Waka Waka ~~Shakira

LOVE this song!

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)

My Favorite Movie

The next item in my 30 Day Challenge is My Favorite Movie.  This, like my favorite song, is impossible to pin down to just one, although I AM much more discriminating with my movies than my music.  I don't like mindless, stupid, drunken comedies (like The Hangover).  I don't like horror movies (the "Freddy" movies, the "Halloween" movies, the "Chucky" movies.  Hmm.. with the proliferation of all of these horror series, though, apparently SOMEBODY likes them!)  I'm not crazy about shoot-'em-up, drive-like-crazy action movies (like Die Hard or Gone in 60 Seconds), but I will sit through one occasionally with my husband and son (just last week it was The Road Warrior--man, Mel Gibson was YOUNG!). 

A "message" in a movie is fine, especially if it's sort of left up to interpretation.  I LIKE to think!  But too "artsy" in the presentation of the message and I'm bored.  (I hated Shakespeare in Love).  I guess what it boils down to is I like to be entertained, and for me entertainment requires a decent plot and actors who can actually act, and I like it to engage me in the story.  So, here are a few that I've sat through more than once and enjoyed every time:

Glory (1989) --the Civil War film about the first black regiment in the Union Army, starring Matthew Broderick, Carey Elwes, and Denzel Washington in one of his first movies.

Excalibur (1981)--the epic Sword in the Stone, King Arthur and Camelot tale, starring Nigel Terry, Nicholas Clay, and Helen Mirren.

Willow (1988) --a fantasy adventure where reluctant dwarf and a former thief must protect a baby princess from an evil queen, starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis.

The original Star Wars trilogy.

Most of the Star Trek feature films.

And of course, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The director's cut.  Hours and hours and hours of Peter Jackson's masterpiece, done just the way I hoped it would be when I first read the books back in the mid-1970's.  I think it's time to watch them again, actually....

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My Favorite Song

I recently ran across the list of "30 days worth of blog posts" I started doing a couple of months ago, and decided to try to get back on track with it.  Today's topic is My Favorite Song.

The problem with this is that I don't actually have a favorite song.  And by that I mean I don't have just one favorite song.  I like so many kinds of music that it's impossible to pick just one.  Plus the fact that there are new songs constantly being written and produced and flung out over the airwaves, or on YouTube, or the bottom track of an obscure CD...lots of places to discover great new music!

In my MP3 player, you'll find artists from KC and the Sunshine Band to Lady Gaga, from Shania Twain to Train, from the Village People to Mercy Me.  With some instrumentals by piano artist Yiruma, New Age from Enya, and jazz from Richard Elliot.  Over 3000 songs altogether!  My favorite female vocalist is Celine Dion, and my favorite male singer is Steve Perry from Journey.  I have all their albums (Celine AND Journey).  I inherited my brother's music collection when he died, and he turned me on to a group called Collective Soul--more "rock" than I usually get into, but great guitar stuff!  Which is, I'm sure, why he liked them.  The only music I absolutely cannot abide is opera.  My college roommate used to blast operas as loud as her stereo could go, all the time...ruined any interest that I might possibly have been able to cultivate.

So you can understand why it's impossible for me to pick a favorite.  Toad the Wet Sprocket?  Barbara Streisand?    Styx?  Enrique Iglesias?  I've never incorporated music or video into my blog.  I'm not sure I can figure out how.  If I hit "post" and the song stays embedded, then yay me!  If it doesn't work, you'll know I tried.  Here's Steve Perry with my choice for the day--"Lights".  Leave a comment--what's YOUR favorite song?

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