Movie Clip Wednesday - Favorite Disney Movie (Non-Animated)

I'm not even going to mention Boxer's situation and her hopeful return to host MCW (doh, I just did). So Milk River Madman continues hosting the Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. This week's theme is FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE (NON-ANIMATED). I looked up all the Disney movies ever made and there are hundreds of them. Sure a lot are animated but there were many I hadn't thought about since I was a kid and use to watch on the Wonderful World of Disney every week. And then there were all of the classics that we would see at the theater or drive in.

Some of the ones I really liked were Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which we saw in the family Rambler at the drive in. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes which was one of the first Curt Russel movies I can remember. This was the first movie to use the word "Computer" in the title.

But I narrowed it down to two all-time favorites. Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a fascinating movie (to me) and I loved the scenes showing the inner workings of the Nautilus. I didn't choose this one because I'm reasonably certain Karl will do this (prove me wrong Karl). So that leaves 1960's Swiss Family Robinson. I love this movie because the ships, sea, tropical island and most of all - the tree house. I think this movie started my infatuation with tree houses. After this movie and when I was in my early teens, my friends and I built our first tree house with trap doors and rigging. In my late teens on my senior class trip to Disney World Orlando, I got to see the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House and I'll bet I spent the better part of an hour in there. This inspired me to build this tree house many years later.

Unfortunately, the only video I could find under 10 minutes long is this scene where the boys fight the anaconda. I really wanted one of the tree house. That's James MacArthur (better known as Danno from Hawaii Five-O) as Fritz Robinson.


I'm hoping we see some of the more obscure Disney films this week at the Madman 's. Who cried when old yeller died?

The Big Anniversary

"A love story that begins in Ocean City and wends its way along the Jersey Shore through Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, Cape May Court House, Wildwood, and romantic Cape May." (Words and music by Bud Nugent, 1960).

The Mrs and I just celebrated 20 years of marital bliss. The last few of which have been a little rough because of our jobs, schedules and the kids. We don't get a lot of alone time whether it be dinners or weekend getaways. And when I say WE I mean ME because apparently, US getting away is entirely up to me. She plans the family vacation and everything else is up to me. I don't do a very good job at this.

The 20th anniversary is the "china" anniversary. So I bought her an antique porcelain pitcher (circa. 1880), a framed print of some lilies and a multi-colored pearl necklace (that will go with everything - right?). It looked something like this:

Then I did the dinner on the deck during the week and planned to go to dinner at a local French Restaurant that weekend. She didn't like anything. She wanted something more special for a milestone anniversary. She reminded me that on our 10th anniversary we went on a cruise. I reminded her that she doesn't like cruises (but it was the best vacation I ever had - drunk the whole time, great food and no kids). So it went back and forth like that for a while.

She then suggested Rat's Restaurant, which is this season's Top Chef winner Kevin Sbraga's restaurant. It's part of a place called Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton NJ (about an hours drive). We've heard a lot about this place but have never been there. We would tour the grounds, have dinner and then do an overnight at a local hotel. I called for reservations and was informed there was a 2 week wait list. Scratch that idea for now - we will revisit this idea in the near future.

Then the Mrs suggested Cape May. Another place we've never been. Cape May is the oldest resort town in the US and is known for it's many Victorian houses and Bed and Breakfasts. With a little bit of web searching, we found a B&B in the historic district with rooms available and 1 block from the ocean. Done deal. And no kids because they were camping this weekend.

We leave Saturday morning and it takes about 1 1/2 hours to get there. It's off-season so traffic is light. In-season, this is probably a 3 hour drive. We have a couple of hours before check in, so we go to the Washington Street Mall for some shopping and end up having an alfresco lunch at the Ugly Mug.

Editor's note: We forgot to bring our camera. The Mrs bought a disposable but I still haven't seen the pictures. All of the photos below were stolen.

The ugly Mug was okay. I had a fried flounder sandwich and the Mrs had a chicken salad sandwich (I think). We wandered through many stores after.

We finally checked in to Beauclaire's Bed and Breakfast Inn on Ocean Street. This place was way better than we expected as you can see from the accompanying pictures. The house is over 120 years old and was built after the big fire of 1878. The owner's, Joe and Joanne (yeah, I know) have owned the place for 7 years and were very hospitable innkeepers.

This is the main living room and the fire place is pretty impressive.
We had our Sunday breakfast here in the dining room with formal place settings. Joanne served a fresh fruit plate with yogurt followed by a french toast casserole with sausage. It was quite good.

Our room was on the 2nd floor and you had to take these impressive stairs to get there.

When we arrived, Joanne said we would be staying in Nan and Opa's Room (Room 2). I asked if Nan and Opa would mind and she thought that was funny as hell. I'm so quick-witted. The room was very nice but the adjoining bathroom was pretty tight.

After we checked in and the Mrs had a quick nap, we donned our swimming attire and walked to the beach. It was a nice day although a little breezy and no crowds. We saw a pod of dolphins (maybe 30 or 40) about 100 yards out, which was pretty cool. We went back to the room, cleaned up and got ready to go to dinner.

Now, I will take credit for the restaurant. I did some research and found The Washington Inn to be one of the best restaurants in Cape May. And it's a good thing we made reservations or we would never have gotten in - and this was off-season. They even called me to confirm our reservation, so I know they were looking for tables.

The Inn was built in 1840 and has been beautifully renovated. When we arrived for our 7:30 reservation, we were seated almost immediately. Our server, Barbara, ran down all of the specials and some of the wines on a very extensive wine list. They serve "flights" of wines, which are 3 different 2 oz. glasses paired together by their sommelier. The Mrs had some Cabernets, one of which she liked so much we wrote it down - and I haven't seen it since. I just had water because I'm still not feeling all that well from the pneumonia.

We started with appetizers. The Mrs had the Washington Inn Crab Cake. Now, about the only seafood she'll eat is crab cake and shrimp, so she's kind of a connoisseur of crab cake. She declared this to be the best crab cake she ever had. I found this picture of the dish on The V.I.P. Table blog and this gentleman agrees.

I couldn't decide between the signature Lobster Bisque or the soup du jour Butternut Squash, so our resourceful server gave me a cup of each (not something they normally do). The bisque was good but the Butternut Squash was outstanding. Even the Mrs (who hates all things squash or pumpkin related) liked it.

For her entree, the Mrs ordered a Duck Breast with Cherry Jus (menu item). She said it was good but not the best duck she's ever had (oh, she's a connoisseur of duck too). It was served with polenta which she's not keen on. I had the Branzino special. It was served whole and stuffed with butter, dill, onion and lemon with roasted fennel and tomato, fingerling potatoes and green beans. This was one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. I never had branzino before (but I remembered it from an Iron Chef challenge) and it was fantastic. For dessert, the Mrs had an Apple Napoleon and I had a Raspberry Cheese Cake, both of which were excellent. The cheese cake reminded me of the fluffy cheese cake that my mother use to make. Different from the traditionally more dense New York style cheese cake.

Overall an outstanding meal, great (but a little slow) service and an overall great dining experience.

After dinner, I arranged for a horse drawn carriage ride through the historic district. This was really nice and gave us a real good idea of just how many restored houses and buildings there are here; several hundred I would guess. Our driver, Marlene, gave us a detailed history of the town and certain houses as we passed. She had only been in Cape May since the summer, so the tour hadn't gotten to stale for her.

We headed back to the Beauclaire and got out some champagne with cherry liqueur (the Mrs brought it from home) and sat on the front porch swing and watched the carriages go by. A very nice night. So much so that the Mrs wants this to be our anniversary tradition every year...crap.

We left in the morning after breakfast because the kids were coming back from camp and we had a load of stuff to do. But it was a nice get away and I think I was able to redeem myself - a little anyway.

Late Edition Pictures: The Mrs did get the pictures developed but I'm too lazy to go back and insert them into a seemingly endless story that took less than 24 hours in real time. Here are some of the around town sites.

Here's the Mrs checking out Beauclaire's Bed and Breakfast Inn.

Believe it or not, I'm looking at a pod of dolphins. I'm telling you they're out there.

The Mrs lounging in the sun as she frequently does.
Good bye from Cape May.

Movie Clip Wednesday - Best Black and White Movie

After Boxer's little sojourn to Chickory, I have my doubts that we will ever see her again as hostess of MCW. So Milk River Madman will have to indefinitely continue hosting the Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. This week's theme is BEST BLACK AND WHITE MOVIE. Now when I think of black and white movies, I always think of movies pre-1960. And although rare and artsy-fartsy for the most part, there are some descent modern day black and white movies. So for this theme I'm going to go old school and new school.

One of my favorite black and white flicks is Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho. He could have done this in color but I think going black and white makes this a far scary movie and to prove he could make a good, low-budget film. And of course the shower scene is the most famous and doing it in black and white allowed him to use chocolate syrup for the blood in the bath tub, which he felt looked better and I agree.

My newer black and white (with some colorization) is 2005's Sin City. Frank Miller brought his graphic novels (comic books) to life with a four story vignette. I love this movie and I think it would have been terrible if done all in color. The best scene is with Mickey Rourke as Marv in The Hard Goodbye. Say what you will about Rourke but he absolutely nailed this character. Marv is one of the coolest bad asses you'll ever see on the big screen.

Warning and spoiler alert, it's a little long and very graphic.

I'm hoping we get a good mix of old and new black and whites over at the Madman 's today. And I'm not talking about milkshakes.

Movie Clip Wednesday - Famous/Popular movie I haven't seen but really should before I die because everyone tell's me it's great

Will Boxer ever come back so I don't have to scramble for a MCW theme...who knows? Milk River Madman is graciously continuing to host the Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. A few weeks ago I said I didn't think the theme title could get any longer or wordier, I stand corrected for a second time. This week's theme is FAMOUS/POPULAR MOVIE I HAVEN'T SEEN BUT REALLY SHOULD BEFORE I DIE BECAUSE EVERYONE TELL'S ME IT'S GREAT. Well OK then. I think we have to go with the classics here. I looked at the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films of all time. I started down the list and stopped at Number 8 - 1954's On the Waterfront. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won eight including best picture, best actor and best actress (Eva Marie Saint). One of Marlon Brando's best roles and I've never seen it. Here's the most famous scene in the film:



We'll have to see if the Madman gave everyone enough time to come up with clips of movies they've never seen. Something doesn't sound right about that does it?

Dim Sum Sunday - Bread

Wow, has it been almost 6 months since the last Dim Sum Sunday? It seems like only yesterday that I was gassing peeps in the oven. So Big Shamu over at The Karmic Kitchen has decided to resurrect Dim Sum Sunday with a theme we can all get behind - bread. I'm not much of a baker but I have a good bread machine. I have the Zojirushi Home Bakery Supreme™ Bread Machine. I can't pronounce it but I like it a lot.



So for my Dim Sum Sunday entry, I decided to do an Italian Herb Bread and have it for dinner on Wednesday night with spaghetti, meatballs and Caesar Salad. But first, a little background about how I got to this entry. The last two week's schedules have been absolutely brutal with the Boy and the Pudge back in school, the Mrs working late most nights and the weekends are loaded with sports, doctors, haircuts, etc. I had to really plan ahead to do this theme.

This week is the Mrs and my wedding anniversary (20 years, yeah I know) and we're going away for an overnight Bed and Breakfast stay this weekend while the monsters are camping with the Boy Scouts (after I haul the troop gear to the camp Friday night). That means I can't do Dim Sum Sunday - on Sunday. That leaves a weekday and every single night is chock full of something that requires me to drive someone somewhere.

So I decide last week that Wednesday (the 22nd) would be the day because this is the least busy day in the week, the Mrs isn't working late and it's the big anniversary. Fancy home-cooked dinner (fancy by my weekday standards), anniversary dinner, Dim Sum Sunday dinner all rolled into one. I'm laying all of this out so that you (gentle readers) know the reason why I need to use a bread machine and that it's not because I'm lame. Not lame because of the schedule but I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons why I am lame - but I digress.

I went with an Italian Herb Bread because I never made one before and it fits in with the spaghetti dinner theme. So to accomplish this feat, I set the bread machine up at 6:30AM before going to work so that the bread would be done (and the house would smell great) when I got home. And I have to have dinner on the table before 6:00PM because the Pudge has CCD class (for all you non-Catholics, it's religion class for kids that don't go to Catholic school) and right from there to the food store to shop for food for the upcoming camping trip. The window of opportunity for dinner is about the size of the re-entry window the astronauts use to get back to earth (I don't know where that came from).




I get home around 5:00PM (after having stopped to get milk and lottery tickets) and I could smell the bread wafting through the house. A good start. I got the food going and set the table out on the deck because it was pretty warm.







The bread looked great. The taste was so so. I think fresh herbs would have been better. Overall the dinner was a success but what's missing in this picture? The Mrs was about a half hour late, so we started without her.


If all goes well this weekend I probably won't be around until late Sunday to see every one's Dim Sum.

Movie Clip Wednesday - Best Movie that Became a Hit TV Show

I think Boxer is almost ready to start playing again, but the Milk River Madman still continues to host the Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. This week's theme is BEST MOVIE THAT BECAME A HIT TV SHOW. The Madman has given us an interesting twist to ponder in that most TV series go to movies, not the other way around. Right off the bat, I'd have to say the funniest TV series ever to come from a movie has to be MASH. Loved that series. I was in college (1983) when the final episode aired and everyone in the dorm got together in whatever military and doctor's garb we could steal to have a final episode party. It was that big of a deal.

My second choice would have to be 1992's the Indiana Jones Chronicles based on Raiders of the Lost Ark. A prequel TV series I thought it was interesting to see how Indiana Jones came to be and to see the very old Indiana Jones (with eye patch - go figure) even though it only lasted two seasons.

But which one did I pick for this week's theme? There can be only one - 1992's Highlander TV series. Anything that is about history, immortality, Scots and decapitation will get my attention every time. I never really liked Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod. He was kind of weird looking with an odd accent that I never got. But I loved the storyline and the period segments. Here is the trailer from the original 1986 movie:

Here's the trailer from the TV Series. I always thought Adrian Paul made a much better Connor MacLeod:


And here's what Ricky Bobby has to say about the movie:


I'm curious to see what the Madman has in store and I know I'm risking blogger jinx with Pam because of the Scottish thing. I'm home this week (still recovering from pneumonia) so I should get to visit everyone.

Movie Clip Wednesday - Best SNL Spinoff

With Boxer quickly getting her life back to normal, Milk River Madman is still graciously continuing to host the Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. This week's theme is BEST SNL SPINOFF. With the Madman disqualifying Wayne's World, that really only leaves the Blues Brothers. But I decided not to go that route at the risk of blogger jinx. Every other SNL spinoff was a disappointment. So I went with the least disappointing, the Ladies Man. Tim Meadow's Leon Phelps does have some great scenes. Some of the scenes from his radio show are hysterical, but I couldn't find any. So I offer this scene at the bar. Pay attention to the very last line he says - brilliant.

Leon Phelps: My name is Leon Phelps, and to those of you that are uninitiated, I am an expert in the ways of love. I have made love to many fine ladies from the lowliest bus station skank to the classiest most sophisticated, educated, debutant, high society... bus station skank.

I'm sure every one's picks will be interesting, if not limited, but let's see what's doing at the Madman 's. I am still out of town and didn't get to visit everyone last week, and I suspect the same will happen this week. But you know me, I'm a gamer so I hope you enjoy my entry.