The best day of the year

As I mentioned in this earlier post (which can be found here), as this year draws to a close, I like to look back at the past 12 months and pick out my best day of the year.

For 2010, my best day was a hectic one, but it had all the elements of a great day.   

It started early and ended late. I got to spend time with several different groups of people in several different locations. And, when it ended, I felt sad that it was over, but glad that it happened.

This year, my best day of the year was spent in St. Louis, MO, my hometown, which I happened to be visiting.

It was Friday, July 23rd.

In the morning I went to a video shoot with some former co-workers. It was great to see them all and be included in the event.

Then I spent some time with a close friend and mentor discussing the past and ruminating about the future.

After that, in mid-afternoon, I headed to my brother's house for a pool/birthday party for my Dad. It was my Dad's 79th birthday.

Two of my siblings and several of my nieces and nephews were there and we swam and ate until late in the evening.

It was quite a fun day. Every minute of it was great.

So, now as 2011 begins I can only hope that I have at least one day that was as good as July 23, 2010.

But truthfully, I hope that it's more than one day. I hope that at year's end I'll have a hard time deciding which day was my best day of 2011.

I hope you face the same dilemma as well.

If you like "A Christmas Story", you'll love this

While you enjoy the 24 hour marathon of the classic holiday film, "A Christmas Story", here a few fun facts for you.

You may or may not know this, but when this movie was released in  theaters, it was not a hit. In fact, it bombed. It only became a hit after it was released on video. It was one of the first movies to have more success in the video format than during it's original release.

The writer of the film is a man named Jean Shepherd. It's based on his book, "In God We Trust, All Other Pay Cash". The film is semi-autobiographical about Shepherd's life going up in Hammond, Indiana.

When it came time to cast the voice talent to do the narration for the film, producers screened hundreds of actors. In the meantime, Shepherd had cut a 'scratch' track for the film. Scratch tracks are used for editing and are usually replaced in the final project with a professional voice actor.

Upon further examination of the scratch track, the producers decided that their search was futile. Who could read it better than the man who lived it?

So Jean Shepherd became not only the writer of one of the most famous Christmas movies of all time, but the narrator as well.

And his work in this area is outstanding. Especially when he reads the description of such things as the Bumpus hounds and the leg lamp.

If the producers had chosen another narrator, it's a sure bet that that person wouldn't have provided the amazing narrative that Shepherd seems to effortlessly infuse into the film.

The film itself has also spawned a cult following that led to an overwhelming market for memorabilia.

In 2004, an entrepreneur bought the Cleveland, Ohio, home that was used in the film. After extensive renovations, the Christmas Story House and Museum opened to the public in 2006.

The site is open year round and features behind-the-scenes photos as well as a gift shop where you can pick up your own 'Major Award'.

One of the coolest things about the Christmas Story House and Museum is that every year there is an auction for the privilege of spending Christmas in the house! All of the money from the auction goes to charity.

For more on the Christmas Story House and Museum, click here.

The final interesting thing that I want to talk about in this post is for true film fans.

It's about the director of the film, a man named Bob Clark.

Clark had an interesting career prior to directing "A Christmas Story".

He started in the horror genre with "Black Christmas" and "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things"

Then he segued to teen comedy, directing both "Porky's" and "Porky's II: the Next Day".

It was because of the success of "Porky's" that he was able to helm "A Christmas Story" and much like Shepherd's involvement, many feel that this movie would not have been the success it is without the guidance of Bob Clark.

Recently, I saw an excellent documentary about Bob Clark entitled "ClarkWorld".   

It's slightly over an hour long and features interviews with Peter Billingsley, Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Kim Cattrall, Jon Voight, Scott Baio, Mary Steenburgen and film critic Richard Roeper.

It's a fine tribute to a man who made the films he wanted to make and had a career every director would envy.  

Sadly, Clark died far too young in a senseless accident. It's a shame that we'll never get to know what other films he would have shaped for his fans.

To find out more about "ClarkWorld", click here.

                             

So kick back and enjoy "A Christmas Story" this holiday season. It's a true classic worth repeated viewing.

Year end observations

Right now, I'm thinking about two things as we approach the end of the year.

Every year around this time, I try to think about my best day of the past year.       

What makes a day 'The best day'? Well, that's all up to you.

For me it's a combination of things.

On the day I consider my best day, I was doing things I like to do with people I want to be with. It as a stress-free day that ended too quickly.

I don't have my specific 'best day' yet, but I have it narrowed down and will post it by the end of the year.

The other thing that I'm working on as the year draws to a close is my motto for 2011.

I have a motto every year. It's a personal motto and I give myself until January 31st to 'lock it in'.

Some of my recent motto's have been as follows. "Roll with the changes" was my 2009 motto. I chose this after I found out on January 8th of that year that my company was closing up shop in Los Angeles and moving out of town. 

One year, when I knew it was going to be a tough year, I used the motto "I will not be broken". I called upon this motto often that year, many times through gritted teeth. 

My 2010 motto has been "Keep moving forward". This motto helped me to tackle projects by reminding myself that I needed to do so to reach for my goals.

I don't know what my 2011 motto will be and I'm open to suggestions. I have a few ideas but, again, I have a time little to lock it in.

So in the next few weeks, my year ends with the memory of my best day of 2010 and (hopefully) the discovery of a positive motto for 2011.

Those crazy Golden Globe nominations

The Golden Globe nominations were announced this week with their usual amount of fanfare. 

Actually, I should say their 'unusual' amount of fanfare as I still don't understand why people go nuts over these announcements.

Let's take a look at this.

Everyone says, "Oh this awards ceremony is the precursor to the Oscars."

And why is that exactly?

The Golden Globes are a product of the tiny group known as the Hollywood Foreign Press Avocation.

There are about 95 - 100 members.

A hundred people.

I'll bet you have more than a hundred friends on your personal Facebook page.

So these hundred people pick their nominees and then a winner.

Usually there are five nominees in each category so by my calculations to win you only need slightly more than 20 votes.

20 people. That's it.

Something about that doesn't seem right.

Just as those lavish gift suites at the awards don't seem quite right.

Am I jealous or jaded? I don't think so. It's just that it's pretty hard to watch people who already have so much be given so much more when there are plenty of people who are hungry and can't pay their bills.

Will I watch the awards? I don't know. It depends on if I have something more interesting to do that night.

I might watch just to see host Ricky Gervais cut the event, and the HFPA, down to size as he did last year.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Right now anyway.

What would you do?

There's a great show on ABC on Friday nights called "What Would You Do?"    

On this show, they set up situations in public to see what people do.

For example, on one episode, they set up a woman and a little boy in a bar. Acting as mother and son, the woman drinks excessively and the little boy is clearly upset. He keeps asking his 'mom' to stop and take him to soccer practice. In almost every set up of the incident, someone stepped in in various ways. One woman waited until the mom went to the bathroom and then helped the boy call his 'father'. Some patrons told the manager about the situation, while others call 9-1-1.

I like watching this show and am fascinated by the people who step in, and by those who don't.

After each set-up, host John Quinones steps in to talk to the people who reacted to the scene.

Sometimes the things people say are quite amazing.

Recently on an episode, a young Jewish couple came into a bakery and asked a man working in the bakery to hang up a sign about an event at their nearby Temple. Again, the couple and the man were actors. The bakery worker refused to hang up the sign and berated Jewish couple.

Many customers simply left the bakery saying they wouldn't do business there. Some chastised the bakery worker very loudly. But, one man, a gentleman with silver hair and a New York accent, actually agreed with the bakery worker. His reasoning was that the couple was pushing their beliefs on someone else. He said he held no ill will toward the couple, by he was tired of pushy people and that he feels that Jewish people are pushy. He did agree that the clerk said some nasty things, but he very clearly had some anti-semetic views of his own.

Clearly, the purpose of this show is to make you ask what you would do in certain situations.

While we're not faced with many of the situations that they set up on the show, I'm convinced that everyone has had many "What Would You Do?" moments.

I can think a few right now.

The first happened a few years ago. After a meeting with my writer's group, a producer asked me to gather samples from each writer to submit for possible future assignments. I gathered all of the samples from the writers and got them ready to deliver to the producer. I checked mine again and again to make sure it had everything. I'm not sure how, but I noticed that one writer had, I'm sure, inadvertently left off the last page of his sample. I was due to deliver the material the next morning. I called and left a message for the writer and said that I was making the delivery in the morning. He never called back. I dropped off the samples as they were.

But, when I mentioned this to another friend of mine, he said I shouldn't have called the guy. He said that it was his responsibility to deliver a finished product and that his carelessness just showed why he shouldn't get the job. Then my friend said something else that was interesting.

"Aren't you in competition with this other writer? I mean the producer is looking for one writer. You could have not delivered any of the other samples and then you would have gotten the job."

He was right. I was in competition with all of the writers.

But by then it was all done. I had done what I thought was right. And, truth be told, I really don't think I would have done anything differently even if I had thought about the competition part. That's just not in my nature. Everyone in my writing group is a good writer and deserves to work. And, the hope is that if we all help each other, we will all work.

In the end, the producer didn't hire any of the writers from my group. The last I heard, she wasn't producing anything anymore.

My second dilemma happened a few months ago.

I was walking into my building at about 8:30pm and a woman was walking out. I had never seen her before. She made some comment and I responded. It was obvious that she was either drunk or high.

As she was leaving my building rather than entering, chances were high that she was going to be driving somewhere.

I could feel my pulse race, not really knowing what to do.

For a moment,  I turned away and thought, "not my problem".

But... it was my problem.

I didn't say anything, but I kind of covertly followed her out of the building. I watched to see if she got in a car. She didn't. She walked toward the main street a block away.  Should I keep  following her to make sure she doesn't get hit by a car, I wondered. But once I saw her turn onto that street without getting into a car, I felt like I'd done my duty and she was on her own. She wasn't so drunk that she couldn't walk. Did I do enough?

What about someone who may or may not be in need? Often when I'm out running I see things.

I saw a young woman sitting on a curb wailing into a cell phone. I couldn't understand what she was saying but she was crying as hard as I've seen anyone cry. I didn't stop. I reasoned that she was talking to someone so they knew what was going on. Near the end of my run, I circled around to see if she was still there. She wasn't.

Another time, I saw what appeared to be a very young girl with a baby waiting at a bus stop in very hot weather. She flagged me down and asked me how far away a street was and how long I thought it would take on the bus. She had no car seat and was just holding the baby in her arms. I wanted to tell her to stay put and I would get my car and drive her, but I was pretty far away from home at that point. I thought about waiting with her but I didn't. I kept hoping the bus would get there. I even changed my route a little to see if the bus went by. Finally, I had to turn to head home and the bus had not come yet. I thought about that girl and that baby for quite awhile.

The one that I think about a lot is the old man. I was running and an elderly man carrying a small cooler crossed about a half a block in front of me to reach the front doors of a church. He pulled on the doors and they didn't open. He seemed very upset, making wimpering noises. He rattled and rattled those doors. He clearly didnt know what to do. I didn't know what to do. I ran past him. I got about half a block away and couldn't take it. I turned around. He was gone. Had the church doors opened for him? Nope. I checked and they were still locked. I don't know where he went, but to this day, and this was over fifteen years ago, I still think about that man and wonder what was wrong with me that I didn't immediately do something.

I like to think that I would always jump in to help someone but maybe I wouldn't. I clearly didn't there. I don't know how I feel about this but it obvious that this incident still bothers me. Has it changed me? I can honestly say that I don't know.

Now to leave you with a little less dramatic "What Would You Do?" situation, here's a good one.

The other day I was driving into the parking lot of the grocery store and there was a little boy, I'd say about seven or eight years old. He was peeing on the wall of the grocery store, and get this, a woman was standing as look out for him. An elderly woman.

I shook my head in disbelief. I was making up my mind to say something when, as I got out of my car, I saw another woman step up. Of course I totally listened in. The elderly woman explained that her grandson just had to go, he couldn't wait. The woman told the grandmother that this was just unacceptable, that the boy needed to be taught to use the bathroom and not urinate in public. The grandmother was adament that she'd done nothing wrong. The boy started to cry. The woman consoled the boy but continued to disagree with the grandmother. It never got heated but the women were clearly at an impass. A man who, like me, had obviously been listening in, stepped up and pulled the boy aside. He talked with the boy and this seemed to help the boy. The grandmother and the woman  basically agreed to disagree, but the grandmother did say she would think about what the woman had said and was sorry that she upset people, especially her grandson.

Truthfully, I was glad that I didn't have to get involved. And I was glad to see that other people did step up to 'counsel' someone on proper behavior in public.

The "What Would You Do?" dilemmas are endless really. I'm sure I'll write more some of them in the future.

I am curious about your experiences in this area. Please share if you like. My readers and I would totally appreciate it.

"What Would You Do?" airs on ABC on Friday nights at 9/8c.

Big surprises at Costco

Last year, I joined the ranks of Costco cardholders. I got in through a special deal. I'd been toying with the idea of joining but wasn't sure if it would really be worth it for me. I don't buy many things in bulk as I just don't have room for 48 rolls of toilet paper and things like that.

Having said that, I'm now a Costco fan. I've found a lot of things there that are totally worth the money.

But, I am one of the few people who goes into Costco to buy one thing and actually gets in line with that one thing.

And I am almost always behind someone with a cart stuffed with items. I stand there patiently with my one item and yes, occasionally there are kind people that let me go ahead of them, but usually I just have to wait out the lady buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff.

So, one day, out of curiosity I went to the customer service desk and asked why they did not have an express lane at the store. (And I've been to at least three Costcos in California).

The rep was very nice. She said that at many of their new stores they now have self-checkout lanes, but there was no plan to put them in the older stores.

Then she explained why. She said, simply, if you have to wait in line it's likely that you'll buy more.

And truthfully that makes sense. It is hard to buy one thing at Costco. You have to have a lot of willpower to just get the one thing you went in for.
 As if we didn't know it already, there really is a science to everything in the retail world.

And one other thing about Costco that I've noticed -- the shoppers are very friendly! Three times in the last month, I've been looking at an item and a random shopper has stopped to talk to me about it. Twice it was a woman and once it was a man. Each time, the person spent at least five minutes telling me how much they liked the item.

I like shopping in a place were people are friendly!

Now just for a little bit of fun, here's something I recently saw at Costco.

And just so you know, in the interest of safety first, I checked make sure that this container couldn't close and lock accidentally on the boy before I took the picture.

You have to commend him on his creativity. I saw him surprise more than a few people. Almost everyone that saw him laughed. One guy went and got his wife and got the kid to scare his wife. Then the three of them dissolved into laughter at the whole thing.

Just another reason to always have a camera or camera phone handy. You never know what you're going to see!

So I'll keep going to Costco. I may not buy as much as other people, but it seems to always be an interesting place to shop.