On this blessed day in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-eight the heavens rolled back, the angels sang, and an American baby boy was born in a German hospital far from home. The bundle of joy was, of course, yours truly. Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today marks the beginning of year 37. Three short years until I reach the fabulous forties! What to say about this most wonderful of days? “I was born at a young age…”

Actually I know for a fact that at least one person has been waiting for this day since that fateful day when I posted about Nipplegate…he is sure that my mother has embarrassment planned for retribution. In order to start the salvo I’ll tell a little story of my own.

My parents current home, the one I lived in from the third grade until I went off to college, is a split level home. In the center is a stair case that goes up from the basement to a landing where the front door is. The stairs then continue on up to the upper floor. We had a full glass door in addition to the front door which we frequently left wide open in the warmer months. The shower was downstairs and my brother and I had a habit of just running towel clad…or sometimes naked…up the stairs to our room to change after the shower. Why it never occured to me as a young man to take my clean clothes down there with me is a mystery for greater minds than my own.

I would guess I was around 12 or 13 when this specific event occurred. I had showered and was skipping up the stairs in front of the open door when I noticed a neighborhood kid, Mike, coming up the outside stairs. He hadn’t seen me and in blind panic I ran back down the stairs and proceeded to round the corner to hide my nakedness back in the bathroom. As I ran I looked back to make sure he had not reached the front door and discovered my nakedness (which in itself is funny because we went skinny dipping as kids out in the local creek). I was running to what I thought was the opening of the bathroom door and at the last second I turned my head from looking at the front door only to run full speed, head-on into the wall next to the door opening. Cartoon-style my naked form struck the wall and immediately crashed to the floor. I lay there, stunned in my nakedness, listening to the front door bell ring. Months, days, or perhaps just seconds passed as I crawled into the bathroom. When my brain quit sloshing I stood up only to see a ginormous goose egg right in the middle of my forehead. It was huge! I looked as if I had a small alien growing out of my forehead.

God, in his infinite wisdom, did not see fit to answer my prayers and immediately remove the offending blemish and so I had the sheer pleasure of relaying this story to all who I came in contact with over the ensuing days. There’s a moral about nakedness, running, and knowing how to judge where you are in your surroundings when not looking in this story somewhere but I think my brain is still bruised from that incident.

So there you go. I’ve told the nipple story, the farting in college health class story, and now the Chariots of Nakedness story. Feel free to add your own!
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I share my special day with one of my favorite quarterbacks of all time, Troy Aikman, with Belgian artist Rene Magritte, with French author and philosopher Voltaire, and of course with my favorite classic horror femme fatate Ingrid Pitt.

Thank you Ingrid, same to you.

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I am thrilled to be alive and happy to be celebrating another year of existence. I am grateful for friendships old and new and am glad to share my day with you.

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.