On this day in 1961 Margaret Mary Emily Ann Hyra entered the world.

Yep folks, darling Meg Ryan is 44 years old today!

Meg Ryan became a movie star crush the first time I heard her utter those famous words “take me to bed or lose me forever” in the 1986 hit Top Gun. In the years since then she has cemented herself as the queen of romantic comedies, a particular favorite of mine, and has made some wonderful movies. Its hard to pinpoint a favorite as I really enjoy her romantic comedy roles, however her on-screen chemistry with Tom Hanks puts those movies at the top of my list.

Regardless of the realities of her real life Meg has the unshakeable image of the quintessential girl-next-door. Her extreme cuteness and skill at playing romantic female leads has made her an icon in this genre, despite her occasional desire to cast off that image.

Meg Ryan has done some marvelously fun films over the years. Despite its poor box office reception I really enjoy the first Hanks/Ryan pairing in Joe vs. the Volcano. With trademark Hanks humor and Meg Ryan getting to play 3 different roles I really enjoy this one. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan paired up again in Sleepless in Seattle. I generally don’t enjoy movies where the leads don’t have any real contact until the end but Sleepless is definitely an exception and it makes itself exceptional again on the chemistry of Hanks and Ryan.

I.Q. is another one that I really enjoy, for a number of reasons. Tim Robbins and Meg Ryan have a really nice chemistry in this one and Meg, as the somewhat absent minded niece of Albert Einstein is particularly cute. I.Q. attracts me for the same reason that Return to Me does: I love the banter of the “elderly” people in it. Walter Matthau as Albert Einstein and his scientific cronies played by Lou Jacobi, Gene Saks, and Joseph Mayer are wonderful. There are also small but entertaining parts played by Stephen Fry and Tony Shalhoub. This seems to be one of the lesser seen Meg Ryan movies and if you haven’t discovered it I highly recommend it.

French Kiss is another movie that I think is fantastic and is the first movie Meg Ryan made with her production company Prufrock Pictures. In addition to Ryan, Kevin Kline and Jean Reno are great. I love the scenes shot in the french countryside, particularly the end scene in the vineyard. The movie soundtrack for French Kiss is not only my favorite soundtrack ever but is one of my favorite CD’s. The variety of music: classic tunes by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, romantic tunes by Van Morrison and Paolo Conte, great instrumentals by James Newton Howard and a terrific song sung by Kevin Kline make this a wonderfully romantic album. Guys and girls, this is fantastic date music!

Though not a romantic comedy I really enjoy Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington in Courage Under Fire. Nicely done suspenseful film and though a somewhat smaller role I thought Ryan did an excellent job.

Addicted to Love is one of my absolute favorites of all romantic comedies. I think this is one of Matthew Broderick’s best films and it departs from the usual Meg Ryan formula by being a slightly darker comedy. Being more of a black comedy there are a few more adult lines in this one including a couple of the funniest lines I’ve heard in a romantic comedy. I love Meg’s funky wardrobe and dark shadowed eyes in this one…she’s more like the slightly dangerous girl-next-door. Great fun.

Despite my difficulties in picking a favorite if pressed I would have to say that You’ve Got Mail is it. This is Nora Ephron’s second Hanks/Ryan movie and though Sleepless is great I think Mail is better. You’ve Got Mail is a remake of one of my favorite Jimmy Stewart movies, The Shop Around the Corner, which is one of the reasons I like it so much. Hanks and Ryan’s chemistry has never been better. Meg looks particularly splendid in this film. Part of the film covers Christmas, my favorite holiday. And, of course, the story is centered around books and bookstores! Cute lead actress, great music, wonderful New York settings, Christmas, and books!!! How could it not be a favorite?!?!

There are other Meg Ryan movies I enjoy but these are the ones I watch over and over again. As a teenage boy Meg Ryan became my first lasting movie crush. The cute girl-next-door looks, the infectous smile, and the ever changing funky hairstyles made many a young man wax romantic. Happy Birthday Meg, thanks for all the wonderful movies over the years and I hope for many more in the future.

Pardon my absence. Exploring Middle-earth. Return date unknown. Please Leave a Message.

My wife mentioned this morning “you’ve really been getting into Lord of the Rings lately!”. And she is right. My routine over the past week or so has been to watch a little of the ‘making of’ stuff on the extended edition DVD’s each morning before work, some when I come home from work, and some before bed. I’m into disk one of Return of the King right now. I am also reading snippets of The Simarillion each day. That book is great…its like reading a history book about a world that you love. Anyway, just wanted to post an explanation for the lack of regular daily posts lately. Go back to your regularly scheduled lives…and thanks for reading.

Last night I had the privilege to attend what was (reportedly) the final tour of the sensational Broadway musical Les Miserables. Les Miserables has been my favorite musical since I first heard the Original Cast Recording. Scott had spent a summer in Australia and had seen the show and came back singing its praises and the rest is history. I fell in love with the music and later Mary and I were able to see the tour in Tulsa. I had last seen Les Miserables in 1995 on Broadway and I hadn’t realised until recently how much I wanted to see the show again.

On the recent trip to Chicago conversation turned to Les Miserables and the fact that Jeff and Keri had not seen it and Scott and I encouraged them to see it if the opportunity ever came. A few weeks later Scott emailed that Les Miserables was making a quick one-week stop here in Kansas City. Scott had a friend in the show who he assured could get us great seats and the plans were put in motion. I’ve been listening to the CD off and on for the past few weeks and I was really excited about last night’s performance.

The experience was incredible! Les Miserables is a powerful musical about sacrifice and redemption…about the power of mercy and forgiveness…about the dangers of pursuing justice at all costs with no room for grace…and ultimately about the rewards of a life lived in loving and giving to others. Maybe it is because of my faith and beliefs that I have always been profoundly moved by the music and the images of Les Miserables. I won’t go into detail about the story as that can be found here, it is enough to say that its message seems timeless and it is as amazing to see today as it was when it opened on Broadway in 1987.

Scott’s friend Trent Blanton is a member of the touring cast playing Bamatobois and Grantaire. Graintaire is the larger role and he was terrific. He also backs up the lead role of Javert and, despite the other actor’s great performance, we were all slightly disappointed that Trent didn’t get to step into that role just for this one performance. Trent was able to reserve house seats for us and they were AMAZING! We were 11 rows back right on the center aisle. It was so great to be that close…to be able to see everyone’s facial expressions, etc. I was beyond pleased that we were able to get those seats. They were great! Afterwards we met Trent at the stage entrance and he took us back stage and showed us around the stage, wardrobe and changing areas, and talked to us for a long time about the show, how its done, etc. He answered questions and then we were able to just chat for awhile about him and our mutual friend Scott and other things. We were backstage so long that they finally had to chase us out. Trent was beyond nice and I don’t know when I’ve met someone who was so generous and sincerely friendly to people he had just met. It added a wonderful dimension to the evening to watch him onstage and then be able to visit with him afterwards. We even discovered that he is a fairly recent Neil Gaiman fan!

This cast was outstanding. The lead for Jean Valjean was replaced by the understudy and he was outstanding. Having listened to the original cast for years I did not believe anyone could equal Colm Wilkinson in the role but David Michael Felty came close…very close. He was great!

I know I am not doing a great job describing how magical an experience this was…the whole day and evening was phenomenal…its just that I got very little sleep last night and what sleep I did get was filled with Les Miserables music…seriously…I dreamt about it all night with the exception of one brief dream in which Trent was over at our house and had brought some DVD’s (can’t recall which ones)!

Thank you Scott and Trent for helping to arrange such a wonderful evening. If I never have the privilege of seeing Les Miserables again I can be satisfied in remembering this performance for its marvelous cast and for the great vantage point that we had from which to enjoy the show.

I close this with the last verse and then the chorus to the Finale of Les Miserables…I get chills every time I hear it as it resonates with such truth and inspiration.

And remember
The truth that once was spoken
To love another person
Is to see the face of God!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes…
Tomorrow comes!

Its that time of year where the desire to immerse myself in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy overwhelms me…I started watching the documentaries on Fellowship of the Ring this week, watching bits here and there over lunch or late at night when I get home from work. I’ll no doubt be posting more in depth about this later but I decided that I really had no excuse for not having read the entire trilogy…being an avid reader can I really call myself a true fan without having read the books? I read The Hobbit before Fellowship came out in the theatre and loved it and read most of Fellowship after seeing the movie and really enjoyed it as well. I had to admit to myself that I was a pretty lame geek for not reading these (a fact that Jeff heartily echoed when I conversed with him about this on Wednesday…he agreed with very little hesitation I might add!) I decided that if I was going to do this I was going to do it right and was going to read the origins and some of the history of the time before the Third Age and so I have started with The Silmarillion.

The Simarillion is a work that Tolkein began in the trenches in 1917 during WWI and was still working on at the time of his death in 1973. It embodies the history of the creation of the world and the history of the Elves and Man before the One Ring is lost and eventually found by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. I’m a scant ways in but am thoroughly engrossed and am enjoying it immensely. I’ll let you know how I progress.
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I stumbled across an advertisement for this DVD that comes out November 22nd. It is called Ringers-Lord of the Fans and is hosted by Merry himself, Dominic Monaghan. Reading the description on the link above it looks to be a great documentary on the fandom of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings. This is a must see for me and I am now really excited about it.
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I was going to post these next images back on September 25th to wish Jamie a ‘happy birthday’. I work with Jamie and as you will see she is a devoted geek and is alot of fun to talk science fiction and fantasy with. Jamie is the one, if you will remember, who found my One Ring a few months ago when I “lost” it. Around her birthday Jamie called me and told me she was coming down to my office because she had a “surprise”. The surprise turned out to be a very cool LOTR tattoo on her wrist. I took these pics in my office and have held on to them for this more appropriate Lord of the Rings season.

(she looks a bit dangerous!)

(is that one of the seeing stones?)

(cool, eh?)

Didn’t it turn out great? I love this tattoo, it is really cool. It was fun seeing it right when it was new and the ink looked like it was raised off the skin somewhat. I’m actually jealous of this tat. Happy much belated Birthday Jamie!!!
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I am still so overwhelmed by how amazing this trilogy is. Wow! For cool Lord of the Rings (and Batman Begins, Harry Potter, etc) merchandise for the geeks on your Christmas list make sure to check out The Noble Collection for official…and downright cool…stuff.

Today, November 10th is the birthday of my favorite author Neil Gaiman!

(click on image to see a more realistic, scruffy Neil)

As I’ve mentioned before I was first introduced to the genius of Gaiman’s work through his epic comic series The Sandman on one of my first solo trips to visit Scott in NYC. The depth of literary and mythological references in his work hooked me instantly and I became “a fan”. Soon after this I was in Border’s Books in Tulsa, OK and saw that Neil had written his first novel:

Despite enjoying all of Neil’s works Neverwhere has always been my favorite. The story of a young man in London who discovers the world of London Below, a world existing between the cracks of our reality, really resonated with me. There is an Alice in Wonderland quality about the book that reminds me of daydreams I used to have as a child. It is a magical, whimsical, fascinating story with a great hero and heroine, wonderfully entertaining bad guys, and inhabits a world that brings my imagination to life. I try to read Neverwhere at least once a year…great book!

Stardust would be my second favorite and is arguably his most well-written novel. I like both the novelization and the illustrated version with art by Charles Vess. If you like fairy tales at all this is one of the best. Terrific, terrific story!

Neil is frequently trying new things in the literary world and Coraline was his first children’s novel. The story of a girl who finds a dark mirror world behind a locked door in her house is one that adults have reportedly found terrifying and children have found fun. It was a creepy little tale but not scary in the traditional sense of what one thinks of as horror. Coraline is reportedly in the works as a film by the producer of A Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.

Wolves in the Walls is a short tale written for younger children in which young Lucy hears wolves in the walls but cannot get her family to believe her. Eventually they come out and take over the house, watching television, eating popcorn, and making a mess with the strawberry jam. This tale is illustrated by Gaiman’s usual artist Dave McKean and the images are at once wonderful and scary.

In addition to these and several other novels and short stories Gaiman and McKean have recently come to the big screen with their movie Mirrormask. A collaboration with the Jim Henson company this is a film that I’ve been dying to see and probably will not be able to until in comes out on DVD. Shame on Kansas City for their lack of foresight in not scheduling this film.

Neil Gaiman is an interesting cultural phenomenon. You’ve either heard of him or you haven’t, but if you know him at all you are aware of the interesting, entertaining and inspiring universe that his talent has created. Each work is different in its own way and yet is uniquely Neil Gaiman. He is a master with words and has a seemingly boundless level of creativity. If you aren’t reading Gaiman’s blog on a daily basis you are missing out on interesting articles, links, and any number of bizarre and fascinating things that his myriad fans send him. You don’t have to be a Gaiman fan or even a book lover to find any number of fascinating things on his website. His Sandman graphic novels were part of a movement that saw comics lifted out of the realm of geekdom to be considered serious literary works. The Endless characters and their tales are responsible for my discovery of how amazing comics can be…not to mention they spawned groupies who show up at his signings dressed as the various characters:

Death

Delirium

If you haven’t been introduced to this amazing world I encourage you to go pick up a copy of Neverwhere or Stardust and dive in. Reading will truly never be the same.

Happy Birthday Neil, you are one of a kind and are an inspiration in so many areas of my life. Thank you again Scott for the introduction and thank you Neil for all you do….write faster!!!