Many happy returns to David Bowie, one of my favorite artists.

David Bowie on the April 23, 1987 cover of Rolling Stone

Merry Christmas RollerBlog readers!

Talk about a winter wonderland.  I’ve been snowed in at our Seattle home and have been spending my days shoveling the sidewalk, purchasing thermal underwear, and walking to Safeway and back because we can’t get our car out of the driveway.  In fact, we can’t even make it up to my parents’ house for Christmas tomorrow due to the weather.  So, my dad is driving down to Seattle to pick us up so we can all spend Christmas together.  Awww.  (I know, I’m almost 32 years old, I feel a little old for this.  But you’re never too old to be spoiled by your loved ones, right?)

I hope you have a safe and a happy holiday!

Christmas 1972 with me and my big bro

Alien Quadrilogy
Drool, drool, drool. The Alien Quadrilogy tops my Christmas wish list this year. The boxed set includes 9 discs, including the original Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien: Resurrection (1997), along with loads of extra features.

Barry Manilow’s The Greatest Songs of the Eighties
Since I have a blog on seventies and eighties pop culture, I have determined that it is my duty to own this album. I am especially keen to hear Barry’s version of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up.

Darth Vader Bobblehead
I think I could use one of these bad boys on my desk at work.  You know, to remind myself of the badass that I really am.  There are a lot of other fun Star Wars-themed chotchkies out there, including a Darth Vader Toaster, a Yoda Luggage Tag, and for you real Star Wars geeks there is the all-new three-volume Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

A-Team Lunchbox
I don’t know what I would ever do with this vintage 1983 A-Team lunch box since I don’t pack a lunch any more. Maybe I could start carrying it around at work like a pseudo-brief case. Except I’m pretty sure my laptop won’t fit in there. Hmm… I’m sure I’ll think of some use for this lunch box to justify my unholy desire to own one.

A Christmas Story Ultimate Collector’s Edition
A Christmas Story (1983) has been a holiday favorite at our house for as long as I can remember. Who can’t love a movie that includes a kid shooting his eye out with a BB gun, a kid who is triple-dog-dared to stick his tongue to a light pole, a pink bunny suit, and a leg lamp? The Ultimate Collector’s Edition comes with a 2-disc DVD set of the movie (including one disc of extra features), a collectible cookie tin with cookie cutters, a red apron, and a cookbook with recipes inspired from the movie.

The Year Without A Santa Claus Deluxe Edition
And speaking of holiday specials, my DVD collection wouldn’t be complete without The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), my favorite Rankin-Bass movie.   Who doesn’t love the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser?  We have this on VHS but I seriously don’t remember how to hook up the VCR any more so it is high time we owned this on DVD.

It’s that time of year again.

Time to set out the holiday decorations, sip egg nog, and to feverishly await the arrival of Christmas Day.  Forget Santa Claus, stockings, and presents… Christmas Day is all about our annual viewing of The Star Wars Holiday Special.

You’ve never heard of The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)?  This made-for-TV special features appearances by Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, Jefferson Starship, *and* all of your favorite Star Wars characters.  And the dialogue is spoken almost entirely in Wookie.  For the full scoop on the movie you can read my Star Wars Holiday Special review or watch the movie for yourself.

This year I created a Star Wars Holiday Special Countdown Widget because I just can’t wait until Christmas Day.  Feel free to display the widget on your own blog if you are so inspired.

Happy Life Day!

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been contemplating Thanksgiving traditions.  Like many other families, we will be gathering together with my extended family for the usual gluttonous consumption of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  But we have a few unique traditions up our sleeves.  Below I have listed a few of my favorite RollerBlog family Thanksgiving traditions.

Fiddler on the Roof
When my brother was in college, he became obsessed with the movie Fiddler on the Roof (1971).  We began watching the musical on every Thanksgiving and it is now a bona fide tradition.  After the dinner is over and the dishes are put away, we head downstairs to the family room, crank up the old VCR, and soon the family is singing along to “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Tradition!”.  Granted, we don’t watch Fiddler every year (sometimes we do get Fiddler fatigue) but we watch it more years than not.  (This year I have the feeling we may not watch the movie because we are all planning to go see Twilight together…).

Dilly Beans
Dilly beans are green beans that have been pickled in a jar, like dill pickles.  My mom makes kick ass dilly beans and we have them every Thanksgiving.  Dilly beans are definitely one of the highlights of Thanksgiving dinner.

Lord of the Rings Marathon
RollerBoy spends every other Thanksgiving Day with his mom, so when that happens we tend to do the whole Thanksgiving thing on Friday.  This means that RollerReggie and I have to think up something to do on Thursday.  And, voila, the Lord of the Rings marathon tradition was born!  We own the extended editions of all three LOTR movies (which equals 12 hours of viewing time) so it actually takes some planning to see all three movies in one day.  The first time we tried to do a LOTR marathon we didn’t quite make it through all three movies (I feel asleep during the exceedingly long scene at the end of the last movie where Frodo says goodbye to his hobbit buddies).  This time we are getting up at the crack of dawn so we are sure to fit in every minute of hobbity goodness.

As I have previously mentioned, I’m a big fan of the Twilight books series by Stephenie Meyer.  I’ve read and re-read the books until my copies are dog-eared, and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the movie to come out.  Well, that moment has finally arrived!

Like many other Twilight fans, I was there on opening night to see Bella and Edward on the big screen.  And by opening night, I mean that I took a vacation day yesterday so that I could stay up late Thursday night to catch the midnight show.  None of my friends are this insane dedicated, so I found a group of equally obsessed fans on the Twilight Moms web site who were planning an opening night soiree here in Seattle.  We ate dinner together at a local restaurant, raffled off Twilight posters and goodies, played Twilight trivia games (I got the runner-up prize for the Twilight book quotes game…I know I know, I’m a total dork), and then enjoyed a private showing of the movie at the Columbia City Cinema.

And now for the million dollar question: what did I think about the movie?  Well of course I loved it.  (This is coming from someone who has read the book waaay too many times, so you’ll have to take my opinion with a grain of salt).  That’s not to say that the movie was perfect.  There were a few incredibly cheesy moments (but, you know, the books weren’t exactly cheese-free) and the special effects were a little… amateurish-looking.  And, although I am a Kristen Stewart fan, I thought she was over-doing the stammering and sighing bit just a tad.

But those are minor details.  The crux of the movie is the love story between Bella and Edward.  Kristen and Robert Pattinson did an excellent job of convincingly portraying two teenagers who are head-over-heels in love.  And, in that respect, the movie was very much a success.

So will I see it again?  Absolutely.  The first time I saw Twilight, I was fortunate enough to see it with other moms; the next time the theater will probably be packed with screaming tweenagers.  But that’s ok.  I was a screaming tweenager myself once.

This weekend, I made the two-hour drive to my high school alma mater to watch my youngest sister perform in her high school play.  The school put on a theatrical version of M*A*S*H, and they really did an excellent job.  My sis stole she show (well, in my humble opinion, but I am a bit biased) as the character Major Margaret J. Houlihan, better known as “Hotlips.”

Watching the play reminded me of the long-running television show of the same name, as well as the movie.  I’ve never watched the movie and I’ve actually only seen a few of the episodes although it was years and years ago.  The movie came out in 1970 and the series spanned over a decade from 1972 to 1983 so I suppose I should acquaint myself with both of them.

Any suggestions on where to start?  Movie or tv series?

**News Flash**

I was contacted by the folks at Bloomberg (yes - you read that right…they actually sent me a press release) with the news that that John Oates will be interviewed tonight on the show “Night Talk” on Bloomberg TV. Apparently the interview will be available on their web site after the show.

- - - - -

It’s no secret that I am a fan of mustaches. And there is perhaps no finer mustache than the one adorning the upper lip of John Oates. Ever since discovering John Oates’ mustache on the Herb Urban blog, I have been on the lookout to purchase a Hall & Oates album of my very own.

Well I am happy to report that day has finally come! Just this past weekend, I stumbled across the 1982 record H20 by Daryl Hall and John Oates at Rubato Records.

The first song on the album, “Maneater”, is actually kind of catchy. A little too catchy. I’ve actually caught myself singing it a few too many times over the past few days.  “Oh here she comes, watch out boy she’ll chew you up, oh here she comes, she’s a maneater!”

But the album quickly devolves from there. As we listened to the next song, “Crime Pays,” RollerReggie simply shook his head. “I feel like I am in synth hell,” he moaned. “This song embodies everything I hated about eighties music!”

And so it continued.  We couldn’t even make it to the B side of the record.  RollerReggie and I were overcome with the sheer eighties force of H20.  And the saxophone solos.

But, I didn’t really spend $3.99 to actually listen to this record.  I bought it because John Oates has the best mustache ever.  Therefore, I am one satisfied customer.

In the course of my “research” for the RollerBlog, I have encountered plenty of long-forgotten fads and rediscovered kitschy relics of the seventies.  Platform shoes, wacky packs, pet rocks, pop rocks… and now the rain lamp.

And what is a rain lamp, you ask?  A typical rain lamp features a statue of a Grecian-style goddess surrounded by a column of strands, down which oil is dripped to simulate droplets of rain.

Photo courtesy of Alex Sloley

This was a new one to me - I’d never heard of rain lamps until a colleague provided me with the above photo of his lamp which was purchased on eBay.

Anyone else out there have a rain lamp?