funny movies

There are not many good comedies on at the movies. There just aren't that many good comedies these days. The last few I went to - were simply not funny. Gina and I went to see Epic Movie and walked out within the first twenty minutes. Hollywood these days thinks that offensive = funny. Not so Hollywood. I remember going to see Mel Brooks and Peter Seller movies in the seventies and LMAO. Then came Saturday Night Live crew that brought us a steady flow of funny through much of the eighties...movies like Stripes, National Lampoon's Animal House, and Trading Places. I used to go to comedies all the time but now I wait till they come on television. Nothing worse than paying full ticket price for comedy and not get a laugh. Yo Hollywood - A COMEDY IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY!!!!" I've comprised a list of movies that I that I think are pretty darn funny. I've listed some old classics that come to mind...I know I left some old gems out. Feel free to comment on them or add your own.

Young Frankenstien

Monty Python's The Holy Grail

Monty Python's Meaning Of Life

Duck Soup

Horsefeathers

A Night At The Opera

A Day At The Races

It Happened One Night

Blazing Saddles

Harold & Maude

The Pink Panther

The Three Amigos

The Big Lebowski

Blues Brothers

Shrek 1

Shrek 2

Uncle Buck

Plains, Trains, and Automobiles

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Big Lebowski

Blazing Saddles

Airplane!

King Pin

National Lampoon's Vacation

The Jerk

The Lonely Guy

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

The Fuller Brush Man

Dr. Strangelove

Wilder Napalm

Napoleon Dynamite

Raising Arizona

A Mighty Wind

These movies are not in any kind of order, favorite or least. I must admit though that Young Frankenstien is at the top for a reason.

yes...again

i'm back at the vine tonight

and i will be back tomorrow night as well

with guitar

originals and covers

saturday i will be playing with shane sanford and friends

a drummer

a pastor

a real sweet heart

drop by if you get the chance

i hope you enjoy these moments

as much as i do

an explanation

To be fair to the school, faculty/ teachers, are working with us, trying to help. Katie's math tutor (her fifth grade teacher) has been helping her understand the concepts and is even in contact with Katie's math teacher. There are things we can do and are doing. Gina has had helpful conversations with the principal and the assistant principal. Katie is now bringing home an agenda book that all concerned are making entries. We are monitoring what she is studying and trying to brush up on weak areas at home.

The text of the previous post is that of a father's heart - still dealing in ways with my own childhood experiences. Ever since Katie started grammar school, I have had to bite my tongue - hide my past so as to not taint her present. I told Katie today that there is nothing wrong with her, just like Brook told me back when I was in tenth grade and ready to drop it all. I spent a little time this afternoon building her up, expose the lie being whispered into that precious head of hers. Sixth grade has been a hard year for her. She's having to study for hours after school - if she doesn't - she'll fall behind. Sometimes she studies till bedtime. A lot of it is life - life IS hard and we have to do what has to be done in order to stay afloat. I'd like for her to have more play time but if this is what it takes to keep up - we've got to help her do so. I sure wish the world would let my kid be a kid a little longer.

I know my Katie - she is just as smart as she is sweet...she's just outside of the mold like her dad.

familiar passage

tonight i heard my daughter

sob and say

i wish i were small again

life was wonderful

now everything is hard

one day things were easy

and now everything is scary

i heard sobs from her bedroom last night too

i overheard her confide to her mother

she said something that sounded too familiar

that echoed from the memory of my very childhood

she asked

"what is wrong with me"

i stood in the hallway

and cringed

the devil is a liar

and he uses public schools

to whisper his lies

into small ears

if a child can't fit the mold

understand the curriculum

keep up with it's pace

one gets lost

the school bus doesn't slow down for every child

the school bus doesn't always stop

i remember my little hell

being lost and categorized

somewhat hopeless

somewhere back there

when something broke inside me

how many times have i prayed

over my little ones

that they never have to go through

what i did

that little hell

that little daily hell

i laid hands on her tonight

prayed over her fears

chase away her tears

that seem to come each night these days

she goes to school to learn to read and write

and comes back beaten down

mother and i will do everything we can to help her

pray over her

study with her

get her tutored

stand up for her

but at this moment

as midnight nears

my heart breaks for her

my heart cries out to God for her

i don't want her to go

where i went

to be broken to a point

that it takes decades to be fixed

God be with my little ones

as time goes by

Gina ran across her old photo album earlier during the week. The book is filled with old photos and keepsakes from our courtship. I look at these two people and remember those days, that special young woman, that love we began to share. As much as I loved Gina back then, I love her even more now. I have no doubt that God brought our lives together, there is no other that loves me like Gina and there is no other that I could love like her. So much time has passed since we first held hands - since I first told her that I loved her and rejoiced when she said she loved me too. Over twenty years have passed since and our love has not faded, no, it has grown and deepened. I know that this love will grow and deepen even more as time goes by. This love will carry on beyond death itself. Thank you God for my beloved Gina.

unknown trombone

Back during December I made many a post of my father's orchestra H. Westbrook Orchestra. There are photos in dad's scrapbook that he did not identify. One of dad's old horn player's John "Jack" Blount posted a message in my Skylight guestbook that I posted not long ago. He had apparently run across my posts and took the time to reminisce. I am going to pull an unlabeled photo from dad's scrapbook (from time to time) for those who might one day stumble across my humble blog and either see themselves or recognize someone...who knows.
Dad's little booking ledger lists the Ausable Chasm. I found this image of the hotel there and it might be the very place that dad ventured to and that I posted about back in December. Do you remember my telling of dad traveling up to the New York (while his band members were taking a break from touring) and fronted the resort's musicians?

There's a bit of good news. My mother came to the office last week and brought a cassette tape of the H. Westbrook Orchestra. I never recalled the music ever being transferred from the old album made years ago. Dad once told me that the recording wasn't his best because he had better ensembles. As I mentioned earlier, orchestra members were always changing and dad said that the last ensemble that he had was the best he'd ever had. I am going to try to post a sample of the music as soon as possible. I didn't hear any of it. I didn't want to stress the tape anymore than I have to. Jose' dropped by that day and took it with him. He is going to try to burn the contents onto CD. I don't know what the quality will be like and hope that the old tape will hold up for the one playing it will take to make the CD. We'll see. Below is a picture of dad (Henry Westbrook Finlayson, Sr) in mid-croon.

dead man walking

i purchased a used Maytag dryer yesterday from Cooper A-1
nice folk
good deal
i plugged it in when i got home and commenced washing clothes
i had a ton to wash
wash wash wash
the dryer works like a charm
better than the previous
we didn't have anything clean
house full of girls
i washed and folded until two in the morning
from seven to two
i was so tired
but i had to keep washing
because i didn't know when i was going to find time later in the week
i fell asleep on the couch
gina woke me up at five fifteen
i didn't know she was going to get me up at five fifteen
no warning
the volkswagon is still broke
didn't know it until this morning

i drove it home last night

it didn't want to wake up either

we had to wake the little ones

all get down town by six in the one running vehicle
i am so tired today
so so so verrrrry tirrrrred
the bed seems so very far from this moment in time

i want to sleep

and dream of sleeping

The Outlaw

This is one of my favorites of Larry Norman.

ATTEN-HUTT

Our Robert Brooks just got promoted to Corporal.

We now have to salute that goof.

God bless you Corporal Brooks.

Photos taken during Robert's recent tour in Iraq.

end of the weekend

I did the StoryTellers thing at Vineyard Friday night. Debbie originally wanted me to play with Brook and Dan but things just didn't pan out. I ended up on stage alone that night. It was a very small audience and most of the faces were new to me. I had a very nice time never the less. I got to sing oodles of songs and talk about them, answer questions and cut up. It was a very pleasant night. I enjoyed the evening, the intimacy.

The family didn't leave the house Saturday. We crashed most of the weekend. Gina has been getting up earlier in the morning so she can see a patient very early in the morning this past week. My mother has been kind enough to let us borrow her car on and off during the week while our vintage VW is getting worked on. The mechanic has had the car for a week. Maybe he can get it going sometime this week.

Brook, Liz and I led worship this morning. We were the only worship team members. Brook had been sick during the previous week but God gave him grace today. Both of our persistent coughs faded by the time worship rolled around. I had it on my heart to interject a Larry Norman song during worship today...right after singing the lines from Third Day's You Are Beautiful My Sweet Sweet Song - I went into Sweet Sweet Song of Salvation.

I usually spend Sunday afternoons washing and folding clothes but not today. My dryer broke down late Saturday evening. I've got a huge pile of clothes and hope that I've got enough clothes for the next couple of days. I also think my water heater is dying. It's making terrible noises that you can hear through out the house (bangs and pops). I am afraid I'll be having to replace it soon too. It's still heating water, so far so good. I've got a lot of machines down for the count these days.

Next week I'll be singing at the Coffee Vine Cafe' again. Those weekends are always the highlight of my months. I love the people there and jam sessions. Gina and the girls look forward to going too! I'll order me a cherry Pepsi and one of Brandon's great sammiches and sing sing sing. I am going to be joined Saturday night by musicians from Mercy Hill. I can't wait to get this coming week behind me.