PBS article on release of 3G iPhone in 2008 Q1

My eleventh favorite holiday movie is based on a book by John Grisham called Skipping Christmas.
The movie holds fairly true to the book but the one downfall is the choice for characters. I just do not like Tim Allen as an actor for this. I liked him...sort of... in Home Improvement, but I just never take him seriously as an actor. But when I think about it more, I think he did redeem himself somewhat in this. Jamie Lee does an ok job but what can I say...

What Amazon says:

Slapstick humor gets a full-body workout in Christmas with the Kranks. Critics were unanimous in their derision, and John Grisham must have gnashed his teeth over what studio-boss-turned-director Joe Roth did to his bestselling novel Skipping Christmas, to which this broad-stroked comedy bears little or no resemblance. The title characters are played by Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, who decide to skip Christmas because their daughter's in Peru with the Peace Corps. Thus begins a rabid program of enforced conformity when their neighbors (led by Dan Aykroyd) coerce the Kranks into changing their holiday attitude--a change that comes easily when the daughter announces she'll be home for Christmas after all. Imagine if a suburban lynch mob said "Have a Merry Christmas or we'll kill you," and you'll get some idea of what spending Christmas with the Kranks is really like. And if you laughed at the frozen cat, you're probably on Santa's "naughty" list. --Jeff Shannon

I will leave it up to Amazon to explain my tenth favorite holiday movie, but for anyone who has ever spent a Christmas in New England and/or loves the cozy spirit of hanging out with family on a farm for the holidays, this film is for you.

What Amazon says:

Christmas in Connecticut is a holiday film that plays 365 days of the year. Barbara Stanwyck gives a brilliant, sardonic performance as Elizabeth Lane, a columnist for Smart Housekeeping magazine, whose enticing descriptions of the exquisite meals she prepares for her husband and baby on their bucolic Connecticut farm earns her fame as "America's Best Cook." A writer, she is; a cook, she is not. As she types the words, "From my living room window, as I write, the good cedar logs cracking on the fire..." the view is of clothes flapping on the line outside her bachelorette Manhattan apartment. An able supporting cast keeps her lie on life support: her editor, her stuffy and detestable architect suitor, and the wonderful "Uncle" Felix (S.Z. Sakall), an English-garbling Hungarian chef who provides the recipes that fill her column.
Cut to Jefferson Jones, a sailor adrift at sea for weeks after his destroyer is torpedoed. Memories of the food described in Lane's columns are central to his survival. After his rescue, as he's recuperating in a naval hospital, a marriage-minded nurse thinks she might nudge Jones to the altar if he could only experience a real domestic Christmas. And it just so happens that she was nurse to the grandchild of Alexander Yardley, the wealthy and powerful publisher of --you guessed it--Smart Housekeeping magazine. And so, she pens the letter that could unravel Lane's carefully constructed fraud. She writes to Yardley asking that Jones be included in America's ultimate Christmas--the one to be held at the Lane family farm in Connecticut. The pompous Yardley (ably portrayed by Sidney Greenstreet) believes the Lane myth and instantly sniffs a story that will send his magazine's circulation skyrocketing. And staring down a lonely holiday, he decides to join the Lanes for Christmas on the farm, too. Now, all Lane has to do is come up with a farm. And a husband. And let's not forget the baby. Christmas in Connecticut is classic screwball entertainment of the best kind, with its on-target skewering of social convention and house-of- cards-about-to-tumble tension: a perfect farcical vision of domestic blitz. --Susan Benson

Welcome readers. Thanks for staying with me as I make a choppy attempt to outline my 12 All-Time Favorite Holiday Movies.
Today we explore my Ninth favorite. The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve



This is a cute little film not to be taken seriously, for if you do, you will dislike it.

Again there is a small story that surrounds why I like this movie. It was Dec. 2006 and I had woken up early, like 5:45am on a Saturday. I tried to do a little freelance but just wasn't awake enough. So I made a pot of coffee and decided to go through my DVDs. The previous year around the same time I had been at Best Buy and found this DVD on the shelves called "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve" and thought, that looks really bad. Must be one of those After-school special DVDs or a movie that never made it to the big screen. On the cover was Molly Shannon and Steven Weber ( of Wings and Studio 60). So I decided NOT to get it but rather Netflix it. To my surprise, Netflix didn't even carry it. So a year passed and I got on the trail of the movie again but could not remember the name....bla bla bla, I found it on Amazon and bought it. So anyway, It was an overcast morning, at 5:30am and just the perfect setting to watch this movie. I guess I better tell you a little about it.

Steven Weber plays Calvin Carter (which by the way, I grew up with a guy by the same name, but certainly not the same achiever), a successful business executive, has it all, but neglects those closest to him. On Christmas Eve, all that changes when the sign on his office building falls and takes him out. He awakens in a hospital bed, attended to by Angie (Molly Shannon), a nurse who tells him he has 12 days (12 chances) to get his act together and achieve the PERFECT Christmas Eve. If he doesn't, he will, well, stay dead. MANY movies try this same story but do not make it work. This one does.

Here's what one reviewer said:

"Sometimes you find a diamond"
This was a wonderful movie. Not only was it heartwarming but it illustrated a gospel point better than any other movie I have ever seen. Jesus said "You must lose your life to save it." and this is the lesson Calvin learns. When he stops trying to manipulate the situation and just does what is right (another gospel point), he abandons himself to just enjoying the time he has with his family. Noboby ever lies on their death bed and says "gee I wish I had taken my family business public!" or "nice family, but I'm really bummed about that business failing 30 years back." Watch this movie and get your priorities straight."

Did you hear that both the Boston Globe AND the Boston Herald have endorsed Republican John McCain for the primary?

This is a little scary to me, and surprising but given that he is the most liberal of all the Reds, I would have to agree. Now lets just see who they side with on the Democratic side. 

Grumpy Old Men is my eighth favorite holiday movie.

This movie is somewhat of a classic already. Not one of those "oh-wow, i-have-never-heard-of-this-movie-before" movies. There are no major surprises in this feel-good film about two old codgers dealing with aging, hot neighbor women, their families, and fishing. I love this feel good film for many reasons. It is funny. It has foot after foot of snow, Jack Lemon and Walter Mathau are genius, the out-takes are hilarious, Ann Margaret shines and the message it sends is timeless.

Amazon says: and I agree.

a pair of elderly bachelors whose lifelong friendship is based on mutual aggravation and constant bickering. Their competitive natures kick into overdrive when the beautiful Ariel (Ann-Margret) moves into their otherwise snowbound Minnesota neighborhood. She takes a liking to John, but after a lover's spat she also gives Max a chance at romance, and the long-time buddies reach a peak of grumpy rivalry. It's a stretch to think that Ann-Margret's dating choices would be limited to a pair of grouchy codgers, but sarcastic attitude and snappy dialogue made this a surprise hit (followed by a 1995 sequel), and Burgess Meredith adds plenty of spice as Lemmon's amorous old father. Don't forget to watch the hilarious outtakes during the closing credits! --Jeff Shannon

This is my seventh favorite holiday movie.

The Family Man is a cute little tale of "What If". Jack is a high-powered, uattached, wall street guy running a major corporation. He "has everything" but love. The movie opens with him saying goodbye to his long-time girlfriend, Tea' Leoni. He is headed off to England for a year internship with a financial firm. He ends up never seeing her again. 12 years pass and he gets a call from her at his office. He doesn't return the call but rather leaves work, stops a convenience store where he meets his "angel" Don Cheadle who is a punk with a winning lotto ticket. Jack intervenes when a gun is pulled on the cashier. Don ends up giving Jack a "glimpse" into what his life would have been like with the old girlfriend. It takes him to suburban New Jersey life with two kids, working at his father-in-laws tire store. It is a fun tale of seeing two sides of life.

here is another take from someone on Amazon written much better than mine.

Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is the quintessential Wall Street shark, scoring killer deals by day and shallow escort sex by night. His round-the-clock routine of empty luxuries is disturbed one lonely Christmas Eve when a gun-packing punk (Don Cheadle)--perhaps an angel of mercy--responds to an altruistic gesture from Jack by giving him "a glimpse" of the life he could have had. Could have, that is, if he had married the girlfriend (Téa Leoni) he'd abandoned 13 years earlier, raised two adorable children, worked in his father-in-law's retail tire outlet, and lived happily ever after in suburban New Jersey. Thrust into this "glimpse" of the path not taken, Jack's a single-malt man in a lite-brew world, wondering if he'll ever return to his "better" life of callous wealth and solitude--or if he even wants to.
Carp all you want about this derivative premise, with its marginal stereotypes and biased embrace of domestic bliss and dirty diapers. The simple fact is, The Family Man works like a charm. Under the assured direction of Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), this holiday crowd-pleaser offers comedy and chemistry in equal measure, making the hilarity of Jack's predicament a smooth catalyst for that rarest of movie romances: the marital love story. Leoni is Cage's perfect match as Jack's idealized but imperfect wife, and the movie's appeal largely derives from its awareness that any life has its pleasures and pains. While it only flirts with the dark desperation that makes It's a Wonderful Life a classic predecessor, The Family Man is an irresistible what-if fantasy, and even its debatable ending rides on a wave of genuine warmth and sentiment. --Jeff Shannon

Not to be confused with Holiday Inn, The Holiday is a recent submission into the "this will be a holiday classic for years to come" category.

This is my Sixth favorite holiday movie

There are many inspiring events in this movie, from the old screenwriter neighbor that befriends, or is befriended, by Kate Winslet's character to the cozy, fun scenes in the small English town where Cameron Diaz's character spends her holiday. Jude Law plays a good-hearted, edgy father-type looking for love with two small girls at home. Jack Black even has some good lines that show a softer side. For a movie with LA (ie: sun, no snow and no christmas trees) I think this movie is a keeper for the holiday stack.

What Amazon said:

As a pleasant dose of holiday cheer, The Holiday is a lovable love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual effort to forget their man troubles. Iris (Kate Winslet) is a London-based journalist who lives in a picture-postcard cottage in Surrey, and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) owns a movie-trailer production company (leading her to cutely imagine most of her life as a "coming attraction") and lives in a posh mansion in Beverly Hills. Iris is heartbroken from unrequited love with a cad of a colleague (Rufus Sewell), and Amanda has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend (Edward Burns), so their home-swapping offers mutual downtime to reassess their love lives. This being a Nancy Meyers movie (where everything is fabulously decorated and romantic wish-fulfillment is virtually guaranteed), Amanda hooks up with Iris's charming brother Graham (Jude Law), and Iris is unexpectedly smitten with Miles (Jack Black), a super-nice film composer on the downside of a failing relationship. --Jeff Shannon

As we continue in the Best 12 Christmas/Holiday movies of all-time, here is my Fifth favorite. The Family Stone.



This movie is painful. Painful yet inspiring. I guess I like it because of the New England feel although it was filmed New Jersey. I think what drew me to this movie was two-fold. One, it happened by accident. The viewing that is. I just happened to Netflix it because it had the same cover design as Love Actually, and I also had just watched another Diane Keaton movie and thought, what the heck. Little did I know that there was going to be such winter imagery in it. WOW! They actually got a blizzard in Madison, NJ while the filming took place making it even more realistic.

Here is what Amazon says:

For anyone who views holiday gatherings with equal parts joy and dread, The Family Stone offers plenty of comedy to identify with. Writer-director Thomas Bezucha's slapstick premise begins when Everett (Dermot Mulroney) brings his fiancé Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) home to meet his family for Christmas. It's an instant disaster when parents Sybil (Diane Keaton) and Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) agree with their gay, deaf son Thad (Ty Giordano, who is actually hearing impaired), pot-smoking son Ben (Luke Wilson) and daughters Amy (Rachel McAdams) and Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser) that Meredith is way too uptight to be welcomed into their family. Meredith recruits her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to help her thaw the Stone family cold front, and after building a solid emotional foundation for his holiday comedy, Bezucha starts to stack the deck with plot developments that, while heartwarming, border on the absurd. You either go with the movie's flow or you don't, and with this appealing cast (featuring some really nice work by Keaton, Nelson, Parker and Danes) it's easy to forgive Bezucha's unlikely blend of yuletide cheer, petty animosities, and romantic tables turned in the blink of an eye. Toss in a case of terminal illness and you've got a sad-happy tearjerker that works in spite of itself. If you don't recognize at least part of your own holiday clan in The Family Stone, you probably haven't been paying attention. --Jeff Shannon

Elf is my Fourth favorite holiday movie.

I love this movie. What makes this such a fantastic holiday film is the passion that Buddy the Elf has for Christmas. I think Jon Favreau really captured the love for Christmas and the holiday in general with all of Buddy's mantras about it, himself. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."
Zooey Deschanel does a fantastic job as the Grundle's elf. She has an amazing voice too.

Favorite scene:The mailroom scene where Buddy is having some "syrup" in his coffee with one of the worker dudes. They are lying down telling each other in drunken states about how they are buddies and get into a tickle fight and then Buddy starts dancing. That is ONE of the best scenes among many.

Elf is genuinely good. Not just Saturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity; Elf is a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who returns to the human world to find his father. And because the writing, directing, and acting are all genuinely good, Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb. Zooey Deschanel, as a department store worker with whom Buddy falls in love, is adorably sardonic. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) shepherds the movie through all the obligatory Christmas cliches and focuses on material that's sometimes subtle and consistently surprising. Frankly, Elf feels miraculous. Also featuring Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage, and Ed Asner as Santa Claus. --Bret Fetzer

This hilarious Christmas film tells the tale of a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa's bag of gifts on Christmas Eve and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf. Years later Buddy learns he is not really an elf and goes on a journey to New York City to find his true identity.

Today is my birthday (the big one!), so continuing on with my 12 Days of the Best Holiday Movies, here is my third favorite.



This movie invokes all the ideals of Christmas -snow for the holiday and wonderful Christmas music. Some of the all-time classics started right here in this movie. BUT NOT White Christmas. Irving Berlin wrote that for Holiday Inn.
Favorite Scene:When Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye's characters set up the surprise reunion of all the soldiers for the retired General. When he walks into the room, you can really see the joy on his face.

This is my Second favorite holiday movie.

Home Alone II takes place a year later. Poor Kevin is not left behind this year, rather he takes the wrong plane after getting separated from his dad while is a flurry to catch the family's departing plane to Miami. Yuck. Who would ever want to spend Christmas in Miami anyway? Like Kevin says in the movie "Why do we have to go to Florida? There are no Christmas trees in Florida. How can you have Christmas without Christmas trees?" That pretty much sums it up.
The best part of this show is the set--New York City, baby! They highlight Rockefeller Center, many other sites of NYC and especially the spirit that invades the city during the holiday. They must have shot this during the peak of the season. Can you imagine the filming dilemmas they must have had?
Favorite Scene: First and foremost, I think what keeps me coming back to these movies is the "kevin's plan" to take down the thieves at the end of each movie. But aside from this, I like the scene where Kevin is in the toy store paying for is items and talks to the owner. The turtle doves that the man gives him and explanation of the meaning of the two doves is very touching. Happy viewing.

This is my All Time favorite holiday movie.

This movie started it all for me, with holiday movies. I remember back in the early 90's I would order a cheese pizza from Dominos ( I know) and sit and watch this over and over.

I guess what I like about this movie is the staging and sets. They use dark rich reds and greens, timeless clothing, and the house. The house is amazing. True, I could do without the wallpaper but in the 90's that was a sign of wealth and taste, so you have to accept it is a positive aspect of the movie.
I also love the final snow scene on Christmas Day when Kevin wakes up and thinks he hears his mom, but she is not there. He runs to the front door and opens it to the most gorgeous snowfall. Everything is covered in fluffy snowy white, and all is quiet and overcast in the neighborhood.
This movie shows the true spirit of Christmas and also the colors and light displays that make the holiday so special.
Favorite Scene: I love the ending where Kevin takes down the thieves, but another scene that intrigues me every time I watch when Kevin goes to church and meets the "South Bend Shovel Slayer." He has his "lesson" talk and then leaves to go home to wait for the criminals. Kevin sits down at the table to enjoy his delicious microwavable meal, and the clock chimes 9 o'clock and it's time for action. Go Kevin!

Today I am starting the first of 12 posts about my favorite Christmas/Holiday movies. These are hand-picked by me, based on my taste (questionable) on how these movies move me.
You may not agree, but I would love your comments and other suggestions of movies you love and WHY. In a few hours I will post the first movie. Stay tuned.

The in-laws, FIL and MIL, arrive on Wednesday Tuesday. We are pretty stoked to have them here to meet Hadley and celebrate Christmas. It has been two years since we were able to spend the holiday together. Two years ago, just after CAG and I got engaged, we spent two days in NYC before joining her family in Conn. What a wonderful Christmastime THAT was. Really. If you have never been to NYC at Christmas, YOU MUST GO. It is amazing. The colors, the decorations, the lights. I look forward to experiencing the City with Hadley next year.

It is snowing outside like mad. It's supposed to snow all day. It's the pretty snow too. Not too heavy, but light, fluffy and consistent.

Hadley goes in for her two-week checkup today. We are excited to see how much weight she has gained. Her jaundice has subsided- in my mind, anyway. We think she has outgrown it. She is adorable. We just took some Christmas photos last night but someone wasn't in the mood to have a lense shoved in her face. We settled on one cuz I have to get them to the printer today.

She loves Christmas lights, shows attention to movements and sounds, and does the cutest puckering face I have ever seen.

Happy Holidays.

Hello everyone with a Mac.
If your iCal is crashing and you have not updated to Leopard, I found an easy fix that stops the crashes in 10.4.11.

Just do this:

Go to library/applications support/syncServices; move that folder (LOCAL) to the desktop; restart. Move the syncServices folder from the desktop to the trash, and iCal stops crashing.

That's all you do. Then just empty your trash. Presto!

are here: I will be adding new ones shortly.

Hadley is officially 1 week old!
It doesn't feel like that at all.
Don't worry, I won't be one of those Dad bloggers who celebrates EVERY week as a birthday. Just every month.

Pictures, pictures, pictures, and some crying.
We, obviously have been taking quite a few pictures. Christy took some today cuz I was feeling left out and that we wouldn't have any early baby pics of me with Hadley, so here are a few.

Also, the emotions are amazing. Every time she would do anything, look at me, sleep, or the furnace would turn on, I would break out in a fit of crying. Christy would come over and just rub my back. It was awesome.




I also cooked more yesterday than I have in my entire life. I fixed these veggie burritos - black beans, sauteed onions, tomatoes, and cheese ( the best tasting ones ever!), and a big vat of chili. We will now eat for a good day and a half. Send food!

Ok, this is brief but we are nursing and I need to run rub backs, fill water bottles, and then watch TV- for the first time in 5 days.

Hope everyone is having a good December. Did you hang lights? Send pics.