Uff da, as we Norwegians say. I got home from work tonight, parked my car in the garage, lowered the garage door, and—snap!—the thing suddenly gave way and dropped like my spirits will, once I see the bill I’m going to get tomorrow. Can’t get the door open again, needless to say, and there is no side door. So I called a 24-hour garage door service place, and they’ll send a guy out tomorrow morning.

Hopefully my car will be free in time for me to drive up to Montevideo (we have a town called Montevideo in Minnesota, believe it or not) for the wedding I’m supposed to attend tomorrow.

Of course if they can’t get it out in time, that will give me an excuse not to attend. Which, all in all, I’d prefer. Hate weddings. But my aunt from California will be there, and her health is failing, and it may be the last chance I get to see her, so I promised I’d be there.

If I have a car I can get to.

That’s all the original material I’ve got tonight. I borrowed the following meme from Grim’s Hall:

1. Name a movie you’ve seen more than 10 times.

The Outlaw Josie Wales, as I mentioned a few days ago. Probably The Three Musketeers (the Richard Lester version). I don’t think I’ve seen any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy ten times yet, but it must be getting close.



2. Name a movie you’ve seen multiple times in the theater.

Same answer.

3. Name an actor who would make you more inclined to see a movie.

Sam Elliot. Can’t think of anyone else. Robert Duvall, maybe. There was a time when Clint Eastwood would have been at the top of the list, but that time is long past.

4. Name an actor who would make you less likely to see a movie.

Sean Penn. George Clooney. Angelina Jolie. Dabney Coleman. (And if you think there’s a political subtext to most of those choices, you’re perceptive.)

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.

The Outlaw Josie Wales. Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

6. Name a movie musical, to which you know all the lyrics to all of the songs.

Camelot, because I was in it once (played Mordred, if you insist on knowing).

7. Name a movie with which you’ve been known to sing along.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see.

Local Hero (though I can’t guarantee everyone will like it).

9. Name a movie you own.

You mean the DVD? Not a lot. Josie Wales. Once Upon a Time in the West. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The Lord of the Rings, extended edition. The Vikings with K. Douglas and T. Curtis…

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.

Can’t think of one.



11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in? If so, what?

Several. I’m old enough. The first movie I ever saw was in a drive-in—Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven. My family saw it on a visit to my uncle and his family in Poughkeepsie, New York.

12. Ever made out in a movie?

What is this “making out” of which you speak?

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.

Amazing Grace.

14. Ever walked out of a movie?

Not that I recall.



15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.

I must have teared up at some point in The Return of the King. Not sure, though.

16. Popcorn?

With butter.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?

Almost never anymore.

18. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?

I think it was Stranger Than Fiction, which is pathetic (my movie attendance, not the movie).

19. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?

Action, I guess. I like a good fantasy, but there are so few.

20. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?

The Ten Commandments. My parents warned us not to tell our grandmother, who didn’t approve of movies.

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?

Beowulf and Grendel.

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?

Magnolia, maybe.

23. What is the scariest movie you’ve seen?

I guess it was the original Alien.

24. What is the funniest movie you’ve seen?

The movie I remember laughing at most was The Return of the Pink Panther.

Movies fascinate me. I’m interested in what’s playing, what’s being made, who’s making them, who’s in them, and what they’re about.

I just can’t be bothered to go out and see them anymore.

Michael Medved says 3:10 to Yuma is a great traditional western, though. Maybe I’ll see that. Depends on how much the garage door people soak me for.

Wait. IMDB doesn’t list Sam Elliot as a cast member.

Isn’t there a law against that?