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Anyone who truly knows me knows that ‘Big Trouble In Little China‘ is my favourite movie of all time. My first taste of the John Carpenter-helmed classic was way back when it was released in 1986; I was age 5 on the verge of turning 6. It was love at first sight and Kurt Russell’s all-American truck driver, Jack Burton, became my instant hero. I’ve gone through two copies of the movie on VHS and I’m currently on my second copy of the DVD. I’ve seen the movie well over 200 times and can easily quote the movie in its entirety - probably backwards too.

A few years ago I came across an extensive fansite called The Wing Kong Exchange. Basically, it blows my mind. The site’s author, Josh Horowitz, created a series of clips remaking the movie but with South Park characters. Unfortunately, it appears as though he stopped at his third installment, but here are the ones created and finished. Visit the site to e-mail Josh and kick his butt (politely!) into finishing off this fantastic series he’s started.

It’s just too bad he couldn’t write Butters into the script.

Just a few hours ago I finally plugged back into the “real world.” The idea terrified me. I wouldn’t have turned my cell phone back on had I not needed its alarm function to wake up for work in the morning. Surprisingly enough, unplugging and avoiding all contact with the outside world for 48 hours was far easier than I imagined. I spent the weekend breathing.

Charley has finally learned how to jump up onto my high bed, so she spent much of the last two mornings licking my face at half-hour intervals until I finally got myself up. Yesterday I ate nothing but food that was awful for me all the while watching movies that were good for me. I plunked myself in front of the TV for no less than ‘The Nanny Diaries,’ ‘Georgia Rule,’ and ‘Rest Stop.’ I slept lots, ate lots, cuddled with Charley lots, spend a lot of time with my mom and aunt and spent time thinking about myself. Maybe it sounds selfish, but it’s essential. I have a lot of thoughts swimming through my head right now, none of them restful. Here’s hoping that I’ll be able to articulate some of them on here in the next few days.

I’m unhappy but I’m not. It isn’t the “January Blues” or SAD. Truth be told, I can’t pinpoint it, but I’ve known for sometime now that I need to love myself more by eliminating the things that rob my life of joy. Either way, I’m heading home to the Island for the weekend and unplugging the computer while turning off my cell phone for 48 hours.

In the meantime, I’ve discovered, there are some things that I can do to increase my joy. One of those things being that I can re-discover the things that brought me a lot of happiness in my younger days. For as long as I can remember, since my age was most definitely in the single digits, I’ve held a personal affinity to U2. I’m not talking about U2 now, but everything prior to 1988 was formative to my childhood years. To this day, ‘The Unforgettable Fire‘ is still my favourite album of all time with the track ‘Bad‘ being the one song I love more than any other song ever written. In fact, were someone to tell me that I could only ever listen to one song for the rest of my life, I would choose ‘Bad’ without any hesitation.

That being said, last night I popped in a DVD that I’d bought a few months ago but had yet to watch: ‘Rattle and Hum.’ I rented this movie incessantly during my junior high years. Now 20 years old, ‘Rattle and Hum’ follows the band through middle America, primarily through stylized black and white concert footage. I’ve never been much of one to enjoy watching concert footage on the screen, but this film is nothing short of pure comfort to me when I seem to most need it.

Below I’ve included the live clip of ‘Bad’ from the movie, along with a few other songs below if you’re interested.

‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For‘

‘Running To Stand Still‘

‘Heartland‘

‘Silver and Gold‘ (this includes an amazing guitar solo by the Edge around the 6-minute mark)

All this being said, and considering that I’m unplugging for the weekend, this will be my last post until Sunday evening at the earliest. I won’t be checking phone messages, Facebook, e-mail or comment moderation until that time. Have a good weekend, everyone.

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I dreamed of you last night. You stood there on the other side of the gate; your sandy hair unkempt as I like it, your smile just as warm as I remember. You took me away and I forgot about everything that was on my side of the gate.

The best Friday nights are the Friday nights that are entirely unplanned and completely spontaneous. After a quick week at work, I met up with Duane, Becky, Kasia and Trevor at Wings on Granville Street, followed by adventures at the Commodore Lanes and Movieland Arcade. Becky did a much more thorough job on filling the readers in on what we did - and she’s got pictures too! Head on over to her blog for your viewing pleasure.

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Tonight all the cool kids will be celebrating Becky’s birthday with Mexican cuisine on Denman Street, though I have to depart early due to my hot date with Michael Bublé. I’m terribly excited about 2008 because I have so much to look forward to with my new friend. In only a few short weeks, we’re hitting up Mount Washington for a couple days of riding, so look for us on the slopes!

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Being that the Sex and the City movie is merely months away, and Santa brought me the last three parts to make my DVD set complete, I have spent the last two weeks recapping what is one of my personal favourite shows. I am quite sure it’s something I could never tire of. I know that many people, mainly men, give the show a lot of flack about being too unrealistic or too “girlie” or just plain stupid. While I won’t argue that a lot of it is fantasty (how can a girl who writes a weekly column live in a stellar $750 Manhattan apartment and own $40,000 worth of Manolo Blahniks?), but the root of the show transcends the glittery frosting.

At the core of the fab four is the central theme of love and relationships: the love we have for others and the love that we have for ourselves. And as women, many of the ideals and examinations this show produces speaks as something entirely relevant.

Photo: The Derrty Truth

However, with the show having come to a close only to be re-invented in silver screen form, I have a few questions…

And for the record, any man who is willing to watch this show either for the sake or his woman or in the name of knowing a little bit more about the fairer sex, you have my full applause…

A little over two weeks ago, as we sat on the ferry bound for the Island, Amy asked me “want to go and see ‘Juno’ when we’re back in the city?” My instant reply was yes; partially because I had heard it was a great movie, and partially because I knew that Michael Cera was in it, and he’s too cute for his own good.

We were both excited to learn, upon returning to Vancouver, that it was showing at Fifth Avenue Cinemas. Friday seemed to be the day that worked best for both of us, so after a quick trip to Westbeach to scope out boards, we made our way a block up Burrard and handed over our pre-purchased tickets.

The only thing I knew about ‘Juno’ was that it was premised on a teenage girl who had big decisions to make after getting knocked up. What I was delighted to find out was that it was smartly written, funny, intelligent and warm with a lot of soul. There was more than a handful of great performances in this locally-shot film, in particular those by Allison Janney and Ellen Page. I’d hate to spoil any part of the plot for you, so I’ve included the trailer below.

What made me and Amy’s “date” even sweeter was the fact that our tickets only cost us $9 instead of $12. Amy and I both have memberships through Festival Cinemas. For an annual fee of only $12, membership entitles you to discounted tickets at the box office 365 a year, as well as free upgrades on pretty much anything you want at the concession. And the best part? Your membership is valid at Fifth Avenue Cinemas [map], The Park Theatre [map] and The Ridge Theatre [map]. To learn how you can snag your own membership card, click here.

I’ve got three crazy hours ahead of me to wrap things up at work before heading to Pacific Central bus terminal to hop on a Greyhound to the Comox Valley. Translation: no time to write today. So instead, for your listening and viewing pleasure, I present YouTube videos and songs to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Hanson’s Christmas Special

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” - Mariah Carey

“It’s Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” - U2

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” - Band Aid

And just for Amy…

“Last Christmas” - Wham

And in case you’re in need of a reminder of one of the most classic Christmas movies ever…

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation from Warner Home Video

They say that when any movie is done shooting, a large portion of the film ends up on the proverbial cutting room floor. Most times, the tape is swept away and never again seen.

And other times, it’s pieced back together…