody and nutty at times. Seemed she felt the need to break up with me every month or two.



Anyway, aside from the emotional turmoil she put me through, she wanted to try dating again in high school. We went out a few times, but it never amounted to anything. Enter Ace of Base to fill the proverbial hole in my heart.

Which brings my brain train into the final station of Crazyville. Jimmy Stewart in Harvey. You see the last time this girl dumped me was during a date. When we were watching Harvey. And I've associated that heart-break with the movie. And have yet to watch it since then. I love it. I love Jimmy Stewart. But I've got this superstition about Harvey, like it's jinxed or something.

I guess Pavlov was right. Don't ring the bell too much, my keyboard will stop working from all that drool.

PS - Jimmie's Chicken Shack is next in queue on iTunes. And I purposely left names out. God knows what would happen if they ever Googled their names and saw I was talking about them.

Mrs. Robinson

"Why, Mrs. Robinson, I think you're trying to seduce me."

I've heard the quote before, just never had the reference to frame it with. Now that I've finally finished watching The Graduate, I must say it is one of the better films out there. The story wasn't all that interesting to me, but the cinematography and audio tracks were awesome. Zooming in and out, focus points, background actors, etc. made this a great flick to watch.

So now I've watched The Graduate (#7) and The Philadelphia Story (#51). I started The Manchurian Candidate (#67) this morning and already have Network (#66) and Wuthering Heights (#73) on the DVR ready to watch.

One thing I have noticed, I really hate commercials now. Which means TCM is my preferred channel over AMC. Plus Robert Osborne is a great host.