Bolt Upright

Sadly,  our teenage screen idols don’t live forever.

I think I’ve seen Dirty Dancing more often than any other movie, and that’s saying something considering Sport subjected me to Cars about once a week for quite a while. When Dirty Dancing came out on video (spring 88 maybe?), my best friend Andrea and I would ride our bikes to the video store on Friday night, rent it, and proceed to watch it about eight times before we returned it. (Admittedly, after watching it all the way through twice, we would just fast forward large portions and watch the mutually agreed-upon “good bits”.) We both owned both the albums. (Er, yes, there were two.) We knew large portions of the dialogue by heart. We were geeks, what can I say. But dammit, I loved that movie, and I still do. And not just because a few friends & I will still reference it when we embarrass ourselves in front of men we like. (“I had a total carried-a-watermelon moment.”)

Godspeed, Patrick Swayze.

Fellow 80s teenagers should read this – a lovely op-ed piece by Molly Ringwald about the late John Hughes.

Well, according to comics from the 1950s, all KINDS of reasons.

Like being a fool. Or losing a bundle at the dog track. Fear of leaves. And, my personal favourite, not being able to afford go-go boots.

Ok, I saw this on another blog and I thought it was fun. Here’s the drill:

Step 1: Put your iPod on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the 1st 25 songs no matter how embarrassing
Step 3: Add the artist and track once someone guesses both correctly.
Step 4: For those who are guessing, looking up the lyrics is CHEATING.
Step 5: If you like the game post your own and link to it in the comments.

Here are mine… my fellow 80s music fans are going to have an edge on some of these,  and #7 is a freebie if you were even ALIVE in the 80s. But a few of them are pretty obscure and surprised me when they came up on shuffle since I’d sort of forgotten the albums were on there.  Also, embarrassing true fact: I had to look up the lyrics to #14 myself, since I never was sure exactly what they were saying.

1.  Haïti, mon pays, wounded mother I’ll never see.
2. Friday night I’m going nowhere – Babylon, David Gray
3. As I walk away I look over my shoulder
4. I get up in the evening – Dancing in the Dark, Bruce Springsteen
5. You say that you’re leaving - It Hasn’t Hit Me Yet, Blue Rodeo
6. I took my love and I took it down. – Landslide, the Dixie Chicks
7. Little ditty about Jack and Diane.-  Jack and Diane, John Cougar aka John Cougar Mellencamp aka John Mellencamp
8. When there’s nowhere else to run – All These Things That I’ve Done – the Killers
9. No I would not sleep in this bed of lies
10. Johnny take a walk with your sister the moon – Mysterious Ways, U2
11. Shock to the heart, and you’re too late – You give love a bad name, Bon Jovi
12. I don’t look the way the one you dreamed about should look
13. I heard there was a secret chord – Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen (actually the k.d. lang version)
14. So 1,2,3 take my hand and come with me – Are You Gonna Be My Girl, Jet
15. I once knew a girl in the years of my youth
16. Live baby live, now that the day is over – New Sensation, INXS
17. You sit there in your heartache – When You Were Young, the Killers
18. I am an old woman named after my mother
19. I woke up got my lazy ass out of bed
20. And so tomorrow there will be another number
21. I met this girl, she was walking through one of my dreams – Dark Angel, Blue Rodeo
22. Last night I dreamt of San Pedro – La Isla Bonita, Madonna
23. This is where I’ll be so heavenly
24. She said that time is unfair
25. I feel my wings have broken in your hands

Guess away.

- edited to add – no, you don’t have to guess all of them! If you know one (or think you do) just put it out there.

Today someone arrived at this blog by googling the word “lesbeans”.  HEE. Once I stopped giggling, I decided that some 12 year old boy out there was really, really disappointed by that post.

Is it wrong that I now want to google “lesbeans” to see what else appears?

You guys. If you haven’t already seen it, go and watch Susan Boyle audition on Britain’s Got Talent.

Bored? Looking for random amusement? Try googling your first name followed by the word “needs”.

According to Google, I need…

… suggestions. (Go for it.)

… help. (Duh.)

… a special-needs cat. (Isn’t that redundant?)

… a drummer. (Ah, no musicians need apply, actually.)

… your clothes, shoes, bags!!! (Yes, there were that many exclamation marks in the original.)

… volunteers.  (Particularly volunteer maids, cooks, and babysitters.)

… a ride for one to San Ramon. (I also know the way to San Jose.)

… vendors. (Depends what they are vending.)

… to slim down her bod! (Sad but true.)

… local consent.  (I… don’t know what that means.)

Thanks to Habesha Child for the fun!

Seriously. The man learned how to say “You are team #1″ in sign language, on the assumption that the mom & son team would finish first on at least one leg of the race. Phil, you rock.

Also, who knew that transporting cheese could be so entertaining? For the viewers, that is, not the participants.

I came across this clip from the Ellen show again today … I had seen it before, but OH MY GOD it is still the funniest thing ever.