A couple days ago, Susan was working with the boys on writing their names. She wrote their given names on one side of the paper, then their nicknames (Matt & Nat) on the other side. She then had them practice writing their letters on top of hers. At some point, Matthew decided to make a sign with his paper. He scribbled some stuff on the paper, and Susan asked him what it said. He said “It says ‘No ghostesess allowed in my room!’”
This Five is not so much concerned with what kind of movies you like, but how you watch them!
1) When you’re at the theater, how do you want your atmosphere? Do you prefer old theaters or megaplexes? Full houses or intimate seatings? Lots of kids, or none at all?
I really prefer old theaters to new. They have so much more character. Today’s multiplexes are like concrete bunkers. They’re so, blah. And, since I’m in a theater, I’d like to have some people there. In my opinion, the only thing you get in a theater that you don’t get at home is the crowd interaction. And, like my sister, if I’m watching a kid movie, I’d like to have lots of kids running around. Their laughter is contagious!
2) What’s your “home theater” like? High tech? VCR and TV? What?
My home theater is pretty decent. I really haven’t added much to it since my children have been born. I’ve got Dolby Digital 5.1, 32″ RCA Cinema Series TV, nice speakers, subwoofer, DVD and Laserdisc. The only thing I’d like to have is a 16 X 9 widescreen display. But since my current TV is working fine, I see no need to go out and spend $700 or more just to change the ratio of my screen size.
3) We’ve probably all got DVD and VCR players, but how about alternative movie watching gadgets? Have you got an Apple TV? Ever watch a movie over the Internet?
I’ve got a TiVo. Sometimes we’ll get a movie off that to watch. Not too much, though. I don’t watch movies on my computer. My iPod Touch can play movies, and I’ve ripped a few I own to watch on it. I don’t forsee myself watching them, though, until I’m on a plane or something. (I don’t normally carry the earphones with me.)
4) Do you belong to a subscription movie rental service, like NetFlix? If so, how many movies are you renting a month? Are you happy with the service?
I don’t have anything like that. We watch so few movies, it wouldn’t really be worth it to us. We’ll usually just watch the same movies over and over. Madagascar and Cars are perrenial favorites in my house.
5) Share with us your ratio of buying movies to renting them. Do you rent more, or just outright buy your movies? Do you get DVDs, tapes, or movie downloads for your computer most frequently?
I would say we buy and rent at about an equal ratio. We usually rent things we’ve never seen. If we see it, and like it enough to watch it again, we’d probably by it. With that said, though, I’ve got some movies from last Christmas I still haven’t watched yet.
1. Please feel free to leave a comment. (And, if you do, I’ll come visit your blog. Who knows, maybe you’ll hook me as a reader!)
2. When I kiss my wife’s neck I can’t help sniffing it occasionally.
3. My favorite thing to cook is breakfast. (Anything dealing with breakfast, and I think I can turn it out pretty well! Ask me about last Saturday’s roast beef hash!)
4. Susan is something I can’t get enough of.
5. That’s the thing I love most about cupcakes and squirrels. (I must admit, I don’t think I understand this one…)
6. Drivers who pass me when I’m 6th in a line of traffic always makes me think to myself, “What the heck?” (”Just how far ahead do they think they’re gonna get? Seconds?”)
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to opening night in the pit of “Annie Get Your Gun,” tomorrow my plans include a big breakfast (see #3) and a gig in Portland, and Sunday, I want to relax at home!
Amy says: This week I had the MI-5 so I asked some questions that had been rolling around my head.
Bath or Shower?
Shower. In the AM. Hair washed. Neti pot. Shave every other day or so.
If you are a beer drinker- what is your favorite? Is it a seasonal thing? If you aren’t a beer drinker what is your favorite beverage and does it change with the season?
I do like beer, but I don’t drink much of it anymore. Heck, even in my heyday I was a two beer guy. One or two good ones is all I ever wanted. My tastes do change with the seasons: as it gets colder, I like “heavier” beers. In the winter, I like Shipyards Longfellow and Prelude ale. I tend to like English style ales with lots of hops, like IPAs. Shipyard’s Chamberlain ale is also a favorite, as is Geary’s Special Hampshire ale.
Now that the election is over what is one thing you are looking forward to as “life resumes”?
Less talk of politics around the office. I don’t mind everyone talking politics. And usually, it’s all pretty civil. This year, though, there were some times where things got a little dicey.
If you were a board game what game would you be?
Probably Scrabble. It takes some time for me to make the words make sense.
Do you like barbecue sauce? Do you have a favorite brand? A favorite barbecue dish?
I LOVE BBQ. My favorite sauce is probably KC Masterpiece original. I tend to like the Memphis/KC style sauce: tomato based, brown sugar or molasses, maybe a little heat. And, like Memphis, I tend to dig the pig. Brisket’s good, and chicken is ok, but usually I want ribs, or, even better, pulled pork. Yum!
Mitch Mitchell was the drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. I first got into “The Experience” when I was in high school. And because I really started playing the drum set in earnest about the same time, he became one of my big influences. Notably, Mitch combined both rock and jazz drum styles into one. He, along with Ginger Baker, really set the benchmarks for drummers in the late ’60s/early ’70s. Keith Moon (The Who) had lots of bombast, but not much finesse. Ringo and Charlie Watts (The Stones) has taste, and the ability to play the “exactly right” part for the song, but weren’t great technicians. Mitch had it all. “The Experience” was a trio. When you play drums in a trio, you have the room to play more without getting in the way. And Mitch could fill up the space, but do so with finesse, taste, chops, and great sounding drums.
Check out the drum solo in this cut, about 3:30 in. Check out that snare roll with the tom accents. Right out of Jazz. Dig the cymbal crashes within the rolls; if you know what Max Roach’s drumming sounds like, and I played just that little bit for you, you couldn’t tell the two players apart. Heck, I even remember where I was when I first heard that solo! I was in the parking lot of Pen Bay Hospital for some reason, listening to the new CD I had just received. To that point, I had never heard any of the live BBC stuff. That solo came on and I was floored! No one, I mean no pop drummer of that day, had ever played a solo like that. At least, none that I had heard. Even today, I haven’t heard many solos from that era that rival it.
Rest in peace, Mitch. Know that your influence still resides in the hearts and hands of drummers all over the world.