Entertainment Weekly’s list of the top movies of the last 25 years

One minute I was with Philo and MSS on the Pond Tour, snapping away while listening to the owner's tale of why they needed the extra bit of splash provided by the blue jar...

And the next minute I was looking at a permanently black face on our digital camera...

While I ponder what to write about the tour (and we go out to look at affordable cameras) here's a list from Planet Pooks to play with. It's Entertainment Weekly’s list of the top movies of the last 25 years.

The original instructions say to " 1) Bold the ones you have seen. 2) Put an asterisk after the movie title* if you really liked it. 3) Cross it out if you saw a film and really disliked it. 4) Underline the ones you own."

That may work for you "J" types, but these rules didn't work for "P"-type Annie, so I made up my own.

1) Bold the ones you have seen.

2) Put an asterisk after a movie title if you saw it, then watched it at least one more time on purpose.

3) I'm not a crosser-outer. There have been too many movies that I disliked when I saw them, but later came to appreciate. But if you want to do it - go for it.

4) Underline the ones you own.

It's not a meme or a tag - just a little game that was interesting on a day when the temperature once again had 3 digits and started with the number 1.

The instruction to underline had me baffled for a minute, so I first made my list as a word doc, put the underlines on there and clipped and pasted. Then I looked at it in the blogger Edit Html and the code appears to be just small letter u and /u enclosed in pointy brackets. Is it really that simple? You can stop laughing now. Here's my list - accuracy is not guaranteed but I did try!

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)

2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (..-03)

3. Titanic (1997)

4. Blue Velvet (1986)

5. Toy Story (1995)

6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)*

8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) *

9. Die Hard (1988)*

10. Moulin Rouge (..) *

11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)*

12. The Matrix (1999)

13. GoodFellas (1990)

14. Crumb (1995)

15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)*

16. Boogie Nights (1997)*

17. Jerry Maguire (1996)

18. Do the Right Thing (1989)

19. Casino Royale (..)

20. The Lion King (1994)

21. Schindler’s List (1993)

22. Rushmore (1998)*

23. Memento (..)

24. A Room With a View (1986)

25. Shrek (..)

26. Hoop Dreams (1994)

27. Aliens (1986)

28. Wings of Desire (1988)*

29. The Bourne Supremacy (..)

30. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

31. Brokeback Mountain (..)

32. Fight Club (1999)*

33. The Breakfast Club (1985)*

34. Fargo (1996)*

35. The Incredibles (..)

36. Spider-Man 2 (..)

37. Pretty Woman (1990)

38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (..)*

39. The Sixth Sense (1999)*

40. Speed (1994)*

41. Dazed and Confused (1993)

42. Clueless (1995)

43. Gladiator (..)

44. The Player (1992)*

45. Rain Man (1988)

46. Children of Men (..)*

47. Men in Black (1997)

48. Scarface (1983)

49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (..)

50. The Piano (1993)*

51. There Will Be Blood (..)

52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)*

53. The Truman Show (1998)

54. Fatal Attraction (1987)

55. Risky Business (1983)*

56. The Lives of Others (..)

57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)*

58. Ghostbusters (1984) *

59. L.A. Confidential (1997)*

60. Scream (1996)

61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)

63. Big (1988)

64. No Country For Old Men (..)

65. Dirty Dancing (1987)

66. Natural Born Killers (1994)

67. Donnie Brasco (1997)

68. Witness (1985)

69. All About My Mother (1999)

70. Broadcast News (1987)

71. Unforgiven (1992)

72. Thelma & Louise (1991)*

73. Office Space (1999)

74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

75. Out of Africa (1985)

76. The Departed (..)

77. Sid and Nancy (1986)

78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)*

80. Michael Clayton (..)

81. Moonstruck (1987) *

82. Lost in Translation (..)

83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)

84. Sideways (..)

85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (..)*

86. Y Tu Mamá También (..)

87. Swingers (1996)

88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)*

89. Breaking the Waves (1996)

90. Napoleon Dynamite (..)

91. Back to the Future (1985) *

92. Menace II Society (1993)

93. Ed Wood (1994)

94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

95. In the Mood for Love (..)

96. Far From Heaven (..)

97. Glory (1989)

98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)
Stay cool!

Vegas

I'm in Disneyland.
I didn't take the apple martini picture, but i did have a few after dinner tonight (last night). But of course it was for work, not pleasure.

Horseshoe Bend

My timing was a little bit off today. Apparently I just missed, by a matter of minutes, the opportunity to photograph a California Condor perched on the edge of the gorge at Horseshoe Bend. As I walked the trail to the edge of the gorge, I met another photographer who was heading back to his car. He noticed I was carrying a tripod and he stopped to tell me about the condor. He said there was a condor that had been sitting on a rock right on the edge of the gorge for close to half an hour. He pulled out his camera and showed me the images that he had just taken. They were unbelievable. Condors aren't exactly the prettiest birds, but they are big and very rare. This guy had some great shots of the bird, but did not have a website to share where the shots could be seen.

I may have missed the chance to photograph the unique bird, but I still had a great time at Horseshoe Bend. The bend is just a few miles south of Page, Arizona on the Colorado River. It is very easy to get to via a relatively short (although sandy) trail from the highway. During my visit there were about 50 other people there at the same time. The little parking lot at the trailhead was almost full, and included one tour bus, which apparently was filled with French people. Which brings me to one oddity of this trip... at times it seems as though I have heard more French than English being spoken as I visit some of these areas in the southwest. Today I felt like I was back in France as the people from the tour bus were spread out along the trail and I could hear French being spoken almost the whole time I was at Horseshoe Bend. I guess the southwest has become quite popular with European travelers!

Brrrrr

HUNTING ISLAND STATE PARK — SOUTH CAROLINA
TEMPS: LO 45F / HI 50F (7C / 10C)

I’m not sure when the rain stopped. It might have been late last night; or maybe it was in the wee hours of this morning. Either way, I went to bed to the sound of raindrops on the roof and woke up to total silence. Nary a drop fell throughout the day, but it sure was cold. In fact, we reached the day’s high just after midnight (or so the weather websites report) and the temps fell from there. The sunshine promised for this afternoon was a no show, so we had an overcast and dreary day to contend with. So be it!

Mui had it in his mind that he was going to figure out how to set up the tripod satellite today — I think he was inspired by the neighbors across the road from us. So that’s what we worked on this morning. There were no tears shed, but it was a close call. Once he found the instruction booklet that came with the dish, the set up turned out to be a breeze. I read the instructions; he followed. And in a jiffy we had the satellite locked on to a strong signal through a small (make that very small) opening in the tree canopy.

Success!

Our application for DNS (Distant Network Service) is still going through the channels, so now that we’re out of the DC area, we don’t get the local channels on the satellite anymore. No problem; thus far we’ve been able to get those channels with the antenna. Mui’s a happy camper!

We then puttered around the house for a while, hoping against hope that the temps would rise just a bit. Around noon, we gave up on waiting, bundled up, and went for a walk. It was a cold 45F (7C); felt colder with the windchill. But we pressed on.

as the tide ebbs, The beach scene near the campground becomes eerie. It is starkly beautiful despite the destruction caused by the sea and the wind.

Our goal was to find the beach access to the Lighthouse Trail. And we did — sort of. Last night’s high tide had left a great deal of the treeline area under water, so we had to walk along the beach instead. We did connect to the trail eventually — just a few hundred yards from the lighthouse!

We had to walk along the beach area (black arrows) since the lighthouse trail
was mostly inaccessible (red x).

Despite the fact that we were just two hours away from low tide, the exceptionally high water along the beach threw up a couple of challenges.

I don't know if this is what Sherry (of In the Direction of Our Dreams) described as
the "River Jordan" in her blog, but we have to find a way to cross it if we want to
keep going. And no, wading is not an option; it's just too cold for that.

First Mui …

… and then I cross over using some toppled trees as a makeshift bridge.
Trust me, the water is deeper and flowing faster than it looks in these pictures.

Shortly after we forded the “River Jordan,” we found the trail that we’d been looking for. It turns out, we were close to the end of the trail. We did follow it for a bit, but we detoured out to the beach again to sit on some tree trunks and eat our lunch before continuing to the lighthouse.

the Lighthouse Nature Trail is quite beautiful.

The good news — THE LIGHTHOUSE IS OPEN! But with the weather so icky, we didn’t climb it today. The forecast for tomorrow calls for plenty of sunshine and blue skies, so we’re going to return to check out the views on the way back from another hike or two we have planned. We did take the time to wander through the small outbuildings on the grounds, but I’ll keep those photos for a future post on the lighthouse.

Glimpse of the lighthouse from the beach.	Tenaciously hanging on in the face of adversity.

The “River Jordan” was still running fast and deep when we made our way to the cross-over point. Our makeshift bridge came to the rescue again. The return walk to the campground was at a faster pace, with few stops for photos — not because we were anxious to get home, but because we were trying to keep warm as the damp weather increased the chill factor. The promise of a cup of steaming hot cocoa was the ‘carrot’ that kept us going.

Leonardo da Vinci said, “In time and with water, everything changes.”
How apropos!

Remember the photo I posted yesterday of a crab burrow? I wanted to give you a better idea of how small the sand-pellets really are …

Mui’s finger puts the size of these sand-pellets in perspective.

I leave with you this image of Mother Nature’s art.

Simple, fluid, flowing — beautiful sand art.

If the weather cooperates tomorrow as promised, we’ll be out and about. If not — well, I’ll think about that tomorrow …

Day 2 - BHFTF

Saturday was race day. I was thinking of riding the Fuel EX7 during the day. Dressed in cycling jersey and shorts. But, with race delays (The Super D start was delayed some 1 hour and 20 minutes). The hill climb held right after the end of the Super D.
I had a very good vantage point for shooting the Super D and Hill Climb. Normally, I would post a photo of one of the racers on the course. But today we had a trail pixie near me. Anna, who I met 2 years ago on the Centennial Trail ride.
By the time I got back to Headquarters, it was almost time for the Downhill to start. No time to stop by for some lunch.
As it turned out, the start of the Downhill race was delayed at least an hour. I was too tired from walking and climbing to go up the hill for a jump vantage point. Caught most of the racers as the get near the end of their race.
At 4pm. they were still racing - but I needed to eat before the Film Festival. Off to the motel, change clothes, and headed for the Gas Light. While up on the hill, knowing I would miss lunch, I decided it was a great evening to have a good dinner at the Gas Light (and they are a sponsor of the festival).
For those of you that have not attended BHFTF - you get chances to win swag if you spend money at one of the Festival sponsors. That's the Beer-Muda Triangle raffle.
Saturday ended with the BHFTF Film Fest, featuring amateur films, awards, and swag. (I think mountain bikers thrive on beer, bikes, and swag!) Special film was "Follow Me" - a freeriding film.

About Ozzie...

We are sorry we haven't commented lately on your posts. We will be visiting shortly...
Last Friday morning after her breakfast, Ozzie didn't show up for play later in the morning, nor did she show up for her dinner. Though she is beloved in our household by all, we are the penultimate doggeh blog hogs and don't easily give our space over to the ONE we actually fawn over. Mom and Dad were sick with worry and posted "lost" signs all over the neighborhood and filed a report at our Humane Society. Lucky we did. Two (that's TWO) days later, the Humane Society got a call from what the nice lady there (who eventually phoned Mom and Dad), said was " a pretty nutty sounding woman." The Humane Society immediately went to pick up this cat who supposedly was not well. The "woman" who called in apparently had put this feline into her garage for two days.
Mom and Dad were furry happy to learn that it was probably Ozzie, but horrified to hear that she had a broken femur. They immediately went to pick her up and took her to the Pet Emergency Clinic. Our doggeh Nanny came to take care of us. By the time Mommy and Daddy came home, they looked furry tired.
Note from Mom: the fact that Ozzie was found was a miracle and we are beside ourselves. We were afraid we might have to do a different post. By Sunday afternoon, we had almost given up - however, knowing this cat, we held out a wee bit of hope as she is incredibly resilient and tough for such a little one. We transferred Ozzie to our vet this morning, where she'll have surgery ($$$ ouchie ouchie) on Thursday afternoon, by the same awesome guy who operated on Sammie for the "GLOVE." She should be home and recuperating by Friday afternoon or Saturday. We will update you when we know more. We still haven't a clue as to what happened to her, or who took her into the garage, but we do know that she didn't get run over. She is resting comfortably, albeit full of drugs - poor kitty. We've been reassured that cats recover amazingly well after orthopedic operations.

Floating Orb from Space

Is this another unidentified flying object?

Indecisive cropping

I'm growing Zinnias for Hospice again this year. They're perfect for me: varied, easy, prolific, and forgiving. And, good for Hospice: long vase life.

I'm growing the same types as before, but their behavior this year (when not totally drought-stricken) is wildly different. The large varieties are doing so much better that I'd think they were different plants. (They're actually from the same batch of seeds.) We watered them last year, but apparently, that doesn't compare to actual rain.

The only problem I'm having...

... besides Japanese beetles...

... is indecisive cropping.

Can't decide which looks best.

I have that problem a lot.

Gave up after one try on this Peppermint Stick variety.

Dandelion

An early-morning February dandelion.