In my previous entry, I had asked if anyone had questions that they might ask if I were to ask for questions, and some of you actually sent me some!
So here's a "Question and Answers" session with Dave....
First up, Exposed left me these...
- If you had 24 hours to live and could do whatever you wish with it - even outside the bounds of time/space etc. what would you do? I would bounce through time to watch Michelangelo create his most famous works. The Sistine Chapel, David, Moses, La Pieta, the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, and so many others. I would want my last day to be filled with beauty, and that would pretty much do it. Why? I just love Italy... everything from the art and architecture to the language, people, and food.
- If you had to redo high school (had to - no one would ever do this by choice) what would you do differently? Not much. There are some classes I took that I wouldn't bother with now that I know they're useless, but that's about it.
- What is your biggest regret and why haven't you fixed it? I really have only one regret, but it's not something I ever really discuss with anybody. Seriously though, life is really too short for regrets and worrying about the past doesn't do you any good anyway.
- You love to travel - you have 3 months with all expenses paid to do with whatever you wish - where do you go and why? I'd probably stay in Italy for the entire three months. I would live in Tuscany for a month, then head south and explore the Amalfi Coast and Sicily.
- Will you marry me? =) Elizabeth Hurley? Is that YOU?!?
And Wayne (of the Blog of Whall fame) left me these...
- How old is the picture on your gravatar? The Gravatar is from this entry in March, 2004.
- Which was your favorite Matrix? Are you kidding? The first was mind-blowingly amazing. The sequels had their moments, but were pretty much crap.
- Do you really hate our President? If yes, please rate on a Scale of Hatred, like the Hotness Scale, and make sure it includes Jared, bad parents, dumbasses who can't use a turn signal and Clay Aiken. I don't hate anybody, including President Bush. The problem is that I lost any respect I had for him after his utterly asinine comments at the 2004 Radio & Television Correspondents' Association Dinner (which I wrote about here). It's only gone downhill from there. I honestly think he is very narrow-minded in that he has no interest in representing all Americans... he only wants to give voice to those who think like he does. He also seems to be of the opinion that the USA is the entire world, and other countries shouldn't have a say in what happens in it. Overall, I find him very ill-suited for the job... and, though I don't hate him for his incompetence, I do dislike him for it. A lot.
- Did you know that 'Lovely Lady Elizabeth Hurley' could be 'HELL" backwards? No! I did not know that! Must be why she got to play The Devil in Bedazzled.
- Do you think I should trademark the term "BlogBerry"? I'm using my blackberry 8700c to compose this right now and I'm starting to use it a lot more for blog review more than email and phone. While that's a clever term, and I think you should use it all you like, I don't think you can trademark a phrase unless you are using it as the name of a business, or a service, or the name of a product. Sorry. :-(
And Alexander left this one question...
- I'm just curious. What are your thoughts on gaming? As a hardcore gamer I simply must know. I love video games. I've owned dozens of systems over the decades, starting with Pong and the Atari 2600... all the way to the Xbox and Nintendo DS. Unfortunately, I pretty much suck at gaming because I never have much time to play them. My favorite titles are usually strategy Advance Wars DS or StarCraft), RPG (like Sid Meyer's Pirates or Fable), or adventure games that kids can play (like Lego Star Wars, which is probably one of my favorite games ever). I also love board games (especially trivia games, where I kick ass) and card games (everybody should get a group of friends together and play the computer version of Apples to Apples).
Annette also sent me a single question...
- Is your diet a healty one? Probably not as much as it could be, as I eat way too much sugar and not enough fruits and vegetables. Though I don't eat meat, which I consider to be much healthier than a diet where one consumes steroid-laden animal flesh. Darn that Coke with Lime all to heck!! :-)
And, for my last questions, SJ asked me to try out her "Movieographeme" meme, which I've put in an extended entry...
Movieographeme
- What was the very first movie you saw? How old were you, and what did you think of it? The earliest movies I remember were those Disney films like Herbie the Love Bug, The Shaggy D.A., Blackbeard's Ghost, That Darn Cat, and The Cat from Outer Space. The local theater re-ran the classics all the time (I guess they didn't make a lot of new movies back then?). Oops. I asked my mother and she tells me it's Bambi (obviously a re-release) when I was five. I have no memory of it.
- What do you consider the all-around BEST movie you've ever seen? (Only one, now!) What's so great about it? I have no idea how to narrow it down. I love The Day the Earth Stood Still and Creator, but it would probably be a foreign film like Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain or Nuevo Cinema Paradiso. I'll give the nod to Cinema Paradiso because it's older. As for why? It's magical and wondrous escapism at its best.
- Now choose the hands-down WORST movie you've ever attempted to watch. (Again, only one!) What makes it such a dud? Easy. It's called Born American, and made me EMBARRASSED to be America. It's a film about some dumbass American college students who get drunk and decide to sneak into The Soviet Union during the cold war as a goof. They then proceed to blow up a town and kill people while trying to escape. THEN, when they get caught, and are thrown in jail as suspected spies... WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL SORRY FOR THEM? F#@% THAT! I hate this film. It is the most ridiculously stupid-ass movie I've ever seen. "Freedom is just a word...until you lose it" Well, yeah, but these idiots BLEW UP A FREAKIN' TOWN!! This was the first American film directed by Finnish über-director Renny Harlin, whose only contribution to cinema is Die Hard 2. He, and everybody involved with this turd should have been shot or at least prohibited from ever making another movie again. A funny example of American arrogance masked as patriotism (if Soviets of the time would have crossed into the US and blew stuff up, they'd be called terrorists but, according to this movie, the opposite is not true and these guys are heroes??). Avoid at all costs. I've seen a lot of bad films, but this one has stuck with me for decades because it's STUPID, STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
- Good, bad or otherwise, pick your all-time FAVORITE movie, and tell us why. My favorite film has been Field of Dreams from the first time I saw it. Absolutely magical. It's everything a movie should be, and provides an escape from reality in a way that few movies can. The acting is sublime... with a stand-out performance by James Earl Jones that has never left me. Whereas so many American films are cliched and predictable with no purpose other than simple entertainment, this one actually has something nifty to say. Beyond perfect in every detail. I love the film so much that I took a trip to the filming location, which was a near-religious experience for me.
- Name a movie you've seen so many times you know every line of dialog, and give us your favorite quote from it. Oh brother. There are so many films I've seen dozens of times and have memorized. Aliens: ("Oh shit man! We're f#@%ked man! We're screwed! We're dead, man we're all dead!" The Terminator: "I'll be back!" The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension: "No matter where you go, there you are."
- Who's the one film character you could swear was based on you? How so? Why, Sean Connery as James Bond of course! Though it's probably more like Val Kilmer's character in Real Genius or Topher Grace's character in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (but in neither case would I get the girl in the end).
- Ever been told you resemble an actor? Which one? The most common one I've been told is Matthew Broderick, but that was back in the Ferris Beuller's Day Off era. I never saw the resemblance myself.
- If you could play any role in a film's remake, which would it be? I was going to say Brendan Frasier's character from Bedazzled, but he didn't get to make out with Elizabeth Hurley in that one... so I'd have to say either Josh Lucas or Sean Penn's character from The Weight of Water as I think they both got to do her! It wasn't a great film in many respects, but it did have the good sense to have Liz topless in it so that makes it one of the greatest cinema achievements ever.
- What actor makes you reluctant to see a film, just knowing s/he's in it? David Caruso. I just don't get it. He is the absolute worst actor in EVERYTHING he does, yet people still hire him. He overacts every line he says, and tries to be all tough... but it's just so laughable. I won't watch anything he's in.
- Best book-to-movie translation you've seen? That would be L.A. Confidential. Seriously. That book was impossible to adapt, but they somehow managed it. An amazing accomplishment.
- Worst book-to-movie translation you've seen? Ugh. The Da Vinci Code. I didn't even really like the book, but the movie was tragic. How in the hell did somebody as brilliant as Tom Hanks and the incomparable Audrey Tautou get roped into this piece of shit?
- Crappy movie, awesome soundtrack: What film comes to mind? Frances had this one figured out for me. Singles. I have no idea how Cameron Crowe could drop the ball so badly... but he made up for it with Almost Famous.
- What movie do you think is most highly over-rated? One of the most boring films I've ever seen: Brokeback Mountain. I was so horribly bored that I was counting ceiling tiles and praying for some hot man-on-man action to break the tedium. Truly awful movie with occasional beautiful scenery.
- Pick a little-known film you feel everyone should see. There are so many. Undercover Blues is hysterical-funny and one of my all-time favorite films. Creator is in my top five favorite films of all time, yet few people have even heard of it. One of the most chilling films I've ever seen is El espinazo del diablo, a Spanish film by brilliant Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro (probably overlooked because it's foreign?). A guilty pleasure is EuroTrip, which is pretty stupid, but I love it anyway. The list goes on... Mumford, Nurse Betty, Léon, Remo Williams, and (of course) Wonder Boys to name just a few.
- If they make a movie about your life, what should they title it? Who should be cast as you? I think Daveography: The Incredible Life of Dave would be okay. And the only person brilliant enough to play me would be... well... ME!! I could so totally play me in a movie.
Tah dah!
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Oohhh, La Pieta. I love that piece.
I also have killed numerous hours with my niece and her parents playing Apples to Apples. I usually get bored after the first hour playing board games but with this game (as with MadGabs), I could play for hours.
And I need to amend my request: What’s a girl got to do to get you to fill up her iPod Nano? 🙂
It is so funny because people that I meet are either into the hardcore MMORPG’s or a lot of the games you mentioned. My husband actually works for Blizzard, so I get to see a lot of different games come and go through this house and Sid Meier’s Pirates was one of my favorites….now, if my husband could just GET me to use my free WoW subscription, I am sure he would pee his pants ;). Oddly enough, I run into a ton of people who don’t play WoW but go on and on about Starcraft, which amuses me….for reasons I cannot say.
We play Apples to Apples ALL of the time, usually in a group setting and erm, usually drunk ;).
Frances… Oooh! Making a note to look into MadGabs! As I had warned… putting me in charge of filling your iPod is a dangerous gambit! My musical contradictions have been known to make heads asplode. Like in Scanners!
Hilly… If I had time, I’d be playing World of Warcraft non-stop. The reason I love StarCraft so much is because it’s so flawlessly implemented. It goes everywhere with me on my Mac, and I never tire of it. It would be awesome if ported to the touch-screen of the Nintendo DS! I can only hope that one day that we get an update to the game, as I would love to see a new version with 3-D graphics like WarCraft.
Apples to Apples is amazing. Nothing gets a group to having fun faster!
Amelie is the most uplifting, beautiful, lyrical movie. I watch it whenever I’m down, and it never fails to make me smile. Good choice!
See, I absolutely suck at all the new console machines. Atari 2600 was perfection. A joystick and a button. ONE button. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with these new hand controllers. Too complicated.
And I’m too much of an addictive personality to get into the massive online games.
Have a great forth. I am using a friends computer to read some blogs!!
Some good choices, and you didn’t even cop out, as I certainly would have in many categories. I think that my first theater movie was Bambi, as well! And since we’re within just a few months of the same age, that makes sense. I appreciate “Creator,” too, but I have had a thing for Peter O’Toole from “Lawrence of Arabia” on, and would watch him read the phone book for 2 hours. I used to really love when he and Richard Harris would tell stories on each other during talk-show appearances.
Q: If you could only pick one, would you choose to receive unlimited supplies of crunch masters and coke with lime or go on several dates with Elizabeth Hurley?
Well, right now I can buy as much Crunch Master and Coke with Lime as I want, so…
🙂
I would love to meet Leonardo Da Vinci as a drag queen…
If that smile of Mona Lisa is his…
I only do plain coke.
Happy Aloha 4th of July!
You guys are making me so ashamed. I seriously have got to complete my own damn meme! Seriously.
Great choices, and some unknowns to check out. Woo hoo!!!
I am happy that it appears in your list some French movies. And I realize that I have gaps in American cinema. However, you made very good choices.
OH today, it is on July 4. I do not know how I must say… Good Independance Day ? or something like that… ou Bonne fête de l’indépendance ?
Have a great holiday, Dave!
oh thanks for the answers doll – even if you rebuffed my proposal =P
happy forth, i’m cleaning house, so cheers to your anti-soc working on a holiday.
Damn! I didn’t even think of Da Vinci when I answered these questions. D’oh! So obvious!
Good answers, though. And I definitely can envision you as Topher’s character in Tad Hamilton.
if only they would put pop tarts on the food pyramid… 😉
Hey, thanx for answering everyone!
I think it’s cool when someone goes to the effort of answering people’s questions, even at the risk of possibly responding to an argument-maker, such as my question #3 could have been. I think one’s answers to questions like these should be their answers and not necessarily continue or engage a debate, so I’ll leave the answers as-is and respect and honor that you chose to answer them openly. It’s highly appreciated and you should be safe enough to voice opinions (especially on your own blog) without the threat of being challenged or have to defend an answer. The only “right answer” is the one you compose and doesn’t need validation from some third party. But somehow I think you knew that already.
Oh, except for your answer to my question #4. You’re so totally wrong. But it was expected as it was a trick question. The only right answer to that question is “Well, DUH, it explains why she’s so incredibly hot!!! Hellloooo?!?!?!?!”, complete with the extra punctuation. So you get a score of 80, a low “B” in today’s academic standards.
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You’re so totally right on about the Disney flicks. I was on the waiting list for The Cat From Outer Space on DVD for years until they released it. Others along the same lines that I can’t watch enough are Escape to Witch Mountain, Return from Witch Mountain, all four Herbie movies (five, now that Lindsay Lohan’s version is out, which I thought was done quite well), Pete’s Dragon, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (although I don’t have the complete Dexter Riley series like I want), Hot Lead & Cold Feet, The Black Hole, The Apple Dumpling Gang and it’s sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, and who could forget The Parent Trap (it’s remake was also very good).
My kids watch them as much if not more than I do. I can defitely recite Cat From Outer Space from memory…. “Mayonnaise?????” or “Nice shot, slim. Unfortunately, you didn’t sink nothin’! But, there’s always tomorrow…” or “What happened? — YOU happened, you fool!”
yes, tis i elizabeth hurley. just close your eyes you’ll never know the difference.