Brandon Adams

A while back, on my Mighty Ducks post I promised you a Brandon Adams post. The other day... long story... my termite guy mentioned to me that at Fear Fete this year (I mentioned that a few years ago I missed Tony Todd at Fear Fete) the cast of The People Under the Stairs will be there. It's a really good movie and guess what? BRANDON ADAMS IS IN IT!!! So after my near-meltdown over missing Tony Todd I've decided that wild horses couldn't keep me away this year. Let me tell you a bit about Brandon Quintin Adams, as IMDB knows him... not me, though. I'm on a first name basis with him. Well, a first and last name basis. Basically, I'm too lazy to add the middle name. Whatever. 

So let's start at the beginning, shall we? And let's save the best for first. Best of all, besides The Mighty Ducks and D2 of course, is a movie called Polly: Comin Home. Not the one about the parrot, this one is the black version of Pollyanna. Keshia Knight Pulliam and Phylicia Rashad from The Cosby Show are also in that movie, along with a zillion other stars. It's a musical, so he sings and dances and sets little ten-year-old hearts aflame. In fact, if you really want to see him dance his way to the honor seat of my little-kid heart, just watch Moonwalker. He was a little MJ and he Moonwalked and everything. Super cute. 

Then came the 90s, with stills of him from The Sandlot and The Mighty Ducks pulled from Bop (or whatever magazine) decorating my little bedroom walls. Here in the 90s is roughly where I saw The People Under the Stairs, which actually came out in '88. I really liked it, I like scary movies. Which brings us to Fear Fete. Watch for that post in late October!

Hamilton

Hiya, pals! This Thursday I'm going to give you a little peek into my life at the moment. My life is mostly comprised of Hamilton lyrics right now, so that should be easy enough.  In case you're not familiar with Hamilton (are you seriously trying to tell me you're not riveted by the founding of the US Treasury Department?), let me explain. The most sought-after ticket in Broadway history is this hip hop/rap/show tune mashup that features amazingly talented minority actors portraying our founding fathers and their loved ones. I feel like I held out as long as I could, because I didn't want to listen to the soundtrack before I'd seen the show, but that thing has been sold out since before it opened, with no end in sight, so I just went ahead and listened to it. Then I waited as long as I could -maybe two weeks- and I bought it online. I mean... I had to. 

My house the minute the discs came in

If you know me at all by now, you've guessed that the part that impresses me the most is the writing. Lin-Manuel Miranda is this amazing story teller and lyricist who actually described the title character as "handsome, and boy does he know it..." AND THEN HE CAST HIMSELF. That's guts, folks. Good thing he pulls it off, eh? They spend a lot of time complimenting his eyes, and okay. Yeah, I can see that. You win this round, Miranda! But you're on thin ice! Just kidding, but they really are gorgeous eyes, though. My favorite song in the soundtrack is Helpless, and there's one line where Eliza says that she's trying not to cry because there's nothing that Hamilton's mind can't do, and it occurs to me every time I hear it to wonder if Lin-Manuel Miranda's wife Vanessa spends a lot of her time trying not to cry because there's nothing that her husband's mind can't do. It certainly seems like she would feel that way, and I hope she does. In fact, that's the way I feel about my husband, and it's something that I can genuinely say that I wish for everyone. It's a wonderful way to spend life. 

Oh. Too sappy? Sorry about that. Back to Hamilton. Anyway, if you buy the music, you get the whole show. There's not really any speaking; it's all in the songs. I feel qualified to pick a favorite character, just from the soundtrack and definitely, easily, this is King George. He sings a kind of beautiful, joyous love song to America that includes the phrase, "I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love! La da da da daaa..." I mean, just go find it. And give Say No to This your undivided attention. Let me know what you think. 

Star Trek 50th Anniversary

Today is the 50th anniversary of the first time Start Trek ever aired. I haven't been a Trekkie long, but I've definitely crossed a line somewhere along the way into fanaticism. I wrote about Trek before a time or two, and if you've read them you know all about it, with one exception. Drumroll, please... I got a new tattoo! 

Don't mind me, I stand on chairs for weird leg photos

You may recognize that design from Captain Kirk's mug in Start Trek Beyond. I've been trying to find a licensed version of that mug to buy, but I don't think there is one. I don't like the idea of buying a knockoff of something fairly priced (but if you can find me a high quality Louis Vuitton knockoff, hit up that comment box!). Since I can't find a real one, I'm looking for a good reproduction of that mug. I've seen a lot of them pop up but the cup itself is usually the wrong shape. If you make a good one or know who does, make sure to comment below. 

The real reason I've called you here today, though, is because I'd love to find out who actually designed that image in the first place. Please pass this along to anyone you can think of, who might know or even if you think they'd know who to ask. I want to let the artist know how much I love it. If it was my design, I'd love to see it inked onto someone. Thanks, pals. I'd really appreciate it!

Stranger Things

Alright, you've seen Stranger Things, right? If there one thing I love it's a Netflix original, and this one doesn't disappoint. It's about these three kids who try to find their friends after he disappears walking home from a day of D&D. They team up with a telekinetic girl named Eleven (a terrifying implication, because where are the other ten?) and try to find and defeat the Demogorgon. 

The best part is the pure nostalgia of it. If you were kicking around in the 80s you'll see a lot of things that will bring you right back. The props and set dressings aren't the kinds of things they used in 80s movies, they're the kinds of things normal people really had in their houses. What I call the 'grandma couch'... that brown couch with the wagon wheel and flowers... you know the one; that's the kind of thing you'll see. They've even got Winona Ryder, arguably one of the best parts of the 80s. She's really great and gives an amazing performance but the real stars are the kids. I didn't really have a favorite kid while watching the show because they're all legitimately talented actors. But since I've finished, I've seen this video:

This kid's been a Broadway star for years now and he's seriously got some pipes! His name is Gaten Matarazzo (no relation to Heather Matarazzo from The Princess Diaries). If you look him up on YouTube you can find tons of videos of him singing, and they're all wonderful. Here's my favorite:

It's great. Click it, you'll love it. Let me know what you think down below. 

The Princess Diaries

Ya know Julie Andrews? Perfect and beautiful, right? Guys, I know. 
I KNOW! 
And when I saw The Princess Diaries I first noticed Anne Hathaway, who's gone on to become a household name. I've seen most of her movies and watched grow up on-screen since then. I think even still, I mostly love her much because of that bushy hair in this movie!  

My own bushy hair

Really, I loved that movie so much that when I heard a sequel was coming I was absolutely delighted! Only, here's the thing: I was deployed to Oahu, Hawaii when it was released, and that happened to be the very week that my mom and her friend (of the moment) came to visit me. Without mentioning the movie, I offered to send them on a nice luau date. Nobody wants their daughter on a Hawaiian date night, so I got to watch The Princess Diaries 2 on opening night! I felt like Heather Matarazzo (who played 'the best friend', Lily, in the first one, and who was really important to the story) kinda deserved more screen time, but it was very responsible of them to make her a good student, so it is what it is. The movie was still amazing and every bit as good as the first one, which is rare for a sequel. The highlight of the whole thing for me was watching Julie Andrews sing. It wasn't a big, juicy song but it just felt like a big, warm, Mary Poppins hug!

Which is what every movie should aspire to. 

Even the scary ones. 

That was a joke. 

Milli Vanilli

I actually have kind of a story about Milli Vanilli. As you probably all know by now, I grew up in a very hot climate, in the desert of southern California. I don't remember the heat really bothering me too badly as a kid, but I went back for a visit when I was 17 or 18 and it literally felt like I was being baked. I honestly felt like I was becominging cooked meat. We had moved to the Oregon coast and didn't need air conditioning in our car there, so my mom had bought a car without A/C and we never missed it... until we drove it to California. Even with all four windows down all the way it was intolerable. It was just like being blasted with hot air and it was no fun for me. 

Rewind a bit to 1990. One time we left a few of our tapes in the car over the weekend. That was a terrible idea. The tape part was okay, the part that actually has music on it (kids, you'll want to google that). But the plastic cassette part was, at one point, obviously liquid. Milli Vanilli was ruined! Now who were we supposed to blame it on? Nobody knew! So we took two tapes apart and combined them so that the Achy Break Heart tape, or whatever actually played Milli Vanilli. It was pretty smart. Later, as a teenager I found the same tape at a thrift store for a quarter or something. My friend Michelle and I blasted it in her Camaro with the T tops off. So much fun!

Thanks, Michelle. You're a blast!

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

In the 90s, I had a favorite TV show, which came on after school, so I had to rush home to catch it every day.  I was completely hooked on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and I never missed it if I could help it. I loved the opening theme song (which had a different line at the end each day), I loved all the guests that she had on and I loved her Koosh Ball shooter!  I even loved her complete obsession with Tom Cruise, even though it was way too much and I've never even liked Tom Cruise.  I loved it because I can DEFINITELY relate to being 'too much' when it comes to fangirling.  'Too much' is like my natural state. 

When I was a senior in high school (1999 this was), my drama club went on a field trip to New York to watch plays on Broadway.  While I was there I started my coffee cup collection, and I came home with close to a dozen souvenir mugs.  It's strange, but somehow I've ended up with around 100 coffee cups (I would've guessed 50 but I just counted them and... WOW.) but the only one left from that trip is my Rosie Show mug.

Here it is!

The reason that show occurs to me now is because my favorite episode ever was the one where Kerri Strug, who basically won the Olympics that year, came on.  My sister and I were watching the Olympics the night Kerri Strug won our country the gold by totally nailing her second vault... after she'd BROKEN HER ANKLE on the first try.  I watched the medal ceremony bawling that night.  I watched Kerri Strug on Rosie bawling later on.  I watched her on a lot of shows and interviews and documentaries, bawling every time.  And now that there's YouTube, I watch that vault over and over again and cry every time.  It's what ridiculous old ladies do, right? Seriously though, I cry over everything.  I really do.  And every time I think of the Olympics, Rosie O'Donnell, gymnastics or anyone named Kerri, Carrie or Cary I push back an urge to tear up.  Because that is easily the best feel-good story I've ever heard, and I watched it unfold in real time.  Then the heroine went on my favorite show and talked about it.  That was a good year.