I Love You Anniversary

It was five years ago today that Randy put my face in his hands and told me "I Love You" for the first time.  Then he proceeded to say we were unofficially engaged.  He wanted to wait till he had a ring to become officially engaged.

When looking for an image to put with this post I came upon a couple of images from different movies.  The one below is from Jerry Maguire. He says to her "You had me at hello."  Hubby has mentioned he really likes that line.

British Class System

Theme of the day for Saturday, August 11th: British Class System

Comedies:

... Tom Jones (1963)

... Princess Caraboo (1994)

... Gosford Park (2001)

Dramas:

... Howards End (1992)

... The Remains of the Day (1993)

... Vanity Fair (2004)

This is the last of the London Olympics Movie Marathon lists.
I did not always watch all the movies, just giving options.
Sometimes I did not watch them on the day I posted.
But I did watch a lot of the movies during the time.

British Comedies

Theme of the day for Friday, August 10th: British Comedies

These were other movies I wanted to include and realized their common theme was comedy.  I really enjoy comedy especially romantic comedy.  In particular from this list I like A Fish Called Wanda, Calendar Girls and Bridget Jones's Diary.  

John Cleese Comedies:

... A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

... Fierce Creatures (1997)

... Splitting Heirs (1993)

Risque movies not for everyone:

... Calendar Girls (2003)

... The Full Monty (1997)

Romantic Comedies:

... Wimbledon (2003)

... Cold Comfort Farm (1995)

... Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

... Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Swag Sports

Swagbucks has been doing an Olympic themed event.  For search wins they are currently giving out what they call "Collector Bills" with a sports theme.  If you manage to get all of them you will get an extra reward.  I decided to post this because I think the bills are pretty interesting especially the color blocking which is similar to flags of different countries.

British Boarding Schools

Theme of the day for Thursday, August 9th: British Boarding Schools

St. Trinian's (2007) - a very fun movie with upbeat music

Wild Child (2008) - not as good as St. Trinian's but okay

3 Men and a Little Lady (1990) - sequel to 3 Men and a Baby

The Little Princess (1939) - a favorite of mine from childhood

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) - remade as Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - A remake of 1969 movie but set in America.

Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939) - Robert Donat and Greer Garson

Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969) - Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark

Dead Poets Society (1989) - I thought this similar enough to include.

British Novelists

Theme of the day for Wednesday, August 8th: British Novelists

Jane Austen (1775-1817)
... Emma (1996)
... Persuasion (1995)
... Pride & Prejudice (1995)
... Sense & Sensibility (1995)

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) ... Jane Eyre (1997)
Emily Bronte (1818-1848) ... Wuthering Heights (1939)

HG Wells (1866-1946)
... The Invisible Man (1933)
... First Men in the Moon (1964)
... Time Machine (1960) and Time Machine (2002)

PD James (born 1920) ... Children of Men (2006)

Barbara Taylor Bradford (born 1935)
... A Woman of Substance (1984)
... Hold the Dream (1986)
... To Be the Best (1992)

British Musical Films

Theme of the day for Tuesday, August 7th: British Musical Films.

Across the Universe and Mamma Mia! are the best two movies that seamlessly integrate a groups music into a story line. Husband and I both greatly recommend these two musicals to others. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang stars Dick Van Dyke who starred in other musicals: Mary Poppins and Bye Bye Birdie. Oliver! reminds me of the musical Newsies. My Fair Lady and Doctor Dolittle both star Rex Harrison; in both he plays a person who has great knowledge of languages.

Across the Universe (2007) - music of Beatles
Mamma Mia! (2008) - ABBA songs

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) - based on novel by Ian Fleming
Oliver! (1968) - based on novel by Charles Dickens

My Fair Lady (1964) - based on novel by George Bernard Shaw
Doctor Dolittle (1967) - based on novel by Hugh Lofting

British Children's Authors

Theme of the day for Monday, August 6th: British Children's Authors. There's a number of well known British children's authors who have had their works turned into movies.  Miss Potter is a biography of the great Beatrix Potter who both wrote and illustrated her own books such as Peter Rabbit.  Three children's authors who had their work immortalized in film are Roald Dahl, JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Witches (1990) and Matilda (1996)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

English vs British

English is used for people living in England.

British includes people from England, Scotland, Wales. (Great Britain)
United Kingdom = Great Britain + Northern Ireland.

England Animated

Theme of the day for Sunday, August 5th: England Animated
These all took place at least some of the time in England.

101 Dalmatians (1961)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Robinhood (1973)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Valiant (2005)
Flushed Away (2006)
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
Cars 2 (2011) in World Grand Prix

Flint Powers English

Theme of the day for Saturday, August 4th: Bond-like Movies. I expect many of us grew up watching James Bond movies.  Recently I rewatched all of them except the most recent.  I remember liking them better when I first saw them.  I prefer some of the Bond parodies better than the actual Bond movies probably because I really enjoy comedy. 

Of the Bond-like movies made in the 1960's I really enjoy watching James Coburn as Derek Flint.  Doris Day in two separate spy movies is a close second.  I least like the four with Dean Martin as Matt Helm.  Not until the 1990's do we see more worthy Bond-like movies including Mike Myers as Austin Powers, Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English and Freddy Muniz as Cody Banks (child agent). 

A number of the Bond-like movies had an opening title sequence similar to the real Bond movies.  Many of the movies make direct reference to Bond elements.  In Spy Hard agent WD-40 (Leslie Nielsen)'s favorite drink is a "dry Manoli and Roussos on the rocks, stirred not beaten, with a twist of lemon, in chilled glasses not frozen, and with two curly little straws".

Our Man Flint (1966) and In Like Flint (1967)

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) and Caprice (1967) 

The Silencers (1966) and Murderers' Row (1966)

The Ambushers (1967) and The Wrecking Crew (1968)

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) 

Johnny English (2003) and Johnny English Reborn (2011)

Agent Cody Banks (2003) and Agent Cody Banks 2 (2004)

Top Secret! (1984) from the makers of Airplane! 

Spy Hard (1996) similar comedy stylings of Airplane!

Thunderbirds (2004) International Rescuers with Lady Penelope

Amazon Gift Cards $30

Since it is a new month I was able to redeem my online virtual money for actual Amazon Gift Cards.  Swagbucks only allows users to redeem five of any given denomination of gift cards.  I had enough earned on Swagbucks to indeed order five $5.00 Amazon Gift Cards.  Over on iRazoo I also redeemed points there for one $5.00 Amazon Gift Card. So primarly from searching, watching short videos and doing surveys I will be getting $30.00 in Amazon Gift Cards.

British Royalty

Theme of the day for Friday, August 3rd: British Royalty.  Understanding the British Royalty can be very confusing.  I found a couple of websites that are well organized and helped me better understand the different houses.  Tudor History clearly explains the six wives of Henry VIII as well as the Tudor lineage.  English Monarchs has the complete history of Kings and Queens of England.  The first six movies cover the monarchy under the House of Tudor.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) about Anne Boleyn sister, Mary

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) about Anne Boleyn

Elizabeth (1998) about the beginning of the Queen's reign

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) about her latter years of reign

Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) about threat to Elizabeth's throne

Mary of Scotland (1936) about Mary Stuart, rival to Elizabeth

The Lion in Winter (1968) King Henry II - House of Plantagenet

Victoria & Albert (2001) about their long romance - House of Hanover

The King's Speech (2010) King George VI - House of Windsor

The Queen (2006) Queen Elizabeth II - House of Windsor

Mary Poppins

Theme of the day for Thursday, August 2nd: Nanny Movies

"A British nanny must be a general! 

The future empire lies within her hands 

And so the person that we need to mould the breed 

Is a nanny who can give commands!"

Mary Poppins is the ultimate British nanny.  

Julie Andrews is the ultimate nanny portrayer.

Mary Poppins (1964) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Nanny McPhee (2005) Emma Thompson as the Nanny

Eloise at the Plaza (2003) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Eloise at Christmastime (2003) Julie Andrews as the Nanny

Au Pair (1999) An accidental Nanny who wins love of widower.

The Pacifier (2005) A very different Nanny in Vin Diesel.

British Ghostly Tales

Theme of the day for Wednesday, August 1st: British Ghostly Tales.  These are all well known tales told beautifully with star power.  Rebecca won the 1941 Oscar for Best Picture for director Alfred Hitchcock.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir was nominated for Best Cinematography in 1948 for director Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  A young Natalie Wood played Muir's daughter as a child.  

The Innocents is based partially on a 1950 Broadway screenplay which was based on the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw.  Deborah Kerr considered this her finest performance.  It was nominated for two BAFTA awards: Best British Film and Best Film from any Source.  The Others is obviously also partially inspired by the novella The Turn of the Screw. 

Rebecca (1940) stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) stars Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison
The Innocents (1961) stars Deborah Kerr
The Others (2001) stars Nicole Kidman

King Ralph

Theme of the day for Tuesday, July 31st: Americans to Brits.  I must admit that King Ralph is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I adore his wacky American ways including his "musical stylings".  My husband is not a fan of the movie. I think it is such a FUN movie.  I enjoyed seeing John Goodman as a romantic lead. His girlfriend helps him learn British facts like the royal line. 

What a Girl Wants is a remake of The Reluctant Debutante.  When I first watched What a Girl Wants I had not seen The Reluctant Debutante since I was young and did not make the connection between the two movies.  But once I knew it was pretty obvious.  There are some glaring differences apparently made to modernize the story.  Similarities include American teenage girl visiting British father and being "presented" to society.  A difference is father being married to second wife in older version and in the newer version just engaged with woman who has her own teenage daughter.

A secondary theme of all three movies is American music overwhelming the Brits.  There is a great scene in What a Girl Wants which is very reminiscent of King Ralph.  The scene includes loud music causing a lot of trouble!  It was really great that John Goodman did his own singing in King Ralph. Ralph James was a lounge singer in Las Vegas before they tracked him down.  In The Reluctant Debutante the daughter is attracted to a musician in the band playing at the debutante balls which is similar in the remake.

King Ralph (1991)

What a Girl Wants (2003)

The Reluctant Debutante (1958)

Chariots of Fire

Theme of the day for Monday, July 30th: Movies about actual Olympic Games.  I may come back later and add comments about the movies.  Of the five movies I listed we only have the first three on DVD.  I have seen Cool Runnings before with John Candy and enjoyed it.

It has been some time since I watched Chariots of Fire.  I first saw it at a movie theatre when it came out back in 1981.  I was the only one in my group who stayed awake through the whole thing.  I am hoping that 30 years later I better understand it so I can appreciate it more.

Walk Don't Run (1966) - 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics

Chariots of Fire (1981) - 1924 Paris Summer Olympics

The Cutting Edge (1992) - 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics

Cool Runnings (1993) - 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics    

Munich (2005) - 1972 Munich Summer Olympics 

iRazoo

I just recently started using iRazoo again. Like SwagBucks, it is a reward site where users earn virtual money by doing various things like searching and watching videos.  The point structure is different from the other site. I have added a referral link in right column of this blog.

I had taken a long break from them when they started going through a lot of changes.  I started back up July 18th.  On July 20th I got an "instant win" of 100 points.  This morning I got an "instant win" of 65.  The usual "instant win" aka "search win" amount is between 10 and 15 points.

London Olympics Movie Marathon

In honor of the 2012 London Summer Olympics I plan on watching movies somehow related to either London, England or the Olympics. Each day I will pick a theme and post movies that would work for a movie marathon. Theme of the day for Sunday, July 29th: children sent away or already living in the country for safety during wartime.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

The above movies are based on a series of novels by C.S. Lewis.
Lewis was a member of the English Faculty at Oxford.
He and his fellow literary friends became known as the Inklings.

Similarly themed movies:
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Five Children and It (2004)
The Water Horse (2007)

Girl vs Guy Stuff

Let's face it. Some topics are more interesting to gals in general and some topics are more interesting to guys in general.  Please understand that I am NOT a girlie girl but topics about beauty products is of little interest to my husband.  And hubby talking about softball and other sports is of little interest to me.  So we are going to set up two new categories: Girl Stuff and Guy Stuff.  Not sure if we will keep those names or modify them as time goes by.  Feel free to read all blog posts.   

The 2012 Olympics

The 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony has now happened.  I heard so much about the Queen parachuting with James Bond actor Daniel Craig into the ceremony I had to look online for details.

Britain fires up the world:  London gets the 2012 Games underway with the Greatest Show on Earth

It includes a summary of the events, many pictures of the goings on with explanations and videos at the end.  There are many famous people involved in the ceremonial events as well as colorful images from different country's representatives.

The Official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games website shows all the sports and news, schedules, results and medal count.

Thursday Morning Walk

I woke up before the alarm again and before Cathy woke up.  So I went for a walk around the block.  And around again.  Then down to Dunlop Lane.  Pedometer said 1.13 miles in 40 minutes.  Though now I'm a little sore and think I might have overdone it.  But still, I did it!

Chuck & I in Waterville

Did my wife mention that I like to shop for deals?  My friend Chuck has discovered this and we went shopping for the People Who Care Food Cupboard.  We went to Marden's, Sav-A-Lot, Shaws and Dollar Tree.  Our bounty ended up being 150 cereals, 96 jars of peanut butter, 103 jars of jam and a few miscellaneous items.  I'm still not sure how it all fit in the car!

Debe Park/River Trail (second time)

Randy Soucie and I got our first Wednesday morning walk in (our second time on the course).  We walked almost a mile total (.95).  Afterwards we stopped at the Somerset Heart Health office to sign up for the Move More program.

I'm not sure if Cathy & I ever came across Debe Park on any of our explorations but if we did, I suspect it was before it was redone last year.  It's a nice park and I'm glad that I was able to get up and moving this morning!

SMART Goal: Under 200 by 9/17/12

My next doctor's appointment is Sept. 17th.  I am hoping to weigh under 200 by then. I weighed 208.2 this morning.  I will accomplish this by walking at least 15 minutes a day and eating better.  (I have a few bottles of Slim-Fast to help me get started.)

Summer 2012 Barbeque & Parrot Party

Last night a friend and I attended this event sponsored by The Low Carb Connection at the Redington-Fairview General Hospital.  They fed us a pretty good meal and then had a few experts give talks on "Get Moving" (the benefits of exercise).  Both the friend and I enjoyed the third speaker talking about the Move More program.  We are planning to enroll in the program.  (We also saw Margaret's Parrots.  She's got some big birds!)

Afterwards, we went to the hidden 1/4 mile path by the river that has 5 exercise stations.  We're planning to walk this on Wednesday mornings and one other morning (Sunday's perhaps).  We're also planning to attend The Low Carb Connection meeting when they start back up in September.

Normal Negative

Guys need not read this post if it makes them uncomfortable although understanding the women in your life is a good thing.

As a responsible person I had my first mammogram when I turned 40.  The rule is to get one taken every two years assuming there is no problem.  The first couple of times I got the initial exam done at Winthrop Health Center where my primary physician has his office.  Then I would be notified that I needed to get a follow up at Augusta General Hospital.  The followup began with more specific mammogram of my left breast and then waiting for the results.  Then they would also do an ultrasound on the left breast.  Then I would be sent a letter saying I was okay.

The problem with those experiences were that I was never really told what they thought the problem was even when I asked.  Because of this I skipped my last mammogram because I did not feel like going through the whole process again especially since we live farther away now.  A trip down to Winthrop/Augusta and back takes a toll on me. 

This year I decided to have my mammogram right here in Skowhegan at Redington Fairview General Hospital.  The two ladies that did it were very friendly.  I expressed the frustration I had based on my past experiences. They shared the images with me. I had the mammogram on July 3rd.  I got the results dated July 12th. "We are pleased to inform you that the result of your recent mammography exam is Normal-Negative".  No followup necessary at this time.

I did google Normal Negative this morning and found the following article:
When a "Normal/Negative" Mammogram Result is a Lie

Disney Marathon Part 4

Decided to make this a Kurt Russell at Disney Marathon.
He actually was in ten Disney movies during this time period.
Joe Flynn was also in every one of these movies.

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) starring Kurt Russell
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) starring Kurt Russell
The Strongest Man in the World (1975) starring Kurt Russell

The Barefoot Executive (1971) starring Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn
Superdad (1973) starring Bob Crane, Kurt Russell, Barbara Rush

The first set is known as the Dexter Riley trilogy.
They also star Joe Flynn and Cesar Romero.
They all take place at Medfield College.

Disney Marathon Part 3

Absent-Minded Professor (1961) starring Fred MacMurray and Nancy Olson
Son of Flubber (1963) starring Fred MacMurray and Nancy Olson
Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) starring Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello
The Monkey's Uncle (1965) starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello
Monkeys, Go Home! (1967) starring Dean Jones and Maurice Chevalier

The two Professor Brainard movies took place at Medfield College.
The two Merlin Jones movies took place in Midvale College.
Medfield and Midvale are very similar in construct.
The Shaggy DA also took place in Medfield.

Email Accounts Hacked

About 400,000 Yahoo accounts hacked, company discloses | Business - The News Tribune

In case you have not heard ... many email accounts were hacked recently. While the majority of them were Yahoo accounts they also included other email services such as GMail, Hotmail and AOL.  If a person uses their email password on other websites such as Facebook, those accounts could also have been compromised.  The group responsible dumped the list of accounts directly hacked.  Sucuri Malware Labs has set up a Yahoo Leak Password Checker so you can verify if your account was one of those affected.  All you need to enter is your full email address NOT your password.  

Disney Marathon Part 2

In Search of the Castaways (1962) stars Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier
Summer Magic (1963) starring Hayley Mills, Dorothy McGuire and Burl Ives
The Moon-Spinners (1964) starring Hayley Mills and Joan Greenwood

In Search of the Castaways is an adventure adapted from a Jules Verne novel. There were too many disasters in it for my liking especially as a Disney movie. Some of the disasters were an earthquake, a flash flood, an avalanche and a volcano. What did not make sense was two youngsters going out on their own to look for their missing at sea father. 

Summer Magic was my favorite of the three I watched today. It is a musical and romance. A widow and her three children move to a hick town in Maine. A cousin that had a more privileged upbringing comes to live with them. Burl Ives plays the friendly postmaster and proprietor of general store. The family gets along great with the townspeople. Note that we currently live in a Maine hick town! 

The Moon-Spinners is a mystery; Disney's answer to Hitchcock. Moon-Spinners is a hotel in Crete that a young lady and her aunt are staying it. While there she befriends a gentleman who is out to solve who stole some jewels he was originally arrested for stealing. Hayley was looking for a more adult movie role but this really did not fit the bill.

In the evening I watched the following two "Shaggy" movies.
The first was the first live-action comedy by Walt Disney.
The second was the film debut for Jo Anne Worley,
she portrayed Tim Conway's eventual girlfriend.

The Shaggy Dog (1959) starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen and Tommy Kirk
The Shaggy D.A. (1976) starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette

Disney Marathon

I sent Randy away for the weekend for a mini vacation.  He is staying at my parents and shopping in southern Maine.  While he is away I will be posting about my movie marathons.  I wanted a nice light and fluffy movie day therefore I decided on mostly animals and Disney classics.

That Darn Cat! (1965) starring Hayley Mills and Dean Jones
The Ugly Dachshund (1966) starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette
Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette
The Million Dollar Duck (1971) starring Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan
The Cat From Outer Space (1978) starring Ken Berry and Sandy Duncan

I will be watching more Hayley Mills and Dean Jones this weekend.

SwagBucks

My referral link to SwagBucks is over in the right column.  

I am more then happy to connect with folks on that site.

SwagBucks is a reward site. Users earn virtual money by doing various things such as searching, finding swag codes, playing games, and taking surveys. They then redeem the virtual money for real items. My favorite item to get is Amazon Gift Cards. It takes 450 swagbucks (SB) to cash in for a five dollar Amazon Gift Card (AGC).

Today has been a pretty decent Trusted Survey day for me.  Thus far I have successfully gotten credited for four surveys.  The first survey of the day was worth 88 SB and the second was worth 100 SB.  The other two were worth 25 SB and 18 SB.  Some days I only get one survey and sometimes none. Without surveys I am usually happy with 40-50 SB a day.

At midnight on the SwagBucks front page I had videos sponsored by Jun Group.  Each of the 17 videos was worth 2 SB each giving me  an additional 34 SB.  There was a variety of videos this time. The shortest was 30 seconds and the longest was 3 1/2 minutes. Most were of the shorter time frame.

Daily total for Thursday, July 12th, 2012 is 315 SB. 

Spousal Blogging

We have not blogged regularly for awhile.  Our first blog together was Blissful Days chronicling our courtship thru marriage in December of 2007.  In that first year of marriage we bought our first home together and blogged about that process in Blissful Bounty.  Most recently we blogged together about Coupons, Bargains, and Freebies.

I decided to start this new blog as we are reminiscing about our five years together.  I am also researching items to include in a 5th year anniversary scrapbook.  The first scrapbook I made was when we were still courting.  Our blogs and an online Christian message board where we posted together were very useful in my scrapbooking endeavors.