Thursday Movie Picks: TV Edition-Game Shows

Hi, Wink Martindale here and I am so glad to be hosting here..why Birgit allowed me to write here is beyond me but I am not complaining. Well, I do believe Bob Barker is actually an alien, that evil bastard but I digress. Over at Wandering Through The Shelves the theme are TV Shows and I am so happy to talk about Tic, Tac Toe which her dad loved watching before The Muppet Show. Oh...ok I won’t show my show which was the best show ever, I will concentrate on Canadian TV Shows that Boom Boom Birgie loved watching. Here they are...

1. PARTY GAME-1970-1981

When most kids were playing outside on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, Birgit was watching this show that featured Dinah Christie, Jack Duffy and Bobby Van who would each be on two teams, sitting on a couch playing charades. Yup a game show on Charades with really tough words and sentences that they had to decipher in a certain time limit. I don’t know what the party guests won, maybe some turtle wax but it was fun seeing the banter.

2. THIS IS THE LAW-1971-1976

I think Miss. Birgie talked about this show before but she loves it so much that she whipped..Er, strongly suggested I talk about this very interesting game show. You would have celebrity(hahaaa) guests paired with participants who would watch a silent Short taking place in some town where the person in this short, would get arrested by the cop and now you had to guess the obscure law that the person in the short broke. It was an original show and I want to watch more episodes as Birgit got me hooked.

3. DEFINITION-1974-1989

We know this theme music well because of the Austin Powers movies which was composed by Quincy Jones..pretty cool. There were 2 teams who had to guess which letters were in that saying or word. The Jim Perry, would give clues in puns and if you won, you could get $10 for each letter..a whole $*(+ $10 dollars! You were very special is you won a fridge...Man, these Canadians were cheap in the winnings.

Ok, I have to choose one more because this show was on forever

4. FRONT PAGE CHALLENGE-1957-1995

Some famous faces were on this program from Malcolm X, Boris Gandhi to Shania Twain. The panel of journalists had to guess who and why these famous people were involved in some major news story of that day, afterward. the  journalists would question the guest. This is one very cool show that is intelligent and much better than people screaming because they won a car..too bad they no longer have the episode with Jayne Mansfield.

This was fun and I am so glad that Birgit..oh oh , she came back from her walk I gotta go but I leave you with one more...

TIC, TAC, DOUGH- 1978-1986

I know this was on before but nothing compared to my hosting this program even though I left in 1985 to do another game show. Basically 2 guests had to answer questions to get either an X or an O. There's more to it but this is it in a nutshell and we gave out more than $10 or a fridge so people loved getting our prizes. Now I gotta go before Birgit sees what I've written. I wanted to talk about this one because her daddy died this day back in 1988. Let's toast to her dad.

Which Game Shows would you pick?

What tv game show would you pick?

Thursday Movie Picks-Verbal Altercations

I hope all of you are practicing social distancing because it’s the best way to prevent this virus from taking hold. Ok, let’s movie on before I possibly start a verbal altercation which is the theme this week over at Wandering Through The Shelves. I initially thought of 2 movies that I remembered I talked about before, so I changed things up. I am always dumbfounded how my 15 watt bulb dims even more when  I need to think up 3 films that suit the theme. I hope I did well and look forward to what everyone else chooses. Here are my 3...

1. OF HUMAN BONDAGE-1934

Oh, this poor sucker of a medical student falls in love with a tawdry guttersnipe waitress who belittles him every chance she gets. He know in his brain( notice I didn’t say head) that she is not worthy but he can’t break free of her. They argue, or rather she berates and he takes it, until she leaves him. He finds happiness with a sweet woman but, well, bitch whore comes back and he goes to her. They argue and he has no idea why he keeps going to her but, well, we know. This is a great version of the book( obviously the book is much more detailed) that made a star of Bette Davis and was the one time where people wrote in an Oscar nomination when Bette was passed over come official Oscar nominations. Leslie Howard gives a sensitive, poignant performance as the student who can’t say no. A well acted film that is well worth a watch.

2. FIVE EASY PIECES-1970

Jack Nicholson plays a gifted pianist, from a wealthy family, who decided to turn his back on his family and his gift, to work on the oil wells. When he gets word that his father is ailing, he heads for home with his girlfriend in tow. He has some big issues coming home and this film isdone in typical 70s style which, how shall I say, just pisses me off. This is not a favourite of mine except for one brilliant scene that takes place in a diner between Nicholson’s character and the stiff-haired waitress who's hair wouldn't move in a hurricane. It’s brilliant because I do remember how diners and restaurants would never budge if you asked to change up the order.

3. AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY-2013

To say this is one #@‘! Up family is an understatement and the matriarch of this family, played by Meryl Streep, is the cause for most of the dysfunction. There are 3 daughters, each with their own issues, who come back home after learning their dad went missing. Others come along for the ride, from the granddaughter, husbands, boyfriends and their aunt, mom’s sister, to the sister’s son. The oldest daughter is play by Julia Roberts who is just as vitriolic as her mom and it comes to a head one fine dinner. You learn all sorts of surprises and you really hope people leave before they are sucked into the vortex called mom. It’s well acted and has surprisingly funny moments. Well worth watching.

What 3 films come to your mind?
Which 3 would you choose?

Thursday Movie Picks-Numbers in the Title

Wandering through the Shelves has chosen a unique theme this week where the actual number has to be in the title. I wanted to choose only one number but I only saw 2 films with that number in the title but I stayed in the same ..um...area. Criminy, I can’t find the right words today...anyway here are my 3.

1. 42ND STREET-1933

This film came out before “The Code” came into strong effect so you see the backstage antics that often occur in a theatre production of a musical like the casting couch. Hey, Ginger Rogers plays “Anytime Annie” which means, we’ll, you know. This is THE backstage story of a troubled musical coming to Broadway while the Great Depression is raging on. The star of the show, played by Bebe Daniels, is spoiled  and in love with a once famous actor. The director of this musical, played by Warner Baxter, is very demanding, to say the least, and grills his actors which includes Rogers, Una Merkel and Ruby Keeler. When the star breaks her ankle, the show must go on and the. Director chooses Ruby Keeler to be the star of the show. The young, naive gal decides to take on the role. This was a huge hit and made Ruby Keeler a star and created a big team with her and Dick Powell in many early musicals. This is also the musical that introduced Busby Berkeley and his unique overhead shots of  women and men who create flowers and other kaleidoscope images in many musicals. These images are still parodied today.

2. 48 HOURS-1982

I haven't seen this film in years and would love to see it again. Nick Nolte(before he looked like roadkill) plays a cop who's 2 cop friends are gunned down by a very, very bad man. Nick must get help from the evil guy's former partner who is in jail, played by Eddie Murphy (who is hilarious). Together, they start looking for this man and have only 48 hours to catch him. There are many funny scenes with Murphy and, surprisingly, Murphy and Nolte make a great team. This is a fun film to watch especially during this time.

3. 42-2013

I was not sure I would like this film because you never know about biopics but this is an excellent movie about the great Jackie Robinson who had to overcome a lot of racism that was prevalent in Baseball and the States at that time(and the States still has issues). The lead is played brilliantly by Chadwick Boseman who showed frustration but also dignity and respect which is what Robinson is all about. Harrison Ford is the one who finds this gem of a man and helps him through to become one of the best ball players regardless of his colour. A must see.

What 3 would you choose?

Busy a Craftin'

Hand drew images that I took from Google images, glitter cardstock, remnants, cuddle bug, sizzex machine, die cut,embossing pad, tombow markers, saying cut out, gold stickles

Fusion Card Challenge- the sketch and an image-They have gnomes!

Alphabet challenge- Anything Goes

Simon Says-Moodboard-there were easter eggs, chick, bright pink flowers etc..

Stamping Sensations-Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Tic, Tac Toe Challenge-I used Sparkle, Pink, Emboss

This was fun to do. I looked for a gnome images and hand drew them and coloured them in. I have no Gnome stamp like this so I looked for something off the internet and just eyed them and drew them freehand and coloured them in using tombow markers. I loved the bright colours which I saw on the Moodboard over at Simon Says and it is a rainbow look to it where you might find a gnome or 2. I enjoyed creating this card which needed sparkle. I took my cuddlebug to emboss the blue piece in a nice design as well as I used the sizzex to cut out the oval piece and used my cuddlebug, again, to emboss the edge. I pieced it all together and added the gems and the saying (that I cut out using my sizzex machine and added gold stickles) for some added pinache.

Gold, green, green glitter embossing powder, green sprinkle powder(buggerarooney-I forgot the name), snowflake stamp, season's Greetings stamp, dye ink, cuddlebug, embossing pad, star hangings.

Retro RubberChallenge-Be There or Be Square-#RRCB132

Happy Little Stampers:Watercolour Challenge-Use Stars

Christmas Craft Creations-Use A Stamp

First I cut out a square and stamped the saying, with the bird, onto the paper. This stamp is at least 7 years old. I took green glitter embossing powder for the bird, dark green powder for the saying and Gold for the twigs and filagree and heated it up. The remains of all 3 embossing powders were used for the snowflake stamps that I heat embossed as well. I had gold remnant paper strips that I ran through the cuddlebug with an embossing pad and found these stars plus a filagree to add to the bottom. The fun part was taking my green sprinkle powders, dabbing it on some white cardstock and spritzing it with water to get the background effect-it's pretty cool.I added the star sticker boarder, used pop up dots for the snowflakes and here is another Christmas card.

Embossing pad, versamark pad, gold embossing powder, angel stamp, saying stamp, markers, ribbon, cuddlebug

Winter Wonderland- Angel

The Fairy and the Unicorn-Anything Goes

Dream Valley-Things With Wings

Cute Card Thursday-Use Ribbon

CHNC-Anything Goes or Snowman, Woman or Family

This turned out quite well I think. I took a white cardstock and used distress inks in red that I spritzed with water, for the background to get different shadings. Once dry, I embossed the piece in my cuddlebug with an embossing pad and, using the Versamark ink pad, I swished it over the piece trying to make sure to just ink the raised parts(I missed a bit but oh well). I added gold embossing powder and placed it all over the paper, After the excess was gone, I heat embossed it to get the desired effect. I stamped the angel in brown ink and coloured her in with these pencil crayons that I watered down. I used the sizzex machine to cut the angel out in an oval design, embossed the edge through my cuddlebug and coloured that part using green. I glued this over my green cardstock and added ribbon as a border.

elephant stamp, tombow markers, glitter pens, sizzex machine, heart stencil, pearl stickle, stickers, cut out saying, martini and saying stamp.crystals, glossy accent

Twofer Card Challenge-Rain/Umbrella

This challenge is where you must take one stamp but make 2 different cards for 2 different events. I bought this stamp for $2 and thought it was cute. When they made this stamp they were probably thinking about a new baby or a shower event, but I went somewhere different. Especially since we are indoors a lot and some are feeling a bit anxious, I thought what better way to feel better than to have a couple of glasses(or more) of martinis:) I stamped the elephant in different parts of the card and coloured her in pink because, let's face it, that's what you would see.  I used glitter pens for the umbrellas and the hearts and took the glossy accents to make the elephant look glass like. I took a couple of pieces of  scrap paper for the side part, glued it in place and stamped the saying plus the martini glass in basic black and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder. The other is a Happy Birthday card for a girl that I actually missed her birthday which is why I took a scrap piece that I had coloured with those sprinkle powders(in yellow) and cut the saying, "So Sweet" using my sizzex machine. I took my sizzex machine and 3 different card pieces to cut out the rectangle pieces in different sizes to layer plus they went through my cuddlebug to emboss the edges. I have a heart stencil that I placed onto white paper scrap and put the pearl yellow stickle over it and smoothed it out with my palette knife. Once it was dry, I cut it out and placed it in between the saying using pop up dots. I finished it off with corner stickers and gems.

I hope your Easter was a good one and stay Safe!

Thursday Movie Picks-Animals

I chose this week’s theme over at Wandering Through The Shelves because I love animals and we never had one about these critters before. There are many great animals that have acted in films and were not digitized like the recent film Call of the Wild. You have the great Rin Tin Tin who saved Warner Brothers from Bankruptcy to Toto, Asta, Cheetah, Morris the cat, Moose from Frazier, the sweet Uggie, and, of course, Lassie. There are more but here are my 3...

1. OH HEAVENLY DOG-1980

This film stars Chevy Chase who considers it his worst film and refuses to watch it. I saw this in the theatre and would like to see it again because I thought it was a nice movie. It stars Chevy Chase as a PI on a case only to be killed and given the ability to go back as a dog. From then on we only hear Chase’s voice but we don’t see him. Benji is the dog that comes back to find his killer and meets up with the young woman he asked out before he was killed played by the beautiful Jane Seymour. Benji got star billing because this is one famous dog. Actually Higgins, who starred in Petticoat Junction(tv show) became hugely famous as the star of Benji, a film I almost used today. Sadly he died before this film came out but his daughter, named Benji, was the star. Humm, I wonder if Chevy's ego was hurt...probably.

2. THE BEAR-1988

This is a film about an orphaned young bear, yup loses his mom to hunters, who tries to survive the brutal world, he ends up meeting up with a male bear who has no desire to have this youngin’ tag along but soon this older bear starts teaching the young one and becomes his protector especially from the hunters. Bart the bear is one huge bear with a distinctive lower lip that can make him look quite menacing as in the film, The Edge. I still am on pins and needles for the little bear but I am so happy Bart is there for him. Bart was a sweetheart and a true gentle giant.

3. HIDALGO-2004

This was a film Viggo Mortensen made right after Lord Of The Rings, where he did most of his own stunts and bought the horse after the film was done. This is based on a true story where an alcoholic cowboy who is part of the Wild West Show, is given the chance to partake in a gruelling 3,000 mile race in Arabia. He goes only to be ridiculed because of his Pinto horse who has a mind of its own. This horse is his saviour and gets the respect of the men and women who are part of this race. This is a good ole fashioned adventure film that is worth watching.

Which 3 films would you choose?

I have to pay tribute to Rin Tin Tin who may have won the first oscar for best actor until the academy said that one could not vote for animals. This dog is the reason German Shepherds became a regular dog in North America.

Being creative

I am off this week and, even though I work from home right now, it is nice to be off. This is the time to reflect and find other areas of creativity than just going to the mall, gym, be with friends etc.. hey, thank goodness for Skype and all those other ways to talk to people. Maybe this will make us slow down a bit and enjoy the simpler times. If we are not the morons who continue to go to Church and sit beside people or go to parks and other places where many people are, then we should be ok...as long as those morons have not infected us but we need to be careful and stay positive. Now, I am showcasing a few cards and hope you like them.

Cardstock pieces, stickers, glue, glitter, punch, pop up stickers

Sparkles Monthly-Easter
Simon Says-Moodboard
The Library Challenge-Eggdrop

I was thinking of my mom when I created this simple card since she created faberge style eggs in great detail. There used to be at show called craftscapes and she was showcased on this. Anyway, this was a simple card to make because I mainly used stickers. Once I placed the egg sticker down I used glue in between the parts and sprinkled different coloured sparkles. It is bright colours just like on the moon board from Simon Says. I took a punch to the 4 corners, adhered all the cardstock together, added glitter in the 4 corners and done

Cardstock, flower rubber stamp, black dye ink stamp, pastel colours, corner punch, fancy scissors, crystals

Colour Throwdown- strong Pink, Green, Orange, Yellow
Dream Valley- Spring Colours
Crafty Creations- Anything Goes
Penny Black- Anything Goes

I had fun colouring this image with cue tips using my pastel colours. I used a punch on the corners and a fancy scissor for the top and bottom. I layered the card, added the crystals and that’s that.

Mulled paper(is that what it's called?), stamped image, tombow markers, water, sprinkles ribbon, stickers, markers, sizzex machine Merry Christmas cutout. Star stickers

CHNC- Funny
CCAYR- Snowbuddies
Sparkle Christmas- Christmas Critters
HLS:Christmas- Festive Animals

I love my new stamp that I bought about 4 months ago. I used my tombow markers and place just a bit of color on the image and, with a little water, I used my brush to colour the image. I glued the funny/sweet image down on this mulled paper and used fine sparkle on the sock but this bigger sparkle for snow. I used the sizzex and rolled the saying through it. I glued that in place and added the stickers on each side coloring in the centre with these markers.

This was fun and hope you are being creative with what I do, playing your favourite instrument, write, critique a film or organize your home, whatever you wish. Stay safe!

Thursday Movie Picks:Seven Deadly Sins Edition-Greed

Greed is insidious because we can see it in walks of life even in our own families, work, you name it. How many times do people win the lottery only to play it again, why? Greed can probably be found in many films including my favourite, "It’s a Wonderful Life". So one has to choose 3 films that fit this week’s theme, this is the brainchild of Wandering Through The Shelves and here are my 3...

1. GREED-1924

This is a superlative, if  unlikeable, film directed by the great Erich Von Stroheim who paid so much attention to detail, it destroyed his career as a director because he just spent way too much of the studio’s money. He put everything into this film which would now be on Netflix as a 4 part series but back then, the studio slashed the film to bits getting rid of many subtle tidbits that Stroheim created and was he disgusted by what happened to his masterwork. This stars Gibson Gowland As a dentist who meets  a young woman, played by the comedienne, Zasu Pitts, in a very different role for her, and he woos her over a sewer..yeah not a place I would have a picnic. They marry and before you know it, he wins the lottery and they are overjoyed. Soon, the wife begins to change and hoards the money and controls her husband as they live in more poverty than ever before. Whenever he tries to spend anything, even his own meagre earnings, she puts a stop to it. Let’s just say their marriage is not a happy one. It is a great film and one critic who did see it in its entirety way back then said it was the best thing he ever saw. It would be a huge find if ever one could find some lost pieces but even without those, it is still a film worth seeing and the ending in Death Valley really grips you.

2. DOUBLE INDEMNITY-1944

Gosh, I love this film even with Barbara Stanwyck’s bad wig which just seems to work with her viper gal image in this movie by Billy Wilder. You know, from the beginning, that Fred MacMurray’s character, an insurance agent, fell into lust with Stanwyck and they both decided to kill her old hubby in an “accident” style so she can claim double the insurance and they can live happily ever after....hahahaaa. You know she is bad news from the moment you see her anklet as she comes down the staircase to greet Freddie in nothing but a robe. This is an excellent film noir, well acted and brilliant writing by Wilder and Raymond Chandler(they hated each other). Funny, Billy Wilder said he loved Stanwyck and said his dream was her greeting him at the door when he got home with high heels, an apron..and nothing else.

3. TREASURE OF THE SIERRE MADRE-1948

I saw the Bugs Bunny cartoon before I saw this film and had no idea who the guy was who kept appearing to Bugs asking for money until I finally saw this film. You meet Dobbs, played by Humphrey Bogart, who is an American down on his luck. He meets another American and an old timer who knows there’s gold in dem dar hills. They team up and go deep into the jungle to dig for gold. We see the affable Dobbs slowly turn from a disarming nobody to a paranoid a-hole who salivates over all the gold they find. He wants to hoard all the gold for himself and will kill for it. You see how each man is changed as a result. Another film worth seeing where John Huston, the director and Walter Huston, the dad, both win Oscars.

Now which films would you choose?