Julie's Blog

A Couple of Tunes For You!!

There are a couple of tunes that I am particularly enjoying these days, so I thought that I would share them with you.  The first one is by none other than Kid Rock, who I like in general for reasons that I don't really understand at all....This is a song called "All Summer Long"....

This second song is by Jason Mraz, whose voice I have always really liked.  It is a catchy little tune called "I'm Yours"....

So, what do you think?

By the way, if you can't see the videos above, click here to go to "All Summer Long" on YouTube and click here to go to "I'm Yours" on YouTube.

Harry Potter Puppet Pals

My cousin pointed out this video to me recently.  If you are a "Harry Potter" fan and if you want a laugh, check this out...

If you can't see the video above, click here to see it directly on YouTube.

And in the spirit of laughing, check out this video, too...

Once again, if you can't see the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

I hope that you enjoy!

Tribute to Paul Newman

You probably have heard by now, but just in case you haven't the great actor Paul Newman recently passed away. 

He has done more than 80 films and TV productions, including The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke and The Color of Money (for which he won an Oscar).  However, my favorite is still probably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which also starred the very handsome Robert Redford.  (The duo also starred together in The Sting.)

So, in honor of Paul, below are a couple of tributes.....I hope that you enjoy!

Tribute 1

Tribute 2

Remember, if you can't see the videos above, just click here & here to go to them on YouTube.   Otherwise, thank you, Paul, for all of the wonderful memories!

Quantum of Solace Movie Trailer

First, I wanted to let you all know that I am going to be unavailable online for a few days.  All is well, no need to worry!  I am going to be off having some fun and may not have email or internet contact.  In the meantime, I thought that I would tempt you with some James Bond.....

The new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, is coming out in November.  Did you see the last Bond movie with Daniel Craig as the new James Bond?  I know, Bond should not be a blonde......but Daniel Craig seems to make it work.  I really liked him in the last Bond movie.  And he is back again!  The new Bond movie picks up shortly after the last one left off.  And to summarize, I think that Bond is pretty pissed off!  We'll have to wait and see for sure.  So, click here if you want to see the newest Quantum of Solace movie trailer.  When you get to the link click on "play video" to see the trailer.  Then come back here and and let me know what you think, OK?

The Voice

You may have heard this by now......Although you most likely don't recognize his face, Don LaFontaine was the voice behind more than 5,000 movie trailers and 350,000 commercials.  He died earlier this week of complications from pneumothorax.  (Note:  pneumothorax is commonly known as a collapsed lung.  In case you are at all in what the heck pneumothorax is, go here for more information.  Anyway.....)  I am sure that you have heard his voice, many, many times and will recognize it when you hear it.  Below is a video on "The Voice" in case you are interested.  I know that I, for one, wanted to hear him speak one more time....

In case you can't see the video above, click here to go to it on the internet directly.

Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring!

I found this video very amusing.  It is by the group Flight of the Conchords and I had to share...

If you can't see the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

Flight of the Conchords is a popular group from New Zealand.  If you would like more information on the group, just go here to go to their official website or go here to see more on them on HBO's website.  Otherwise, I hope that you enjoy!

The Muppets.......Mahna Mahna!

And now for your viewing pleasure and, hopefully, entertainment, here are a couple of clips from the Muppets for you to enjoy!  This first one features John Cleese....

If you can't see the video above, click here to go directly to it on YouTube.

And the one that is one of my favorite Muppet songs of all time follows....Mahna Mahna!

Once again, if can't see this video, click here to go directly to it on YouTube.

I hope that you are having a great day and that these at least put a smile on your face!

Ranger is Sensitive to Music?

It has been awhile, so I thought that I would share with you about my best-dog-in-the-world, Ranger.

 

A few weeks ago I discovered on my Tivo (don't you love Tivo?) that I can download music videos.  And being the huge Billy Joel fan that I am, I downloaded "Piano Man".  While watching the video, Ranger started acting strange during the harmonica portions of the song.  Every time the harmonica started playing, he started howling.   When the harmonica stops, he stops.  When the harmonica starts again, he starts again.  It was so strange, that we had to play the video again to see if he would do it again.  We discovered that unless he was distracted (for example by food, by playing with Izzy, etc...), he would howl every time the harmonica was playing.  But we don't know is - Is he howling because he is complaining?  Is he howling because it is hurting his ears?  Or is he howling because he likes it and is singing with it?  We honestly have no idea why he is doing this.

Since then, while listening to the stereo or watching TV either songs would come on the radio or jingles for commercials would come on that has a violin playing.  And guess what?  Yep, Ranger starts his howling again!  Every time commercials would come on playing a violin (or some similar instrument), he howls!  Once again.....complaining or singing?

Thankfully, this hasn't happened often enough to start being annoying yet.  (Whew!!)  It is still terribly amusing.  But I am curious as to your thoughts.....Why do you think Ranger is doing this?

Why We Love Drowsey Monkey!

Today, August 2nd, 2008, is the first year blog-iversary for my friend Drowsey Monkey and her blog.  So, in honor of this, I, along with a lot of her other blogging friends are posting a tribute to Drowsey Monkey about why we love her so much!  By the way, I have to thank Olga at Olga, The Traveling Bra and Speedcat at the Speedcat Hollydale Page for the idea.

So, why do I love Drowsey Monkey?  Let me count the ways....

1. She is Canadian!
2. She is a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" fan!
3. She turned me on to Kiva!  I encourage you to check Kiva out here.
4. Tally Ban!  (And if you don't know what I am talking about, go here to check it out.)
5. She is just so darn funny and creative!

Bottom line....We love you, Drowsey Monkey!

Do You Want to Believe? The X-Files Movie Review

I went to see the new X-Files movie "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" last night.  So as promised, here is my review of the movie.  Please keep in mind that I am a huge fan of the TV series.  I have seen almost every episode of the show.  Coming from this perspective, I am probably a little biased in my opinion.  All of that said...

The movie stars David Duchovny (Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully), Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and Xzibit.  Amanda Peet and Xzibit are the two new FBI agents.  Billy Connolly plays "Father Joe", who also claims to be a psychic.  The acting by Billy Connolly, Amanda Peet and Xzibit are all OK in the movie.  Not wonderful, not bad....somewhere in between.  Also, be forewarned, the plot line for this movie has nothing to do with aliens or any conspiracy theories.  It does have a lot of religious overtones and some strange sexual ones.  (No specifics since I don't want to spoil anything....)

I really enjoyed seeing Mulder again.  As I expected, David Duchovny did a good job.  It is so nice seeing some of Mulder's humor and quirks again.  For those of you who are fans of the TV show, at least a couple of his "quirks" are apparent especially at the beginning of the movie.  (Once again, I won't spoil you with the specifics.)  Mulder does what you would expect him to do throughout the movie, (Yay!!) which was fabulous to see, in my opinion!

My biggest issue with the movie is with Scully, believe it or not. Scully was dark, unhappy and depressing.....more so than I expected.  Mulder and Scully have known each other now, theoretically, at least 15 years now, right?  Shouldn't she expect Mulder to do what he does by now?  Why is she surprised by this?  Scully's nagging and back & forth are rather annoying.  I can't really blame Gillian Anderson's acting performance for this.  I have to blame the writing.  The writers (Chris Carter & Frank Spotnitz) probably wrote the part that way to create tension.  But, frankly, I didn't really like it.

 
Look for references to Mulder's missing sister and Mulder & Scully's son, William, in the movie.  And take a look at the names in Mulder's cell phone when he calls Scully at one point in the movie.  I am pretty sure that the name above "Scully" was "Gillian".  (I, for one, found this rather amusing.)  Also, there is a George W. Bush joke in the movie that I found especially entertaining.  Lastly, there is at least one cameo in the movie from one of the other characters from the TV show.

So, bottom lines....Did I like the movie?  Yes, I really did.  Issues with Scully and all.  On the other hand, it would probably have to be pretty bad for me not to like it.  Would I be willing to see it again?  Yes, I probably would, but not in the theaters.  It would have to be on dvd.  (Side note:  Realistically, it is going to be difficult for me to watch this movie on dvd in the luxury of my own home.  Why, you may wonder?  Well, my best-dog-in-the-world Ranger watches TV.  Yes, he really watches TV.  And he gets rather annoyed when there are other dogs on TV.  [They are in his territory!  How dare they?!]  Consequently, it is hard for us to watch anything, especially movies with dogs in it, at home on TV.  And there are a lot of dogs throughout this movie.  But the important thing in this case is, Ranger aside, would I be willing to watch this movie again at home on dvd?  Yes, I would.)  Will I own this movie?  No, I won't.  I didn't enjoy it so much that I have to watch it over and over again.  But, I must say, I am glad that I went to see this movie.  It was really nice seeing my old friends again.