Does Anyone Like Tom Cruise?

I keep seeing this commercial for Knight and Day, which is, first of all, a stupid name for a movie (or a book ~ I hate it when they try to make characters interesting by giving them stupid names like that) and seeing Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz running around being all adventurous and listening to that horrible cheesy music that I think is supposed to be part of the soundtrack but sounds like something from the early 1980s (maybe Footloose?) and I can't help but wonder ~ does anyone still like Tom Cruise?

For me, I think he peaked with Mission Impossible ~ the first one. I never saw Top Gun. I went to see Days of Thunder because it was a double feature with Ghost, which is the movie I really wanted to see all along. I will admit I did like Born on the Fourth of July, and The Firm was fun. But I was already starting to become annoyed by that shiny thing he does with his eyes to express strong emotion. I did not go see The Last Samurai because he was in it, and I still think it would have been that much better with someone else in the lead role.

But he's still making beaucoup bucks, so there must be lots of people out there who disagree with me. Opinions?

Place Your Bets

I am seriously considering putting together a spreadsheet to keep track of celebrity couples and place bets on when they will break up.Not necessarily for money, just bragging rights, you understand.

This comes on the heels of the announcement, as yet unconfirmed, that Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have split. It's shocking, quite shocking, I know.

Is anyone with me?

I'm Still Doing the Happy Dance

Several hours later and my joy has not dimmed.

Overheard at a school visit I was doing this afternoon:

Woman 1 - Did you hear about Souder?
Woman 2 - I laughed so hard I nearly pee'd my pants!

So I am not the only one feeling the joy.

I have an article from the Washington Post. I have indicated my favorite parts:

Indiana congressman Mark Souder (R) decided to resign his seat after anonymous tipsters began calling aides in his office and his opponents in a Republican primary, claiming he was having an affair with a part-time staffer, according to three sources familiar with the calls.

Last week, after he won the primary, Souder admitted the allegations to his chief of staff, Renee Howell, who confronted the conservative Christian congressman about the rumors that he was having an extra-marital affair with Tracey Meadows Jackson, according to a source in the office. ...

The affair began after Jackson was hired in a part-time role in 2004, according to a source knowledgeable about the relationship. Jackson, who is married, was hired to play guest host with Souder for a daily radio spot he recorded for WFCV, a Christian radio station in Ft. Wayne. The spots were taped once a week and aired daily. Jackson played host, asking Souder questions about what he was working on in Washington for his constituents. ...

Jackson was also hired to play host for a local cable access show Souder had at one point. The show served as a platform for Souder to discuss conservative issues dear to him. Jackson has also helped produce numerous videos of Souder's speeches and positions, including one in which they discussed his strong support for teen abstinence.

Less than a week before the Republican primary election, anonymous callers phoned some of the Republican candidates running against Souder, with allegations that he was regularly meeting a girlfriend for romantic trysts in state parks. One alleged that he and a staffer went together late at night to the remote and heavily-forested Robinson Lake boat launch in Whitley County. ...

The public revelations about Souder come two weeks after he survived a serious primary challenge from car dealer Bob Thomas, who spent considerable sums of his own money on the race. Souder won the primary with less than 50 percent of the vote. Thomas and another candidates trailed far behind.

* * *

Okay. I love that he was nearly beaten by a "car dealer." Not to offend any car dealers out there. It just strikes me as funny.

I love that he was having romantic trysts in state parks. For one thing, could he not have found a state park outside his own district? Like somewhere in Pennsylvania where no one would have recognized him? The second thought I had was, how cheap is this guy? He won't even spring for a hotel room? I don't think that is sending a good message to the teens he wants to remain abstinent. Or maybe he got the idea while on a school visit? The mind boggles.

SOUDER IS OUT!

Is it wrong of me to be happy at the expense of someone else? Does it count if the someone else is Mark Souder?

My Musical Adventure

Every Monday night the children's librarian at the branch hosts Family Fun Night. They do different stuff each week - board games, making stuff out of pipe cleaners, Shrinky Dinks, etc. Marra's Family Fun Night tonight was Instrument Playground where the Friends of the Philharmonic come with different instruments and kids get to try them out.

I had mentioned to Marra's volunteer Hwa earlier in the evening that I used to play clarinet. As it turned out, the person who normally comes to demonstrate the clarinet was not here, and apparently Hwa revealed my secret to Marra, so Marra came running out and pretty pleased me into sitting at the woodwind table and helping kids with the clarinet. So instead of sitting at the children's desk signing kids on to the computer, I got to go play the clarinet and help kids try to make noise with it! :)

It was lots of fun. They had a table of percussion with all different kinds of special effects noisemakers, a flute and clarinet at the woodwind table, a cornet and trombone at the brass table, and some violins and a cello at the string table. Some of the kids came back several times to try an instrument again. One little boy was so serious, just concentrating very hard! Some kids had trouble getting the clarinet to make any noise, but some got it right away and a few had good sound quality. I tried to encourage everyone and the ones who would come back to try again I would trill notes for while they blew through the clarinet. They really seemed to like that.

Marra said one little boy told her the clarinet was his favorite. The first time he tried to blow he let out this gigantic squawk that made him jump, and he thought that was cool. :) A lot of kids left rubbing their lips because the vibration felt funny. And we doused the mouthpiece in Listerine between kids, so they all hated the taste. I told them it doesn't normally taste like that. :)

It was fun!

I AM HAVING TRAUMA!!!!!

I just saw an online report that NBC is canceling Law & Order!!!!!! It is in its 20th season, tying it with Gunsmoke for the longest running tv series EVER. Of course, they have SVU, but it's just not the same. I never really bonded with Elliott. And rumor has it they will be starting a L&O: Los Angeles, but based on a 7th season L&O I just watched where they went to LA to get blood from a suspect, that series might be rather annoying.

L&O has not been the same since Jerry Orbach left, of course. Lennie, how I miss you!

My favorite cast was Jerry Orbach as officer Lennie, Benjamin Bratt as officer Rey Curtis (never good on the witness stand), Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, and Angie Harmon as tough-as-nails DA Abbie Carmichael. She never took any crap. :)

Kind of interesting... the Internet Movie Database lists how many episodes each actor appeared in. S. Epatha Merkerson, Lt. Anita Van Buren, has the most at 391, followed by Sam Waterston at 368, and Jerry Orbach at 274. Merkerson made an early appearance as the mother of a shooting victim, and Orbach as a defense attorney before they nabbed their ongoing characters.

Okay, so I am a little L&O obsessed. Is that a bad thing?

One of my favorite episodes is the one where Frances Conroy played a nun who was on trial. The acting was superb and she just glowed in the role. The same actress also played in season one a rich dominatrix guilty of the murder of one of her submissives.

Another favorite is the one where the homeless guy kills people with a sword and it turns out he has a law degree and is schizophrenic and off his meds and he defends himself - beautifully acted. That actor was in another episode where he played a leader of a militia who were trying to separate themselves from the United States.

Any favorite episodes for you? :)

BMV Update Again

I finally got my driver's license. You may recall I went to the BMV to get my updated one and was told that because I had a photocopy of the marriage license instead of the original, I could not get a new license. The original went in the mail to get my passport.

So I waited until my new passport arrived and there was no marriage license with it. Kevin went down to the courthouse and got a new copy of the marriage license, which then, of course, arrived in the mail with my old passport the next day (but he still gets points).

So I went back to the BMV with my new marriage license and my other 4 pieces of documentation and NO ONE asked to see anything but the license! After I dug through my files to find two utility bills and my birth certificate and made sure to have my new social security and passport paperwork with me. And this is for the new supposedly "secure" i.d. I know I feel safer.

I also have a new crappy photo that makes me look like a serial killer. Oh, well. At least I don't have to renew until 2015.