Welcome to Hell Airlines... Pretzels or pain?

Dad, Mom, Amy & Matt left yesterday for Oregon for Grandpa Chatterton's Funeral. We weighed the options carefully whether we should fly or drive. We finally decided that flying was our better option...boy, were we WRONG!!! A brief recap of our day:
4:00 am--wake up and meet at the Riverton Airport at 5:00 for our 6:02 flight.

This is Riverton Airport. (ALL of it)

Found out the plane was late and was coming from Montana with 17 passengers that weren't supposed to be on the flight. That forced them to bump some passengers to the noon flight. Well, you can guess that we were among the lucky ones. (Which of course, caused us to miss our connection in Denver for Portland. They were able to book us on the 3:13 flight into Portland. Dad had to call the rental car company and let them know of our changes. We were planning on renting a car there and driving 4 hours to Medford and taking Maryanne to dinner.)

None of us were very happy. Obviously. Here is the evidence.

Went home, tried to sleep and met back at the airport at 11:20, only to find out that the noon flight was also going to be delayed.
Ate some food, tried to be positive and waited.

Note: the tiny little 20 passenger plane in the back window.

The flight finally came in at about 12:30. We were a little concerned watching the pilots crawl under the plane on hands and knees and several airport employees gathered around on cell phones looking like they were trying to make an important decision. Dad, being an employee himself, gave Matt a look and said, "I don't like this". Well, they loaded us on and explained that the plane had some electrical problem and that it was nothing to worry about, but they needed to find a little plastic ring to fill the hole and the plane would fly just fine. Well, I think I would have rather not have heard that little explanation. They finally found the little ring under one of the seats! Are you kidding me? It seemed to take forever for them to get clearance to take off, while we kept an eye on the clock ticking away and our connecting flight time getting closer.

Finally in the air

We landed in Denver and the pilots (there were no flight attendants present and no beverage service, if you can believe it) found out that we had 25 minutes before our flight was scheduled to take off. They said they would call our gate and tell them we were running. And run we did. We had to walk across the tarmack to a gate in Terminal A. It was the END of the line. We had to run through the entire terminal, take a train to Terminal B, and get all the way to gate 83. Do you have any idea how far that is? And poor Dad had a hard time moving that quickly. In fact, the clerk asked Dad if he wanted her to call an ambulance. She was serious. We made it to the gate at 3:11 and the door was already closed. The plane was still there, but the lady at the counter said that we were too late. We breathlessly told her our sob story about our day so far and that we were going to a funeral. She tried to get us on, but they said no.

Meanwhile, a couple ran up right after we did and this guy was so irate! He was a little scary. He got on the phone and was chewing someone out like crazy for a long time. On a side note, this morning we had our TV on in our room and CNN reported that there was an "incident" at the Denver Airport yesterday about an irate passenger using threatening language to airport employees. We KNOW it had to be that guy!

We tried to be nice to the poor girl and she, in turn, was pretty nice to us. She was trying to rebook us into Portland for that evening. Amy mentioned that we had to drive 4 hours into Medford. Amy and the clerk at the same time had the same idea. Amy asked if we could get a direct flight into Medford and she said yes. No additional charge. We were pretty happy! The flight was scheduled for 6:45 so we had some time to relax and eat.

Stereotypical airport people. This wasn't staged either.

Dad also had to call the rental car place again and tell them that we weren't flying into Portland anymore and we needed to rent a car from Medford and return it in Portland on Tuesday. That added a fee, so Dad decided to get a cheaper car. We found out that he was going to surprise us with an Escalade. Cute of Dad, but we were fine with the downgrade. As we sat waiting for our flight, it dawned on us that after almost 15 hours, we had only traveled for one hour going in the wrong direction. Southeast from Riverton, instead of Northwest. We could have been there by car quicker.

Bord

REALLY bord

Another problem was our luggage. The airlines thought it made the flight to Portland, so they had to notify the airlines to send the bag from Portland to Medford on a flight that was coming in just 15 minutes after we were scheduled to land. We didn't have a lot of faith that that would actually happen. We had a pretty uneventful flight to Medford. We were the last 4 seats booked, so none of us could sit together. Amy sat by a very sweet lady and enjoyed visiting with her Matt sat by a guy his age moving from New York to Medford and they hit it off and teased the flight attendants. I think Dad slept and Mom sat next to a dud so she read the Jungle Book. We landed and sat there, got the rental car paperwork all done, and waited for the other flight with the luggage. To our great surprise we got a call that our luggage was already there waiting for us. We drove to our motel in a light rain and checked in. We were tired and a little hungry so Dad, Matt and Amy went to a restaurant and ate. I'm going to tell you what Matt ordered only so we can tell you our favorite "Dad quote" from today. He ordered an oriental "Pot Sticker Salad". He told Mom about it today and she thought it sounded so good. So tonight when we were driving past that restaurant, Dad said, "Hey, how about a "Pot Licker Salad"? We laughed so hard, especially Matt and Amy in the back seat, only to find out that Dad didn't say it on purpose to be funny. He really just called it that! Which caused an even bigger outburst of laughter from the backseat. So Dad. Well, that ends our little saga. We will do another post about the funeral tomorrow. Love you guys! (This is Amy typing, by the way. )

WTB

Alright everyone, here we go with another edition of WTB. I will tell you this movie is more than 25 years old. But I think it is classic or iconic enough to be fair to most of you. Hopefully even Haley has seen it. I think one of its stars is someone that I think I've heard a lot of you Wright-folk like.

Here goes the first clue. It's a line said by a woman....

"I went to take out the garbage today and two people blessed me! And one of them blessed the garbage!"

Wednesday clues (from which I expect to get solid guesses):

Person 1: Hey... that's incredible! You didn't even bat an eye!
Person 2:: Rain's not too hard.

Separate scene (same two characters)

Person 1: I don't even go to any church.
Person 2:: Neither do I.

Friday clues (hopefully giveaways!):

Same character as Person 2 in the quotes above: "The reason I put everyone here naked... I wasn't trying to be cute. It's just that with clothes there's right away pockets, and pockets, you gotta put something in 'em."

Different scene (same character):

"I'm not about to go around to every person in the world and say, 'Look it's me, I wanna talk to you.' So I picked one man. One very good man. I told him God lives. I live. He had trouble believing too, in the beginning. I understood. I'm not sure how this whole miracle business started, the idea that anything connected with me has to be a miracle. Personally I'm sorry that it did. Makes the distance between us even greater. But if a miracle helps you believe that I am who I say I am ... I'll give you one. A good one."

Good luck! Send me your guesses via Facebook.

Dan

WTB Movie of the Weak, results

Aaahhh! CE3K I'm not a big sci-fi type a guy, but this movie impressed me and I loved it. The acting, music and directing are all good. The special effects were phenomenal when the film was released in 1977 and still good enough to enjoy the move now and not look too chezzy. Spielberg wrote and filmed a good story. Richard Dreyfuss had a really good part. Who can forget him throwing shrubbery through the window into his living room and trying to recreate Devils Tower when he didn't know what he was doing. And making Devils Tower out of mashed potatoes. Good stuff. If you missed it (Haley) I suggest you obtain a copy and give it a look. It will be a fun 2 and 1/4 hours.

The small hint I referred to was Movie "Buffs" You know, Buffalo, the state animal of the great state of Wyoming, site of Devils Tower.

Dan is the "man" Amazing, he got it from the first quotes.. He was thinking of Teri Garr because of
Tootsie and then it clicked because he thought of her name in CE3K was Ronnie and Dreyfuss was Roy. So he put it together...wow, no pregnant brain there. Then Amy on friday and Matt on friday. That was all the guesses except that Haley took a shot but missed.

Take it away, Dan. Double props to you for getting it so quick.

Happy Birthday Bronwyn!

It's B's birthday today! I thought I would do a little post. I think I speak for everyone in saying that it has been great having you in the family for the past few years and look forward to many more! Anyway, hope you have a great day B! We are the same age again!

Here's a picture of B and the cute Pugh girls whom I know she has a special fondness for. I had to use a pic from your blog since I don't have pictures of her in abundance on my computer. Happy Birthday B!


Love you!! Kisses!!

Update: This is B checking her birthday blog and birthday facebook!

WTB Movie of the Weak

Wow! I can't believe I won it was so late in the week. The last quote was a givaway if you saw the movie and as Dan so spoke...you really must see it. It was the movie that confirmed to me that Dustin Hoffman was a world class actor. Just great film making, story and acting... Some of you may know that this may be a bad week for me to do this as we will be traveling. More on that later when we get some final details that I can share with you. Haha, Ems. Beat you out at the goal line... "Nuts" that was cute! We will see about my playlist. I am a bit distracted at the time, but we'll see what I can put together.

Quote for a start:

Ronnie: All right, everybody to bed!

Toby: No, wait! Dad said we could watch The Ten Commandments!

Ronnie: Roy, that movie is four hours long.

Roy: I said they could watch the five commandments.

So there is something to think about. Have a good week.


Weds. Quotes: Coom on troops, let's get guessing on this very famous movie that we all enjoy.

Roy: Hey, you know what's playing tonight? Pinocchio! You guys have never seen Pinocchio, you're in luck!
Brad: Aw, who wants to see some dumb cartoon rated "G" for kids?
Roy: How old are you?
Brad: Eight.
Roy: You wanna be nine?
Brad: Yeah.
Roy: Then you're going to go see Pinocchio tomorrow night.

Quote two:
Roy: I guess you've noticed something a little strange with Dad. It's okay, though, I'm still Dad.

Good luck and happy thinking...

Okay you movie buffs, time for the Friday Giveaway quotes. (a slight clue in that sentence)

Roy: "I know this sounds crazy, but ever since yesterday on the road, I've been seeing this shape. Shaving cream, pillows....Dammit! I know this. I know what this is! This means something. This is important."

Air Traffic Controller: AirEast 31, do you wish to file a report of any kind to us?
AirEast Pilot: (over radio) I wouldn't know what kind of report to file, Center.

Project Leader: "If everything's ready here on the Dark Side of the moon....play the five tones."

There, if you don't know it now, you haven't seen the movie and I don't believe any of you have not seen the movie.

WTB--Tootsie!

This week's movie was TOOTSIE--the hilarious, thoughtful, amazingly acted story of a great actor whose temperament has so alienated him from those he's worked with that it makes him unemployable. As a last resort, he decides to try out for a woman's part on a soap opera, which he gets and which makes him very famous. The problem is, he's now stuck pretending to be a woman.

My musical clues in the playlist for this film were: "Lola" by the Kinks, and "Something's Telling Me It Might Be You," by Steven Bishop, which is actually the Tootsie theme song. (When Sue wrote in with her right answer, she even mentioned having a Tootsie flashback hearing that song on the blog but at that point hadn't matched it up with the quotes. Bummer, Sue!) And my clue about "same predicament" as another WTB movie recently was referring to the cross-dressing comedy trope that is in Some Like It Hot.

Anyway, you have to see this film if you haven't! Bill Murray is Hoffman's roommate, Jeff, who writes really weird plays (which is what one of the clues was about). Hoffman also tells this horny old actor who plays a doctor on the soap opera that Jeff is his boyfriend/lover as a way to get the doctor from constantly hitting on him. Hence the clue I gave (and one of my favorite lines of the whole movie) "Does Jeff know?" which this actor says to Hoffman shortly after the big scene in which Hoffman publicly reveals himself to be a man. The first clue I gave about someone calling himself a "has been" is between this old actor and Dustin's woman character.

Some other great things in the movie are Hoffman's friendship with Teri Garr who plays this totally non-confident actress. The "I don't take that crap from friends, only from lovers" scene I reproduced is between those two. Also the central love story between Hoffman and Jessica Lange is terrific. She takes to Hoffman's woman persona and they become best friends, while, of course, he is totally in love with her in his own male heart. The pick-up line quote I gave is him (as a man) meeting her at a party and trying to pick her up with the exact words she had told him when he was playing his woman role that she wished some dude would just lay on her rather than trying to be clever and cute. One sweet/funny/sad part is that Lange's father actually falls in love with Hoffman as a woman. It ends up kind of neat, but it's pretty interesting as it unfolds. Also, the movie's underlying theme is the growth of Hoffman's character to being less of a prick as he learns lessons about life and people from walking in another character's shoes.

Anyway, SEE IT! Or SEE IT AGAIN! It's awesome. I apologize to those out there who may not have had the pleasure yet. I kind of figured it would at least have to have been something shown at Casa Phister before, as it's such a classic.

Congratulations George! You beat Emily by 21 minutes. (Ouch, Em. I've been there.) Sue got it a few hours later, which is when I think she finally could get on the computer again after work (that aspect of your work sucks huge, Sue). All three of our correct guessers expressed "kicking themselves" that they didn't get it earlier in the week kinds of feelings. Sue had made a good guess on Wednesday given the clues by that point. Cat made a good guess Friday and would have won if it had been correct as it was 48 minutes before George's winning answer came in.

Anyway, take it away George! You now officially have the lead in the standings, baby!

Random Internet Video of the Day!

We haven't had one of these in a while and this is the new favorite around the Phister household. Peace and blessings!

WTB

Here is the first clue for this week's WTB quiz. It's one I'm pretty sure most of you will have seen, and I think I've even heard it's a favorite of at least one of you. Definitely a well-known film with several highly honored actors/actresses. Write me directly through Facebook with your guesses.

Person 1: I'm just an untalented old has-been.
Person 2: Were you ever famous?
Person 1: No.
Person 2: Then how can you be a has-been?

All of you are still in it.... Here is the Wednesday clue:

Person 1 (same person 1 as above): Does Jeff know?


Here are two Thursday clues that should totally get some guesses going.

Person 1: Friends?
Person 2: No, we are not friends. I don't take this [bleep] from friends. Only lovers.

(In this one above, it's a different Person 1 than the Person 1 in the two clues given earlier in the week.)

Man: I don't like when somebody comes up to me the next day and says, "Hey, man, I saw your play. It touched me; I cried." I like it when a guy comes up to me a week later and says, "Hey, man, I saw your play... what happened?"

Okay, 5pm and still no guesses. I won't give another quote until tomorrow, but I will say that this is a comedy (but one that isn't silly or pure fluff) and that one of its main sources of humor comes from the same predicament as one of the WTB films of the past few months.

Sorry for the late-ish Friday clues. I think these are dead giveaways, so hurry with your guesses!

From a famous scene in the film:
Man: You know, I could lay a big line on you and we could do a lot of role-playing, but the simple truth is, is that I find you very interesting and I'd really like to make love to you.

And now the 100% "if you don't get it you don't know this movie" quote:
Woman: I miss Dorothy.
Man: You don't have to. She's right here. And she misses you. Look, you don't know me from Adam. But I was a better man with you, as a woman... than I ever was with a woman, as a man. You know what I mean? I just gotta learn to do it without the dress. . .

What the Bip Results

By now, most of you know, that the movie featured this week is THE KARATE KID! Last weekend we watched the new Karate Kid starring Will Smith's adorable son, Jaden. It reminded me of this old 80's classic and I didn't think it had been done. I almost changed my mind after finding that most of the quotes from this movie were give-aways. But I managed to find a couple that were not too easy. All of Miyagi's lines were spoken in broken English and so recognizable; "wax on, wax off" and so on. The Karate Kid was made in 1984 and starred Ralph Macchio as Daniel, Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi and Elisabeth Shue as Daniel's girlfriend, Ali. It's a great story of a picked on new kid who meets a man from Japan who teaches him the skills of Karate to defend himself. He teaches him in a very round-about way, also getting a lot of his household chores at the same time. Daniel learns, through all this work, that he is ready to compete against his enemies in a tournament. The new Karate Kid is pretty good, but I think the original is still the best, although outdated a bit.

Dan is our winner this week! Congratulations. He needed the Wednesday clue to get it. Haley had made one correct guess with "Seems Like Old Times", which I can understand. The car comment sounds like it could be made by Chevy Chase and it's one of my favorite movies. But, it's been done already. After the Friday give-away, the correct guesses came flying in, in this order: Sue, Haley, Dad, Emily, Bronwyn and Matt. Good job guys, lots of correct guesses. Well, Dan, take it away!

Movie Marathon- Courtroom dramas/court cases!!!

Alright Wrights and Spoons and any blog stalkers that want to participate (yeah, I’m talking to you Emily and Ami) it is time to start the first Movie Marathon featuring courtroom drama/court cases! Thank you to everyone who sent Emily and me movie suggestions and suggestions on what to call this new feature. We will be putting a poll up on the blog for everyone to vote on a name. As I said earlier, if none of your suggestions got picked, it could be that we think one of your movies fit into another category just as well, so it left room for a movie that might not fit into another category. For example, we got lots of suggestions for 12 Angry Men, one of my personal favorite courtroom drama movies. Em and I decided that movie fits well into another category we have in mind, so we are moving that to another category to make room for a movie on the list that doesn’t really fit well into another category.



Emily and I decided that we each got to pick one movie for the list and then the other three we decide between what you guys suggest and other movies Em and I come up with.



Okay, so are you ready to see what 5 movies we are going to watch?



Drum roll please…………



The Verdict

From the Hip

Philadelphia

Defending your Life

Breaker Morant



Here is a bit of a break down of each:



The Verdict-(1982 rated R)- Stars Paul Newman as an alcoholic ambulance chasing lawyer who is about to settle a malpractice suit, when he realizes the case should go to court. Paul Newman is at his best, and the screen play was written by David Mamet, who wrote other greats like Glengarry Glen Ross and The Untouchables. This is a movie both Emily and I had in mind and was suggested by Dad, of course.



From the Hip-(1987 rated PG)- Starring Judd Nelson and Elizabeth Perkins. The IMDB synopsis says “Apprentice lawyer Robin Weathers turns a civil suit into a headline grabbing charade.” This was the movie Em chose as her pick, but Amy also suggested it. Not sure if Em had this in mind before or after Amy’s suggestion.



Philadelphia (1993 rated PG-13)- Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who contracts AIDS and gets fired from the conservative law firm he works for. He hires Denzel Washington to represent him in a wrongful dismissal suit. The acting in this movie is brilliant. Hanks won Best Actor for this one. The story is intriguing and heart breaking. It is directed by Jonthan Demme who directed mine and Cam’s beloved Stop Making Sense as well as Silence of the Lambs and Neil Young: Heart of Gold (that’s for you Cat).



Defending Your Life (1991 rated PG)- Starring Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. The movie takes place in the afterlife “waiting room” where you spend your days in a court room defending your actions in life and proving you are worthy to go to heaven. This was my pick. I thought this would be a fun take on court room movies and it has Albert Brooks, whom I will try and fit movies he is in whenever I can. I love him, even more than his dad, Mel. Dan also suggested this movie.



Breaker Morant (1980 PG)- An Australian film about three Army officers on trial for killing a prisoner. I have not seen this movie. I have heard good things about it. I’m not sure if any of us have seen it. It won a lot of film festival awards when it came out including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. It was also nominated for an academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay. One of the things I want to accomplish in this movie marathon is to watch movies we normally wouldn’t see, and I think this is a good one for that purpose. Could turn out to be a Wright Classic!



Well, that’s the list. I hope everyone is okay with it. You have no idea how hard it was to find court movies that are not rated R! You should be proud of us that there is only 1 on the list. And I really think that if The Verdict were made today, exactly the way it is, the MPAA would give it a PG-13 rating. I think it’s really funny that the most recent movie we are watching was released in 1993!


We also got a lot of suggestions for My Cousin Vinny and Liar Liar, seems everyone was hoping for a little comic relief in a pretty serious movie theme. We thought everyone has probably seen both movies a million times, so they don't need to be on the list. Besides, I cannot stand watching the kid in Liar Liar try to act, so I just couldn't make myself purposely watch that movie again. Sorry kid that is in that movie, I hope you've honed your acting skills. And Defending your Life and From The Hip should provide that relief for you.



I think we should start with The Verdict. I say we give everyone 2 weeks to see the movie, so that would be until October 27. If you guys want a different amount of time we can discuss that.


Happy Watching!



Here is the trailer for The Verdict

Movie Marathon time!

Okay peeps. Emily and I have decided on the first movie theme for our first marathon!! We are going with courtroom dramas. But really, it can be any movie dealing with a case, doesn't have to have most of the movie in an actual courthouse. Please send me and Emily movie suggestions! I think sending us both a Face Book message would work best. If you don't see any of your suggestions used, don't fret. It could be that we've decided that movie would fit better in a different category. Also, you do not have to send suggestions in order to participate. Participation is strictly voluntary and we won't give you crap if you don't want to do it. Well, maybe a little crap, but not too much.

We are hoping to have the final movie list posted on Wednesday, so start sending your suggestions!

Oh yeah, we should also come up with a name for this feature. Movie Marathon is just kind of boring. So send those suggestions as well.

WTB

After a crazy day, I'm finally getting this done. The playlist will have to wait. Here you go:

Person #1: "Hey, where did these old cars come from?"

Person #2: "Detroit"

You guys need some help it seems. Here is your Wednesday clue. Good Luck!

Girl: You did all that damage?
Boy: Don't you know when you make a wish in a shower, it always comes true?
Girl: I shoulda kept my mouth shut!
Boy: Well, we made an agreement. They promised not to beat up on me, and I promised not to get my blood on their clothes.

It's late...I just remembered I needed to do a Friday give-away. It's almost still Friday. Here you go:

Person #1: Wouldn't a fly swatter be easier?
Person #2: Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.
Person #1: Ever catch one?
Person #2: Not yet.

I'll announce the results on Sunday!

WTB? Gone With the Wind

If you have never seen Gone With the Wind, you need to break down and do it. In fact, I am going to make sure it is included in one of our movie marathons sometime soon cause I haven't seen it in years and would love an excuse to see it again. Speaking of, lets pin down our marathon plans tomorrow (Sunday) eh Sue? Maybe would could do a theme of "Epic movies". That would be cool and this is definitely classified as an epic. I got the idea of doing this movie after thinking of Vivian Leigh playing Scarlett and how she nailed it. I also thought maybe that would give you guys a little clue. I must say, when one reads the book, they get a finer understanding of Scarlett and she is a much more sympathetic character. Another FINE idea for a movie marathon- movies based on books, yet I think to make it legit, we would need to read the book too. Interesting and perhaps we would need to allow a little more time for that one in between movies. I love that idea though. Anyway-- Gone With the Wind. Probably the most favorite movie of my childhood. I am pretty sure it was introduced to me by my good friend Emily (I would like to pat ourselves on the back a little Em, I don't think there are a lot of 10 year olds these days that even know what that movie is, and I can tell them right now it's much better then Hannah Montana). I can't write this without mentioning Ami too- she was there right there with us even if she didn't weigh in this week- what Aim? Too busy with newborn twins or something? (I swear, the excuses people come up with.) We watched it A LOT and collected memorabilia too. She (Emily) also had a few things in her room from the movie. What stands out to me was a mammy doll (complete with a red satin petticoat). I love Mammy! I love how she constantly mutters under her breath. I was very close to doing a mammy line this week "It ain't fittin' it just ain't fittin. It ain't fittin." But felt like it would be too easy. Of course I could have done probably the most quoted line in the history of movies, but I couldn't decide if doing it would be ironic or mundane, so in the end I just didn't.
So- hang on to your hats peeps----- Amy won!!! Yeah Aim! I was so excited when you emailed me and got it right. Pops rang in second followed by Cat, Sue, Emily (she couldn't resist- she's the mammy doll friend), and caboosing it is Dan.

Congrats Aim! Welcome to the board.

WTB

Sorry for the delay- just kind of forgot I was the one to do this......

Man: I'm very drunk and I intend on getting still drunker before this evening's over

Here's an easy one............It's anybody's game

No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing. Badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.

Hint taken Dan: 12:17 in the am.... I'm not quite ready to do a give away yet, but will later today.

Woman: You sir are no gentleman.

Man: And you Miss, are no lady. (she is shocked) Don't think I hold that against you. Ladies have never held any appeal for me.

The Kids Were All Right Book List

* Amy
* Dan
* Pops
* Haley
* Em
* Sue
* Alex
*Bronwyn (B)

1. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo***
2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte**
3. The Killer Angels - Micheal Shaara*
4. The Ender Trilogy - Orson Scott Card*
5. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy*
6. Frankenstein - Mary Shelly**
7. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin****
8. A Gift From the Sea - Anne Morrow Lindburgh*
9. Rebecca - Daphne DuMaurier*
10. My Name is Asher Lev - Chiam Potok*
11. Catch - 22 - Joseph Heller*
12. The Ninth Wave - Eugene Burdick*
13. The Story of My Life - Helen Keller**
14. Shogun - James Clavell*
15. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte**
16. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole*
17. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee*****
18. 1984 - George Orwell**
19. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens**
20. Survival in Auschwitz - Primo Levi**
21. East of Eden - John Steinbeck**
22. Leap of Faith - Queen Noor (of Jordan)*
23. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco*
24. Invisible Monsters (&*%$#@!) - Chuck Palahniuk*
25. Roots - Alex Haley**
26. Life of Pi - Yann Martel****
27. anything by Iris Murdock (especially: A Severed Head and Good Apprentice)*
28. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand**
29. Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare**
30. His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman*
31. Emma - Jane Austin*
32. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe**
33. Candide - Voltaire*
34. The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dumas**
35. The Host - Stephenie Meyer***
36. O Pioneers! - Willa Cather*
37. The Alan Gregory series by Stephen White*
38. Dune - Frank Herbert*
39. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger**
40. Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom**
41. Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare*
42. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky**
43. anything by David Sedaris*
44. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute*
45. The Stand - Stephen King*
46. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand*
47. The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom*
48. Hamlet - William Shakespeare*
49. The Pearl - John Steinbeck**
50. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley*
51. Jubilee - Margaret Walker*
52. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck**
53. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austin**
54. The Education of Little Tree - Forest Carter*
55. The Odyssey - Homer*
56. The Great Divorce - CS Lewis*
57. The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe*
58. The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy*
59. The Killing Floor - Lee Child*
60. The Princess Bride - William Goldman**
61. Animal Farm - George Orwell*
62. Once Upon a Town The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen - Bob Green*
63. John Adams - David McCullough*
64. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey*
65. The Chosen - Chiam Potok***
66. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon*
67. Exodus - Leon Uris*
68. Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut**
69. My Antonia - Willa Carter*
70. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet*
71. South of Broad - Pat Conroy*
72. The Hunt For Red October - Tom Clancy*
73. Wonder Boys - Micheal Chabon*
74. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens*
75. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald*
76. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing*
77. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote*
78. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig*
79. The Wind of War - Herman Wouk*
80. Point of Impact - Stephen Hunter*
81. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver*
82. Lydia Cassat Reading the Morning Paper - Harriet Scott Chessmen*
83. Waldon - Henry David Thoreau*
84. Wild Swans - Jung Chang*
85. anything by Dostoevsky*
86. War and Remembrance - Herman Wouk*
87. anything by David Foster Wallace*
88. The Screwtape Letters - CS Lewis*
89. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens*
90. Mila 18 - Leon Uris*
91. Refuge - Terry Tempest Williams*
92. anything by Kurt Vonnegut (especially: The Sirens of Titan, Deadeye Dick, Hocus Pocus, Player Piano and Bluebeard)*
93. Pale Horse Coming - Stephen Hunter*
94. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith**
95. Storming Heaven - Jay Stevens*
96. LA Outlaws - T. Jefferson Parker*
97. anything by John Steinbeck*
98. The Source - James A. Michner*
99. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls**
100. anything by Ray Bradbury*
101. Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach*
102. The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman*
103. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde**
104. anything by JD Salinger*
105. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl*
106. Trinity - Leon Uris*
107. Persuasion - Jane Austin*
108. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd*
109. Fade Away - Harlan Coben*
110. Night - Elie Wiesel*
111. Reflection of a Peacemaker - Mattie Stepanek*
112. Redemption - Leon Uris*
113. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne*
114. The Covenant - James A. Michner*
115. The Anna Pigeon Series by Nevada Barr*

Juvenile Section

116. The Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer***

117. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak**
118. The Harry Potter Series - J.K. Rowling****
119. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank*
120. Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls**
121. James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl*
122. Charlotte's Web - E.B. White*
123. The Boxcar Children Series - Gertrude Chandler Warner**
124. Holes - Louis Sachar*
125. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett**
126. White Fang - Jack London*
127. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain*
128. Heidi - Johanna Spyri*
129. The Anne of Green Gables Series - L.M. Montgomery***
130. The Giver - Lois Lowry*
131. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery*
132. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott**
133. The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis***
134. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain*
135. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie*
136. Woman in the Wall - Patrice Kindl*
137. The Calvin and Hobbes Series - Bill Watterson*
138. The Alice Series - Phylis Reynolds Naylor*
139. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury*
140. The Encyclopedia Brown Series - Donald J. Sobol*

Religious books Section

141. The Book of Mormon - Various Authors***

142. The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother - Lucy Mack Smith**
143. Go Forward With Faith Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley - Sheri Dew*
144. Glimpses Into the Life and Heart of Margorie P. Hinckley - Margorie P. Hinckley*
145. The Work and the Glory Series - Gerald Lund***
146. Children of the Promise Series - Dean Hughes***
147. The Price We Paid - David D. Olsen*
148. Stages of Faith - James Fowler*
149. Who Wrote the Bible? - Richard Elliot Friedman*
150. Varieties of Religious Experience - William James*
151. Believing Christ - Stephen E. Robinson*
152. Jesus the Christ - James E. Talmage*
153. Speaking of Faith - Krista Tippett*
154. Mere Christianity - CS Lewis**
155. Way to Be - Gordon B. Hinkley*

Non-Fiction Section

156. The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff*

157. A Brief History of Everything - Ken Wilber*
158. Ishmael - Daniel Quinn*
159. Bearing the Cross - David Garrow*
160. Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X with Alex Haley*
161. Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Thomas Kuhn*

There you are: 161 bad boys. Now get reading.

"Amazing look into a very particular brand of Judaism and an artist whose talent can't be contained in just that small world. Even in it's particularity, however, it is one of the books that explores universal themes in an amazing way. I highly recommend all the other Potok books as well."

-Dan on My Name is Asher Lev

"I love how Austen was so ahead of her time. I love how she wrote about strong women at a time where women didn't have much power. I love this story and I think it is easily relate-able, especially growing up with sisters. I think this story is funny and really teaches us to not make judgments of others."

-Haley on Pride and Prejudice

"This book was sooooo different then what I expected and so very much better. If you have never read this, you need to do it. Now."

-Emily on Frankenstein

"Love and Hate this book. I end up not agreeing with Rand in most ways, but I can't ever forget this book."

-Dan on Atlas Shrugged

"Duh!"

-Haley on her recommendation of The Twilight Series

"I kind of crush on this author from her radio show/podcast by same name, so perhaps I'm biased to think the world of this book. To me it is an extremely powerful book as it not only takes us through her own faith journey but introduces us to some of the best, most powerful spiritual people with big ideas and committed lives. Inspires me a lot. A few months ago I actually bought a dozen or so copies of this book for about $5 each to give away to friends. I have 5 or 6 left and would be thrilled to send a copy to any of you who want to give this one a try."

-Dan on Speaking of Faith

"A little insight... I read a TON growing up, but it was mostly children's books and sci-fi/fantasy. I really wasn't exposed to much mainstream literature until high school and beyond, when I had friends and other ways to pass the days. So lately, I've been trying to get back into reading, with mixed success. And the difference between what I read when I was younger and what I read now is like the difference between eating Hamburger Helper and eating Amy Phister's cooking. I was still reading, and it was good, but doesn't even compare. So that's why this list is fairly short. A very small percentage of what I've read made this list."

-Bronwyn (sorry, but you had to be Mr. Black for the quotes)

"To put it simply: this book changed my life."

-Emily on To Kill a Mockingbird

"I guess I'm mostly an author person. It's hard for me to pick out books."

-Sue on her book list

"Holocaust survivor turned psychologist with very practical sensibility. Guess what? Life isn't supposed to be free of conflict, and happiness can only be known in striving for purposes that are worth of human beings in the highest sense of what that means."

-Dan on Man's Search for Meaning

"My first read in high school, out of print."

-Pops on The Ninth Wave

"I read this when I was about 13 and stayed up one night to finish it all alone, bawling in my room. A sweet story, definitely a classic. Dan and Little Anne.....tear."

-Haley on Where the Red Fern Grows

"Freaky. Just go with it..."

-Dan on Slaughterhouse Five

"If you like mystery stories, these are a must read. The heroine is a feisty middle aged park ranger (I picture her to be Kathleen Turner). The settings take place in a different National Park every time, so it is kind of fun to see where the next book will take you: Lake Superior, deep in a cave in New Mexico, Alaska, Natchez Trace parkway, you get the idea. I think they are well written, they are good adventure and I always have fun exploring a different part of the country when I read. Plus, the endings are always very unpredictable, which is an excellent trait when it comes to mysteries."

- Emily on The Anna Pigeon Series

"You'll be in for a LOT of sex and violence in this novel set in feudal Japan, but you will learn so, so much. And the character of Toranaga is one of the most fascinating characters I've ever encountered in my reading---both highly admirable and alienating, but truly a great leader."

-Dan on Shogun

"My mom kind of made a point not to read #1 New York Best Seller books, and this was one of the first non-fiction books that I ever read, and I was blown away. It opened up a whole new, non sci-fi fantasy world to me!!"

-B on Tuesdays with Morrie

"This book is AMAZING. It contains one of the most evil monsters in literary history in the form of a small women named Cathy. Epic story. Tragic and incredibly compelling. This one won't leave you any time soon."

-Emily on East of Eden

"I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."

-John Steinbeck on East of Eden

"If you're going to read just one Holocaust book..."

-Dan on Night

"Obviously Amy is not going to read just one Holocaust book."

-Emily on Amy's book list

The Kids Were All Right Book List explained

At last!

Thank you all for your patience. I knew this would be time consuming, but didn't fully appreciate how much so until I dived into it. I started compiling and then quit and picked it back up today and powered through (mostly while listening to conference). I am not making any promises that I will finish typing this today though, I have a feeling that will also be time consuming, but we'll see. So a few people made a couple of different categories and I thought that was a good idea, so I ran with it. I have broken up the book list like this: First just regular adult novels (hm, that sounds bad, but you know what I mean). Second, there will be a group of juvenile literature. Third, is religious books and finally some non fiction. Dad broke his list up into "books that impacted his life" and "just good reads" I decided to file them all under the four former categories thinking that we could probably all file our lists into 2 similar columns too, so I wasn't going to mess with it. If you want to know which is which, ask him (or me). Speaking of me filing books into categories, I had to take the liberty of doing so with some books and I hope that I don't mess anything up. But I wouldn't think too hard about it, it's all in the same book list anyway. IF there is a gross misfile on my part, please point it out and I will wright it.

We all expressed concern about people recommending the same book and how we can tell who recommends what, so I have made the following decision: I am typing the entire list in black and putting a different colored "*" next to it to signify who recommends it. I tried to mix the list up a little, but didn't do a fantastic job due to a few flubs on my part, but I'm not going back, so like it how it is.

Two more things:
1. I realized when making my list that I have a weird advantage you could call it, by getting lists of everyone elses and being able to beef up my list. I thought this unfair, so I made my list set in stone by the time I saw anyone elses. I had some temptation to add a few after reading all the lists, but I didn't (with one exception which had to do with the fact that we added a Juvenile section).

2. If someone wrote "anything by" and listed an author, I made that it's own thing, but also if someone else recommended a book by that author, I included the other persons colored Astrix.

We have had a new contributor and I shall grant her yellow. Hope it isn't too hard to see. In the interest of changing the least amount of numbers, I had to grant Fahrenheit 451 Juvenile status which is not a stretch, I remember reading it middle-schoolish. The rest while it isn't dispersed through the list (except when you named a book already there), they are at least in their proper category. Glad to have your submissions, B!

Here is the color key:
* Amy
* Dan
* Pops
* Haley
*Em
*Sue
*Alex
*Brownyn (It's B)

Idea for a new feature on this here family blog

Hey Peeps! The last couple of days there have been some postings, but it seems lately, the blog has been chirping for some action. There are the weekly WTB posts, and that is about it. So, the last few days, I've been thinking about what might be a fun new feature that will get some discussion going. And I think I came up with it!

I was at work today listening to a bunch of old Filmspotting podcasts, that is the podcast I won that contest from, and it hit me. Movie marathons! Once in awhile Adam and Matty will do a movie marathon of about 5 movies with a similar theme. They do marathons on different genres, themes and directors, and I thought it might be fun if we do it too.

Since Emily listens to the same podcast, I emailed her to see what she thought and she said it is a fantastic idea. I then asked if she could help me run it, since she is familiar with the way Filmspotting does it. Here is what we propose:

We will come up with a theme. Anyone who wants can send us, privately, movie titles that you think will fit well with the theme. We will give you like 48 hours to send us movie titles. You do not have to send us titles in order to participate. Em and I will then discuss, and come up with 5 movies. We will watch one movie at a time. I say we give everyone plenty of time to watch the movie, like 10 days or 2 weeks. Then Em or I will do a quick post about the movie and we can all discuss. What do you think? I think this will be a great way to get some good discussions going, and it will be a way for us to see some movies you may not see otherwise, or re-watch some old favorites.

Keep in mind, this is not a top 5 best films that fit the current theme. Just 5 movies that represent the theme. Emily and I discussed about what to do about rated R movies. We decided we will do our very best to keep the movies at a rating of PG-13 and lower, but some R's will slip in. When that is the case, just don't watch that movie, but you should still be able to enjoy the discussion. Emily and I both enjoy the discussions on the marathons Filmspotting has, even when we have never seen the movie they are talking about.

I think this will be a really fun way to spark some discussion and debate. The marathon themes will be wide spread and they can be 5 movies from a director, 5 films with a certain actor, 5 films of a certain genre, etc etc. Here are some example theme ideas:

courtroom dramas
documentaries
westerns
Alfred Hitchcock movies
movies about food
movies with a color in the title
con movies
screen dads
sister movies
holiday movies
coming of age movies
movies based on plays
bio pics

There are a lot of different themes we can do. Feel free to suggest some themes. The themes should be broad enough that we can pick from a list of movies. So we really shouldn't do a theme like "movies about Middle Earth" or "movies that feature Clint Eastwood running around San Francisco with a 45 magnum"

Let me know if you think this is a good idea or not. It is strictly voluntary, so if no one wants to participate, Em and I will just do it and you guys will have to put up with the postings and comments.

For those interested. What should the first theme be?

Top 5 characters from book to film

After gushing about Toby Stephens in Jane Eyre on my personal blog yesterday, I was lying in bed in the wee hours of the morning with a unsleepy Elinore beside me thinking about other possibly awesome performances. So I thought it was due time to bring back the KWAW top 5s.

So this is a top 5 list of the actors you think really brought a book character to life, better then you even imagined they were on page. Actors that not only embodied, but enriched the character in your head, totally making it their own.

So here is mine:

1. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.
2. Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind.
3. Toby Stephens as Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre.
4. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird.
5. Hugh Grant as Will in About A Boy.

I struggled putting Hugh Grant up there, but in the end I just had to. His portrayal of Will in that movie was SO entertaining. I really enjoyed his performance and this movie made me like the book a whole lot more then I had before, so I am putting him up there. I don't think I need to explain any of the others.

Matt's WTB revealed 10/2/10

Raising Arizona!!

Em wins again! She and Sue both got it from the first quote, but Em was quicker. Props to both of you for pinpointing this awesome line when H.I.'s friends who broke out of jail are robbing a convenient store and are asking the clerk about a bag of balloons. Haley and then Amy got it from the Wednesday hint quote. Then Dad and Dan on the last bundle. Good work peeps! Awesome movie. Scott and I quote this movie a lot lately, I guess he saw it on cable recently.

Two of my favorite parts are:


In the fight he has with the outlaw friends (John Goodman and whoever the other guy is) in his little trailer home, H.I. (Cage) reaches up with both fists to bash/pound on one of their backs. While attempting this wrestling type move, he scrapes his knuckles on the low- all too familiar stereotypical popcorn ceiling! He stops everything and looks at his knuckles and gives this blood curdling scream shown here:


I know Emily finds this next one equally funny, as I think she quotes this often as well. In the very beginning of the movie when H.I. is talking about how he met his wife, they are showing him getting his mug shots taken from her. After she takes the picture, and the officer is escorting him out of the room, he looks her in the eye and says, "Let me know how those turn out..." and then slaps his butt as he is getting dragged out of the room. HAHAHA!



Those little parts, and when he fly's through the windshield in the car accident are mine and Emily's favorite part of this movie. And an honorable mention would be Ed's (His wife, Holly Hunter) reaction when she first gets the baby. haha! Sobbing: "I LOVE HIM SO HO HO HO MU HU HU HUCH!!!"

All that, and his hair.

Friday night random cable movies

Hey, coven of Nerdlings, peeps of the cyberspace: I am at the airport at 4:45 in the AM still with a slight smile on my face. Last night mom and I go to the Riverton H.S. football game. They are losing 49 to 0 at halftime, but Annie looks good playing her horn. We go home and I watch the last 8 minutes of BYU losing to Utah State. Utah State!! So it 9:30 or so and I check out the cable movies...guess what? Some of my best are all on. Silence of the Lambs, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, A Few Good Men. The Man From Snowy River, so I spend an hour or so switching back and forth and get to see....Warden Norton go down and Tim get all his money, Clarice interacting with Dr. Lecter, Tom Hanks growing old and playing with the old mouse, Mr. Jingles, and the scene of the boy chasing the wild horses down the mountain and driving them into the corral and of course, Cornel Jessup giving his "You can't handle the truth" speech and his subsequent arrest. Nice! And on top of all that, I am planing to order a big screen HDTV today. Yea! Go, George.......