List-Mania: Movie Guilty Pleasures

Day 104

At first I thought these columns would be easy to come up with but every Friday I struggle with it. During the week I will get ideas on what to blog about but then Friday arrives and zilch!

I was going through my blog and I came across a column about my favorite comic book movies and I mentioned Flash Gordon as an honorable mention and I called it one of my guilty pleasures. And thus an idea was born. I can list movies from my collection that for some strange and unknown reason I just love. They are cheesy and at times horrible but I can't get enough of them. These are not in any particular order.

Highlander 2
Every time I get ready to watch this movie I think to myself that this wasn't that bad of a movie. And every time I watch it I remember how horrible this movie is. The story itself was not all that bad but there were a TON of points that made absolutely no sense. The acting was phoned in and at times excruciating to watch. I normally like Michael Ironside but his villain here was just over the top. When a special edition of Highlander 2 was released on DVD I jumped on it hoping that this was the version that should have been in the theatres. And it was a little better, more tolerable. I think one reviewer said it best when he said "You can pour perfume all over poop to make it stink less but in the end it is still poop!" It is so bad that I will watch it at least once a year.

Homeward Bound
I don't know why I like this movie but I do. I can watch this anytime. I really should introduce this movie to Logan.


Moulin Rouge
I admit it, I like musicals and I heard that a Queen song was featured so I decided to give this movie a try. I will say that Ewan was the best part of this movie. There was a lot that I liked, aside from Ewan. I really liked how they featured popular music throughout the movie, I was surprised to hear Nirvana, the Police and others. I also really liked the costume and sets, this was a real pretty movie to look at. Very vibrant colors and detailed sets. Nicole Kidman on the other hand I just couldn't get into. At times her performance was extremely annoying but there were a few moments that were perfect. I also enjoyed the story, even though it was predictable. Musicals are hard to translate into movies. I have seen most of the musical movies that were based on live plays and I prefer them a lot more. Very rarely will I enjoy the movie more but I am glad that this was a movie. It would be difficult to shift this into a live musical with all the sets and the play within the play.


The Impostors
My dad loves this movie and he begged and begged me to watch this movie and I finally relented. It was late at night and my family was gone so I decided to give this movie a whirl. I laughed and laughed throughout the whole movie. I watched it again when it was not so late at night and I laughed through it again. It is hard to explain what this movie is about but it is a clever, well-acted, fun little movie. Here is a trailer of it:


Little Shop of Horrors
I know what you are thinking, another musical? There is so much I love about this movie even though the ending was not as great as the rest of the film. The sets were fantastic and it just seemed like this was a fun production to be a part of. I think this movie introduced me to black humor. I knew I shouldn't be laughing at some parts but I was. I remember one time after a Chess practice, the cast and crew went over to a friend's house and watched this movie and we all sang throughout it. I wish they would re-release this on DVD with the darker original ending.

Now I totally want to watch one of those tonight.

School Daze: First Grade

Day 103

Later this afternoon I get to meet Logan's first grade teacher for Parent Teacher Conference. We'll see if Logan has improved since last time. He is a talkative little turkey and has been warned and got in trouble a few times because he would rather talk than work. Which is funny considering there was a point in his life where he was shy and wouldn't talk even to me! I am glad that he is social but it seems he goes a little too far at times.

Then it got me thinking. What was I like in the 1st grade? In going through my files I found an old booklet that I made in the 1st grade that is all about me and I also found my class picture and my report card.




Like any kid that grew up in the 80's, I loved Star Wars. I guess some things will never change. And I still love bunny rabbits!

I remember really liking my 1st grade. I had a small crush on my teacher, Ms. Job. And I remember being crushed when her husband came to class one day. She was married! Now what am I going to do? I had some good friends in 1st grade.



Can you see me? The first girl in the front row with the large bob haircut was named Amy. She had an exact twin in the other class and you know what her name was? Lamy. I am not kidding, Amy and Lamy. The middle girl on the first row was Jackie. I remember that she could color like nothing else. I used to get my work done quickly in class so I could scoot my desk next to hers and share my Star Wars coloring book with her and she would color with me. It was either her or Leanne that I would color with. Leanne is the girl in purple, 2nd from the right end on the first row. I know this totally sounds rude but the girl next to her (and you could see the space in between Leanne and her) on the end was Ruby. She would eat her boogers in class so everyone hated her. Kids can be so cruel! I hung out mostly with Kirk and Gary. They are the middle boys in the middle row. Gary would move away but I stayed friends with Kirk until I moved away.


I still have a collection of some of the short stories that I wrote back in the 1st grade. Even then I loved to write.


I had a different teacher for gym and music. I was not a huge fan of gym unless we were playing floor hockey or gymnastics. I liked music quite a bit but I didn't like the teacher Ms. Norenberg. I thought she was so mean. But as you can see from her comments, even at an early age I loved to sing.


This comment from my gym teacher makes Kristy's cry. I hated to run back then too!


Not that I am tooting my own horn but I was a pretty good kid in the 1st grade.

But just wait...

I Don't Want to Alarm You But...

Day 102

Camping is just something that I am not a huge fan of. I can do it for a little while but then I feel like my body just starts to scream "GO HOME!" after a few days. I like nature, don't get me wrong, but I don't like feeling dirty. My family and I used to camp but it was out of a tent trailer and it was only a few days. Kristy's family on the other hand loves to camp and will camp for at least a week.

So every once in awhile I will go camping with the whole Breinholt clan (or as much of them as can come). I remember one camping trip in particular and I remember it only because I have a couple of pictures of it.

So on to the highlights.


-This was one of the first major family events with future sister-in-law Andrea. In fact this blog entry is named after her. For some strange reason insects were her best friends throughout this camping trip. She would be attacked by huge moths and accosted by these large bugs. Every time we saw Andrea we would say, "Now I don't want to alarm you but there is a rather large bug on your leg." She stayed pretty calm during the whole ordeal.

-Steven slept outside in this large burrito made of a ton of sleeping bags, blankets and was stationed on these lawn chairs. It didn't work out for him and eventually he had to sleep on the floor of the tent trailer. Kristy was pregnant at the time and she stepped on him a few times during the night.

-Kristy and I slept in the tent trailer along with the Bellowing Chainsaw Snoring tag team of Mom and Dad and Andrea slept on the small bed/table. Before we all hit the hay, Steven and I were Moth Slayers. It was up to us to remove all these huge hairy moths out of the tent trailer so Andrea could sleep peacefully. That didn't last either. Suddenly one night we heard her yell out and thrash around violently. Yup, you guessed it. Sure enough those moths found a way to get in and get her.

-We were pretty far up in the mountains and we expected to see a lot of deer and elk. We didn't see any but Aaron and Heather claimed they saw a ton of them. My brother-in-law Gregg informed us that "seeing 45 head of elk" was just slang for making out in the forest. Besides, you would think we would see them too. I am sure they went out a couple of more times to find more "elk".


-Speaking of elk, my nephew Josh is terrified of them. It didn't help that his dad and everyone else teased him about "man-eating" elk that roamed the mountains. Now with Aaron's news, there were at least 45 of them out there! So being the good uncle I was, I would tease Josh that elk were everywhere! So I found some branches that looked like antlers and I stalked him. I wanted to pose a picture of me chasing him but he was too embarrassed. So his little brother Ryan posed in it. But I managed to snag another picture of me sneaking up on him.

It's Back!

Day 101

One of my fellow bloggers was celebrating their 100th entry and I was happy but perplexed. How come I was only on #99? I commented on her blog hoping that she would see her mistake and come to find out that I was the one that can't count. So I had to go back all the way to #76 and renumber them all. I blame Kristy's Blognapping of Sunday. And thanks Andrea for finding my mistake.

Last night before I went to work I was flipping through the channels to find something to watch for a half an hour and I found something that I absolutely love. I am not a big fan of reality shows but there is one that I just find fascinating. I love celebrity meltdowns and train wrecks and this one is filled with it. And I do like this show for another reason, it makes me want to take care of myself. If these pampered celebrities can do it, so can I! I am talking about Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp!


The last that I heard of that show is that they were stilling looking for some fat celebrities for the show. I had absolutely no clue that the show is done and being aired. It was like Christmas came early! I couldn't watch all of it since I had to get to work but it looks like their could be a lot of meltdowns and train wrecks. Take a look at this cast. We have K-Fat Kevin Federline, musician Bobby Brown, Charles in Charge star Nicole Eggert, Tanisha Thomas from The Bad Girls Club, Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach, High School Musical star Casey Stroh, Jay McCarroll ( i have no idea who this guy is but he sure is pretty funny) and K-Fed’s old ex, Shar Jackson. Some of these guys I have no idea who they are but I am looking forward to Bobby Brown, Nicole Eggert and Sebastian Bach lose some weight. Nicole didn't look so bad, man I had such a crush on her when I (we) were both younger.



I plan on eating a cupcake and drinking a Mountain Dew while watching this show. This show is more addicting than Mountain Dew. And I love it!

Hockey Night in Canada

Day 100!

Did you see that I got Blognapped yesterday?

My wife did a guest spot on my blog yesterday and what a good day to do it on since I was so busy with Super Bowl Sunday. Next time I will make sure that I am all logged out of everything!



Many people assume that the NFL and football is my all-time favorite sport but that was not always the case. When I grew up it was all about the NHL and my hometown heroes, the Edmonton Oilers. I was lucky to be born in Edmonton in 1974. During my youth the Edmonton Oilers RULED the hockey world. I was there with future Hall-of-Famers, Glenn Anderson (my sister LOVED him), Paul Coffey (my favorite player), Grant Fuhr, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier. And there never has been a team like this since. They still own a ton of records and will go down in NHL history as one of the greatest dynasties of all time. Some of my favorite memories is watching Hockey Night in Canada a few times a week to watch them play. We'd drink Slurpee's and sometimes eat out and watch the game. I really miss those days.


When I loved to the United States sadly the NHL was just not big enough here that I could follow my team. Games were rarely played on the television and eventually I lost interest because I couldn't pick the scores and headlines.


But I still loved hockey. In fact I had the opportunity to see the hated Calgary Flames (Edmonton's archenemy) play the US Olympic Team here in Salt Lake back in 1992. Between the 2nd and 3rd periods I ran down to watch the Flames get off the ice and enter their locker room. I yelled and screamed at them and proudly showed them my old Edmonton Oiler jersey that I was wearing. Boy they didn't appreciate that. One player said, "those ******* are everywhere!" and another one banged his stick on the glass and pointed it right at me and hurled every profanity-laced insult my way! It was awesome, I HATE the Flames!

I don't follow hockey as much as I used to but I will catch highlights on ESPN and will watch a few games when I can. I will always watch the playoffs when they come on even if my team isn't in them.


A few years ago during the 2002 Olympics here in Salt Lake City, the NHL had an exhibit of all the NHL trophies and the Stanley Cup. Kristy and I drove to the E-Center and walked around and looked at all the trophies. The NHL has the best trophies in all sports. I was able to touch and locate the Oilers on the Cup. I was going to lift it above my head but they has a sign warning us not too. Take a look at these cool trophies.


And one of these days I will get me a new Oilers jersey.

Sunday Confessional: QB Controversy

Day 99

DISCLAIMER: My wife blognapped my blog!

Well, it's the Super Bowl today. Last day of the NFL season. Tomorrow in our house there will probably be a more somber mood as Matt puts away his NFL attire and starts counting down the days until the draft, and then until preseason starts. Today, he forgot to sign out of blogger (again). And so, being the loving wife I am, and knowing how much he wants to focus on the game today, decided that I would write his blog for him.

Being the last day of the season, I decided to blog about an ongoing discussion we've been having this year as we watch football. Who is the best looking quarterback? The top two places were easy to pick, and we both agreed on them. #1 Brett Favre #2 Kurt Warner. There is one, maybe semi good looking quarterback, that isn't even discussed. He would never make our list. Being rivals with the New England Patriots, Tom Brady is automatically kicked off the list, no matter how many GQ magazine covers he's on. This is where the debate begins. Matt puts up a fight for Drew Brees. He's been a big Saints supporter this year. Because he saw their potential, bandwagon, or for their quarterback? Who knows? We do know that we could agree with Donavan McNabb, Tony Romo and Carson Palmer being somewhere in the top ten. (Disclaimer: This can be a hard thing to judge since you see them when they are sweaty and have "helmet head". And, the pictures they have aren't always great pictures either. But, here they are anyway.)




The other debate that was quickly agreed upon was the debate over the least good looking quarterback. We didn't rank them, we just know that we agreed that they are Kyle Orton and Jay Cutler.


But then, there is the Peyton vs. Eli controversy. Matt says Eli, but I say Peyton. I think his commercials sway me, because he just makes me laugh. Besides his team is in the Super Bowl and Eli didn't even get into the playoffs.




Can't wait until next year. I think we should rank the wide receivers. Until then....Go Saints!!

Pic of the Week: The Pysanka (Easter Egg)

Day 98

When I was younger, we as a family took a trip east about 60-65 miles of Edmonton and visited the city of Vegreville. We visited the city's most famous monument, a giant Easter Egg. And it is something that I will not forget.

First, a little history (thanks to the Vegreville and District Chamber of Commerce for this information. You can see more at www.vegrevillechamber.com) of the egg.


(You can see my dad, sister and I all under that egg. It was raining slightly.)

The city of Vegreville wanted to honor the Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) for its service and protection of the early Ukraine settlers. They decided on a large Pysanka (Easter Egg) to symbolize the peace and security the Mounties had offered them.

Interestingly enough the design of the project was done by a computer scientist, Professor Ronald Resch from the University of Utah. They had to develop new computer programs to develop the egg. The Pysanka is really an immense jigsaw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 1,108 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts. It measures 25.7 feet long, 18 feet wide, and stands 31 feet high.

The dedication message is written in four languages: English, Ukrainian, French and German. It reads: “This Pysanka (Easter Egg) symbolizes the harmony, vitality and culture of the community and is dedicated as a tribute to the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who brought peace and security to the largest multi-cultural settlement in all of Canada.”

It was such a cool place to visit. I would love to take Kristy and Logan up there to see it. And eat Ukrainian food like progies. MMMMMMM.