|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| 
A Christmas Story (of our own....)
We've all seen the movie. Any given hour of any given day during the holidays, you can flip through the channels and find the adorable Ralphie telling his narative about a life less ordinary. Sure he's cute, he's irresistable and you can relate to his life in ways you had tried to forget, but once in a while you tell your own holiday story and this my friend, is our Holiday adventure that will eventually lead back to a strange connection that my son now forever has with Ralphie...stay tuned....
So Nehemiah did a voice over for Hallmark back in February. His agent had no idea what the product would be, but she assured us that it wouldn't be out until Christmas 07 or 08 and we would be contacted when it came out. We have relatives with Hallmark who get at least 50% off new items before the public and I had every intention of giving them the cash to buy a few of whatever it was to give to all our close friends and relatives as a gift for Christmas when it came out.
SO we were at Hallmark yesterday doing our annual 40% off after Christmas (because I'm so cheap) shopping to get new ornaments and Christmas duds when Nehemiah spots a Christmas globe that we believe may have his voice-over on it, but how? It's not suppose to be out until 07 or 08 and we didn't even know it was going to be a collector's item snow Globe! I ask the clerk if it says "said line" (nope, not going to tell you yet) and she says, "No, it just has Santa's line on it." We walk out relieved and decide this is not it. We drive to next Hallmark for more discounted one-eyed snowmen and such (just kidding) and I happen to ask for a second opinion on the snow globe and this time the bright eyed cashier tells me it DID say the kid's line! Yikes, where are they?
"Sorry we sold out before Christmas."
"What? That's my son's voice on there! Are you sure there aren't any lurking in the back room?"
No such luck! "Ok," I think to myself, "there were 2 globes left at the other Hallmark with the dense clerk, so we head back....Oh no!.....both GONE!
" I thought you said the only line on the globe is Santa's!"
"It is." (Now I am starting to realize I am dealing with someone with an IQ no higher than that of a grapefruit and I can picture grubby hands fondling my snow globe at other Hallmarks nationwide while I ponder her stupidity so I just let it go because time is of the essence here.)
"Do you have a phone list of other Hallmarks in the area?"
Yes, here it is."
I jot down some digits and drive to the next Hallmark while I call.
"Hello, do you have, or did you have a snow globe called ******************?"
"Yes, I believe we have one left."
"Ok, I'm on my way with batteries. I believe my son's voice is on that globe and I need to hear it."
(I left out the part about my short stop for batteries; it seemed insignificant till now in the story)
"While I'm on the phone, the manager offers to get her own batteries and let me hear it over the phone to see if it's him. Wow, how nice, but I really can't tell over the phone because of the noise level so I finally make it to the store and we go in and woah- It IS HIM! The manager realizes she has another case of them in back- six more to be exact, so I buy them up.
What is this globe and what line does he say on it? None other than the infamous,
" I want an Official Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"
which is followed by santa's reply,
"You'll shoot your eye out, Kid."
so if you have this Globe- You have my son's voice to brighten your holiday season for years to come!
Maybe there should be a remake of the old classic.
  
He's even got a little lamb costume that Grandma sewed him...AWWWW
(I know, I know, he's a bunny in the movie, but lambs are just as cute!)
Ya think?
Well, that's MY Christmas Story and I'm stickin' to it!
Happy holidays from our house to yours! | | |
| my myspace
I'm at myspace now sucka's, so hit me over there.
And also You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/user/mismindles | | |
|
Well, I stand corrected about that last post. I was looking at box office rankings last
Monday morning and I swear that End of the Spear was not in the top
twenty, but this week I was checking them and everyone of them said that
EOTS was #8 last week and #14 this week. That makes me happy. It's hard for a movie
of that nature to make it in the top ten! I'm glad to see that peope got out and supported the movie after all.
| | |
|  So Saturday night I decided to part with $8.50
of my hard earned money and
support a couple of causes I believe in: independent filmmaking and
wholesome entertainment at the box office. I could have settled
for the usual mind-babble I usually see at the theatre, but I was in
the mood for some enlightenment. I grabbed a quick soda
and nachos and opted for a seat in front of the controversial
production: End of the Spear.
One thing I noticed immediately as I took a
seat, was the noise level of the theatre before the movie
started. People were talking to each other...strange..... but
this is no ordinary movie or ordinary audience. By the movies
nature, this theater is filled with some of the chattiest people known
to man: the church-goers. My mother, who had just returned from a
trip to the loo, comes back
and immediately strikes up a conversation about the prequal
documentary, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, with the people behind
us. quick chit chat, she takes a seat. I submerge my nacho
in cheesy gravy goodness and hope the film starts soon and the loud
people a few rows up will settle down. The lights dim and now
I'm forced to fish for corn chips in darkness, somehow I manage.
I love the film, not only for the beautiful
scenery and the message of ultimate forgiveness, but I am mesmerized by
the actors, especially analyzing the young Steve Saint, because my son is about
his age and I am wondering if he could pull off a sincere part like
this (it's my inner stage mom, I guess) and reminding myself that
Christian film is on the rise and it is possible to be a Christian
actor without sacrificing your integrity and dignity.
The movie ends and I grab up my trash, which
includes several tissues wet with nasal mucus and weeping fluid that I
have emitted during the course of a very intense tear-jerker. I
head to the restroom where I make eye contact with several other
red-eyed females trying to freshen up before they submit themselves
back out to the general public.
I come home eager to read more about the movie
on-line and go to my favorite site IMdB. I am instantly
disappointed with the message board. No one has a review
for the movie or a conversation piece about a scene in the
movie. Instead, it is filled with Christians and
non-Christians arguing over mission work, religion, and the sexual
orientation of the lead in the movie, Chad Allen, who is an activist for the gay agenda. The message
board is so full of hot controversial topics that to start a new thread
with something like, "I loved this movie" seemed childish. I
filter through a few messages, follow a few links to articles and
quickly come to a few conclusions about "my people."
I have often thought about blogging about why people see Christianity in a negative light. I
had some things floating around in my head, but I really got a reality
check this evening. I know it is my sole duty as a Christian to
spread the "good news" with others, but I don't think that arguing with
non-believers on a message board is the answer. This is the very
reason I steer clear of Christian chat-rooms, because without fail,
there's always that one person who comes to the room for the sake of
stirring up the group by pronouncing that there is no God and for the
next hour, everyone in the room is dedicated to proving that person
wrong. I watch it all unfold and keep asking myself why these
people don't just let it go and quietly pray for this person instead of
eventually saying something stupid and making us all look bad.
Can't Christians just talk peacefully about life
without having to become self-righteous and argue their beliefs with a demoralizing nation?
I also have a real problem with everyone
attacking Chad Allen's role in the movie. He did a great job and
he made me believe for 2 hours that there is a reason I tithe to
missions and that people's lives are being transformed one small
community at a time. Nate Saint gave his life for future
generations of the woadoni tribe who more than likely would not have
lived over the age
of 30 before 6 out of ten deaths were caused by spearing. They
killed innocent babies, young children and often an entire family was buried alive next
to the father who was killed. Chad's sexual orientation didn't
even cross my mind, but for some Christians it was the one reason that
kept them from supporting the movie. Shame on them!
I thought the movie was excellent, but sadly,
it
didn't even rank in the top twenty films over the weekend. That
could be partly because it wasn't in as many theatres or because
Independent movies can't afford big advertising, or maybe because
Christians turned their back on the film due to Chad Allen's role in
the movie, but who
knows. I think the story was worth telling and I am glad that 50
years later, we haven't forgotten the five men who gave their lives to
save an entire tribe of people who would probably be extinct by
now.
| | |
| L.A.
"They were the best of times; they were the
worst of times" would probably best sum up our whole trip. If
paying $90 to get my keys out of my locked rental car and finding out
that I didn't set up a PIN number before I left with my brand new debit
card to get cash out of the ATM machine were good things, then I'd say
we had a fabulous trip, but I think you can tell by the sarcasm that
these two events might have been the Trojan Horse in my city of
Troy. I had brought SOME cash with us, but knowing that the cash
you have is all the cash you will have for the duration of your trip
tends to put a damper on one's vacation spirits, so from that point
forward I was nervous and angry at myself for being so stupid!
On a brighter note, we did have some fun that
was free and no matter where I am, "FREE" just lifts my
spirits! We went to the Science Center and the Santa Monica Beach.
Nehemiah loved the ocean. He stood for over 30 minutes and enjoyed the
rise and fall of it as it nearly pulled him in several times. He
giggled wildly as he ran with the water to keep his balance and then
got back in place for another face off with the tide. It was my
first time to see the ocean too, but I was too captivated with
Nehemiah's frolic to care. It was a time I will never
forget. This nearly made me cry, but then again, locking the door of the car and looking in at my keys
laughing and taunting me from the driver's seat, fell under this
category too.
The Science Center- what can I say? It was Science.  Not a
subject I did well in or was interested in, as a kid, so not much to say
here. Nehemiah loves Science, so he genuinely enjoyed
himself. I stood by and tried to share his happiness, but only
found a few things of interest, mostly the gift shop, because #1: they take debit cards and #2: I am VERY
interested in shopping!!!! 
We did visit the City Walk for dinner and we
went also went to Universal Studios. The highlight of my trip was the
universal studios tour. We got to see the, still smoldering set,
of War of the Worlds, the Bates motel and house from Psycho, The village of Whoville from The Grinch Who ......and
lots of other Universal movie nuggets, but the single thing on the tour
that set my heart a float was the drive-by-view of none other than
Wisteria Lane!
Notice the sinister
glance from the man in the way of my would-be perfect picture.
I'm not thinking he's a fan of the Desperate Houswives-just a hunch.
All went well in the "interview with Osbrink" department. They like
him a lot and they think he would do very well in movies or TV.
They think Nehemiah is Eccentric and directors, they say, like those
kind of kids.
His manager did say that it was possible for him to
video an audition (if something comes up) from his home agency here and
we can mail it out to Osbrink, but I haven't nailed down the final
plans for that just yet.
That is all for me now. What's meant to be will be. We had a
great time in LA and made a lot of memories and that is far more
important than making it in LA!
| | |
|
