Jamey Tucker’s BlogSquat

I remember the first time I heard him. Not the 7 words you can’t say on tv, an album called “Toledo Windowbox”, named after a flower pot growing pot. I was 17 I guess. Thought it was pretty funny to hear somebody cuss a lot.

Oh, I thought George Carlin could be funny. But too often I found his routines to peak the profanity meter. I can laugh at comedians who use 4-letter words, but Carlin used them so much it became less funny and more boring. Some routines seemed to include sentences with more profane words than not. So, sometime after I bought that first album, I became a former-fan.

And he hated Christians. Hated them. And God. Jesus Christ. Clergy. And the Bible. He thought it all a load of crap. or “Bull****” as the following clip shows. Sure, he had that right and he had the right to say whatever he wanted to say about people of faith. We deserve some of his criticism. But his tirades directed against God was way too much for me to hear.

George Carlin was an evangelist for atheism. He didn’t just make jokes about Christians (we’re an easy and often deserving target) He seemed to want to convert as many people as he could. I mean, some of his routines about religion weren’t that funny and sounded quite like a sermon. here’s one from you tube, and check out some of the comments from his fans from the youtube clip:

he converted me to atheism and im so glad im not just another one of them controlled religious people. just a waste of time and money. and where does it all go? to priests that rape little boys. f*** em. RIP george, im gonna start worshipping him lol

But I’m not going to criticize George Carlin. I’m not going to praise him either. I regret that his anti-religion, anti-Christian, anti-God rants kept me from enjoying his routines. I hate that he apparently never “got” the whole Gospel thing. I hate that he apparently rejected any belief in God. And I hate that he used his celebrity platform to lead others to reject God.

He had quite a talent.

It can’t possibly be 9 years since our youngest, Delaney, came into this world. It was a busy week for her. Birthday on Monday, braces on Wednesday, piano recital on Thursday and party on Saturday.

It was a Hannah Montana Birthday party and since neither set of grandparents were able to be here for it: Here’s a little something from YouTube.

The American Film Institute’s newest installment of the best that film has to offer, is one right now. I thought I might blog their list and mine.

First: Top 10 Animated Movies

I started this list late so pardon me if I miss some of AFI’s list or get them out of order. Theirs culminates with “Snow White” and includes “Toy Story”, “Lion King”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “Nemo” and others. My top 3 would be:

3. Toy Story

2. The Lion King

1. Beauty and the Best

Their top 10 films in the Fantasy Genre are:

10. Big would be a lot higher on my list. Maybe a top 2 or 3 for me.

9. Thief of Baghdad haven’t seen it

8. Groundhog Day didn’t care for it all that much.

7. Harvey haven’t seen it but maybe once and maybe not all the way through then

6. Field of Dreams Would be #1 for me. Of course I’m a baseball nut who cries every time I see it. I have to watch this every March.

5. Miracle on 34th Street. The original which makes a regular appearance in our house every December.

4. King Kong. The original. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this but I know I totally didn’t like the remake from a few years ago.

3. It’s a Wonderful Life. Can’t believe this isn’t #1. What could it be???? I’d have this one #1 or 2. Who hasn’t been impacted by this film? The gold standard in the fantasy genre.

2. The Lord of the Rings. It’s me, I know, but this type of fantasy film or story doesn’t appeal to me.

1. Wizard of Oz. Of course. But I would put Wonderful Life ahead of this and probably Field of Dreams.

My top 5: Family Man, Serendipity, Oz, Field of Dreams, It’s a Wonderful Life. I like magic more than the fantasy.

Science-Fiction

10. Back to the Future Figured this might be higher on their list but there must be a ton to choose from. How many Star Wars installments make the list?

9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve never seen the original all the way through.

8. Terminator 2 Judgement Day The first time a sequel has made the list. My wife likes these films more than I do.

7. Alien. I remember seeing this in the theatre. But the sequel was scarier to me.

6. Blade Runner. I went to see this at the drive-in when I was in high school. I don’t remember any of it.

5. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Would love to see this one.

4. A Clockwork Orange. I tried to watch this several times. The weirdest piece of film I’ve ever seen. I know the critics praise it for being different, but I hated it.

3. E.T. One of the only films I’ve seen more than once in the theater. Fantastic and unless Close Encounters and Star Wars are above it, should have been higher.

2. Star Wars IV. That’s the first one. We sometimes forget about what a great story this was. Fantastic and makes me want to watch them all again.

1. Got to be: Close Encounters!…. No? 2001 a Space Odyssey Maybe but I’d put Close Encounters here or at least somewhere on the list. AFI really digs Kubrick.

My top 4: Aliens, ET, Star Wars, Close Encounters

Sports Pictures. I immediately think of Hoosiers

10. Jerry Maguire Just okay for me. I think because I kept hearing how good it was before I ever saw it. Never lived up to the hype

9. National Velvet. Probably saw it as a kid. Don’t remember it.

8. Breaking Away. Awesome movie. Wouldn’t have been on my list only because I’d have not remembered it as a “Sports film”. As it is, in my top 5

7. Caddyshack. Thank you AFI for having a sense of humor. How many lines from this movie do we hear repeated at work today?

6. The Hustler. I loved this one too. And the follow up The Color of Money many years later was good too. Jackie Gleason was fantastic

5. Bull Durham. My second favorite baseball movie behind Field of Dreams. I don’t think that’ll make two lists. Does any actor play baseball players better than Costner?

4. Hoosiers. I remember having to talk my girlfriend into seeing this movie on Spring Break. She ended up loving it as much as I did. how many coaches have used something from Hoosiers to motivate their team?

3. Pride of the Yankees. A bit of a surprise only because there’ve been so many other huge sports movies.

2. Rocky. Figured this one would be 1 or 2. Sly Stallone wrote the screenplay, not many people know that. I loved 2 and 3 too. My buddy Buck and I stood and cheered watching this in the theater.

1. Raging Bull. No arguments here. Though there are many others that could have made the list somewhere. I loved Tin Cup, and Cinderella Man would be in my top 3.

Westerns

10. Cat Ballou. Bet most of you haven’t seen this one. Funny stuff though I might would have put Shakiest Gun in the West above it. Maybe.

9. Stagecoach. I’ve seen this one. The Duke. Wasn’t this the first full-length motion picture?

8. McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Saw this in college but don’t remember anything about it.

7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. One of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t mind watching this again soon.

6. The Wild Bunch. I liked The Magnificent Seven better than this one. Wonder if it’ll make the list? Surely. One of the more realistic Westerns (violent) that I’ve seen.

5. Red River. Too many John Wayne movies to consider and only the second one mentioned so far. I’d put “The Cowboys” in this space. We’ve still got to get True Grit, and The Searchers. don’t we?

4. Unforgiven. Who was going to be the good guy in this movie? No arguments, maybe the most recent Western on the list?

3. Shane. I almost forgot. 55 year old movie and I can so picture the last scene. Alan Ladd. there was a cowboy.

2. High Noon. I loved this movie and the music…wow. I watched this in a college film class but need to see it again. So what’s #1? True Grit or The Searchers?

1. The Searchers. My favorite western and one of my top 10 favorites. James Woods said tonight “The real search is for John Wayne’s soul”. I hadn’t thought of that and need to watch this again. I’ve got it on DVD so it’ll be soon.

I’d add The Cowboys and Blazing Saddles and maybe The Shootist, Wayne’s last film.

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My 2-year commitment to Sprint has expired. I’ve been waiting and waiting, hoping to take advantage of the struggling tel-com companies. Surely they all want me.

I’ve been trying to find an iPhone. The folks at Sprint have tried to talk me into getting one of their new “Instinct” phones. But this afternoon, there’s this from the Associated Press:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Apple Inc. has unveiled an upgraded iPhone
with a faster Internet connection and satellite navigation
capabilities – priced $200 lower than current models, but with more
expensive service.
Analysts have said Apple needed to slash the multimedia gadget’s
price and upgrade it to work over so-called 3G, or
third-generation, wireless networks to hit the company’s target of
selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
An 8 gigabyte model is to sell for $199 starting July 11. A 16
gigabyte model will cost $299. The devices are to roll out
initially in 22 countries.
Apple has inked deals for wireless carriers in a total of 70
countries to carry the new iPhone.
AT&T Inc., the exclusive U.S. carrier for the phone, said its
plans for the phone will start at $39.99 per month, plus $30 for
unlimited data. That works out to be a $10 increase from the
cheapest plan for the first-generation iPhone.

$299 is cheaper than I had hoped. Now, if only I can find one.

Workers on the Hannah Montana movie lost control of a lighting scrim which plunged into a ferris wheel loaded with movie extras.

My wife and little girl were there and saw the whole thing develop. My wife says the scrim, which resembles a projection screen, was being pulled by ropes and cables near the stage. The winds picked up and the scrim began flying out of control. The workers were unable to pull it in and it swooped down above the crowd, causing some of the extras to hit the ground.

The scrim, which is used to diffuse light, was about 40′ by 40′. After swooping over the crowd it flew up and hit one of the ferris wheel cars occupied by a woman and her son. The car rocked but did not flip over.

A Disney representative told me six people were taken to a hospital but none were thought to be seriously hurt.

Glad all of those people are okay and the production continues. By the way, my daughter came home all happy and excited after getting close enough to Miley to touch her hand.

I found it interesting that none of the extras I spoke to this morning seemed to be the least bit interested in actually being seen in the movie. They were only excited about seeing Miley.

My family has come down with an odd mental illness. Miley-mania, or Montana-itus.

Disney is filming the Hannah Montana movie in Middle Tennessee and for the past two weeks, the production has been my wife and kids’ #1 topic. Lauren, my oldest drove all the way from Birmingham to be an extra for one day. She’s pretty sure she’ll actually be in the movie because she was so close to Miley during the scenes shot at a nearby high school.

This morning, Cameron, my wife, was gone before I woke up. She had to be on a shuttle bus by 6:30 to be driven to the shooting location. She didn’t get home until after 9pm. “A lot of standing around” she said, “but I did get to see Miley and I was just a few feet from Vanessa Williams”.

Tomorrow, she’ll take my youngest, Delaney for what a Disney rep told me is the biggest scene in the movie: a huge carnival where Miley will perform a concert. Dolly Parton is also supposed to be there performing on stage.

Cameron will also go back every other day this week for other scenes. She’s getting paid but maybe not more than minimum wage. Of course, this will probably be a chance of a lifetime for a shot to be seen, however briefly, in a major motion picture. And before you say “yeah, but it’s a Hannah Montana movie”, I will predict that this Disney picture will gross more than any other movie shot in Tennessee.

As for my participation, I tried. Actually I went to an open audition for adults a few weeks ago. Delaney’s friends had all gotten invitations for tomorrow’s concert scene but she hadn’t. So when I heard producers needed adult men for extra roles, I thought I’d fill out an application and try to get Delaney’s foot in the door.

The casting folks barely gave me the time of day. “We thank you for coming down Mr…..uh….Tucker. We’ll call you”.

Maybe the girls will get on the big screen. I hope at least Delaney gets close to Miley tomorrow. That’d make her day. And her daddy’s.