9:37 AM
Woke up to more computer problems. I'm locking up on start up every so often and I'm afraid that the motherboard is going now. We'll ride this thing out and put up with it for now. It's still under warranty.

Flipped on Encore True stories to find "1776" on. For years and years I've had it preached to me by every oldster on the planet how good this movie was. How funny, how dramatic, how just out there that this movie was.

For years I sat there thinking "1776, Congressional Congress ... I don't think so."

Well, I was wrong and I was wrong in a big way.

I must have come in half way through the movie (which is long but great so far), but I quickly picked up the quips and the characters and was able to follow along with the subtle, yet over the top, humor.

Favorite scene so far had the delegate from New York abstaining from every vote. When the president of the congress finally put his foot down and asked why he was abstaining so much he replied that he was never given anything from his state legislature. When the other states asked how could this be he replied simply with (thanks to imdb.com):

Lewis Morris: Have you ever been to a meeting of the New York Legislature? Everyone speaks very loud, and very fast, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done. I beg the Congress's pardon.

Oh dear god, how that rings so true to this day!

Second most favorite part. John Adams forces Thomas Jefferson to write the declaration of independence, but Jefferson hasn't seen his wife in six months and has patriotic needs of his own. After a week of seclusion Jefferson has nothing worthwhile on paper so Adams sends for Jefferson's wife stating that once his needs are met, all of our needs will be met ...

This movie is great so far. It was just released on DVD with an hour of restored footage. There's a legend of how President Nixon saw the stage production of the musical, didn't like how the conservatives came off as the bad guys and "suggested" cuts to the film before it was released. Previous releases have restored a lot of the footage but this latest release restores it to the original cut.

It's a shame that that was done to this movie so if you can get a copy make sure you get the most recent version. It's longer and by no means are you going to catch all the lines in one sitting but if you're bored and in a mood for the subtly zany on such a patriotic day -- go to blockbuster and get you copy.

With that, happy 4th and I'm so out of here.

k9

8:34 PM
Sadly, 1776 is not out on DVD yet. If I get a release date I'll share it here. Though I'll share a line or two before moving on (thanks to IMDB.com):

Ben Franklin: Treason is a charge used by winners as an excuse for hanging the losers.
John Adams: I have better things to do than stand here listening to you quote yourself.
Ben Franklin: Aw, that was a new one.

John Dickinson: Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Lee, Mr. Hopkins, Dr. Franklin, why have you joined this... incendiary little man, this BOSTON radical? This demagouge, this MADMAN?
John Adams: Are you calling me a madman, you, you... you FRIBBLE!
Ben Franklin: Easy John.
John Adams: You cool, cosiderate men. You hang to the rear on every issue so that if we should go under, you'll still remain afloat!
John Dickinson: Are you calling me a coward?
John Adams: Yes... coward!
John Dickinson: Madman!
John Adams: Landlord!
John Dickinson: LAWYER!

Spent the day, well, not doing much. Raided the $9.99 videos at wal-mart to stock up before they do away with them again. Also bought "Driver" for PC since it was $9 as well. It is so much a Robyn H. game. I have this feeling she's out there somewhere and driving much like the video game. H. is for "Huggie Bear" after all.

Our AOL group is up to possibly 7 or 8 people now. We have a lot of great stuff going up in the galleries -- from Scott Herriott to weird TechTV pictures to Evil Jim's little sister's collection of angels and crosses -- we're working on a pretty diverse library of pictures to share from readers here. To get involved, just e-mail me and I'll send you an invite (not to sound like a broken record). All you need is an AIM, AOL or Compuserve name. Just like the current status of TechTV chat.

Working on the next three strips to end our season so stay tuned ...

k9

• < Prev
• Next >