Comedy Needed

I don't know about you but I need some humor in my life.

I made the mistake of listening to NPR as I did a lot of driving yesterday.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some NPR, but the news is more than I can take sometimes.

So I posted a request for comedy movies on FB, and my friends came through. (because my friends are AWESOME like that)

Back at the beginning of the pandemic Hot Dog started us on a Marvel movie marathon, then we did a Harry Potter marathon, then some stuff I didn't remember (edit to note at least some of it was 007 movies, and Bridge over the River Kwai),... right now we're three seasons in to Parks and Rec, which is a lovely show, but I'm ready for a break.  So I'm going to suggest a comedy movie marathon, and hope that since friends recommended them rather than me, Hot Dog will go a long with it.

So, with no further ado, in no order, and probably with some repeats, here are recommendations from my friends.  If you see something missing, let me know in the comments!!

Monty Python

Princess Bride

Young Frankenstein

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Some Like it Hot

Dr. Strangelove

Airplane!

The Producers

Groundhog Day

Waiting for Guffman

Bringing up Baby

Any Chaplin film

Safety Last

The General

Steamboat Bill Jr.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure

In Bruges

Top Secret

Stripes

Galaxy Quest

The In-laws

The Lavender Hill Mob

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Clueless

Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Mr. Roberts

All About Eve

Being There

Heaven Can Wait

Office Space

What We Do in the Shadows

O Brother Where Art Thou

Raising Arizona

The Lady Eve

Little Shop of Horrors

Shaun of the Dead

The Lady Eve

Ninotchka

The Shop Around the Corner

Harvey

Arsenic and Old Lace

Naked Gun

The Thin Man (multiple movies in this series)

Roman Holiday

The Apartment

Trouble in Paradise

Top Hat

Singin in the Rain

Hot Fuzz

The Muppet Movie

Moonrise Kingdom

Flirting with Disaster

Sabrina

His Girl Friday

The Philadelphia Story

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Superbad

Romancing the Stone

Adam's Rib

Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Spinal Tap

A Fish Called Wanda

Team America: World Police

Foul Play

Silver Streak

How to Steal a Million

Batman the Movie

Funny Farm

Amelie

Idiocracy

Planes Trains and Automobiles

Some like it Hot  (Marilyn Monroe)

Paris When it Sizzles (Audry Hepburn)

Love Birds

Palm Springs 

The Bird Cage

City Slickers

Shanghai Knights

It’s Complicated

Mr. Bean (movie series)

Young Frankenstein

Office Space

Space Balls

Harold and Maude

Waitress

Holy Grail

Amelie

Roberto Bernini (not sure of spelling)

Il Monstro 

Johnny Toothpick (Italian comedies)

Best in Show

Mediterranio (also not sure of spelling- Italian Fascisists occupying a Greek Island), Babette’s Feast (also falls into food porn genre)

Pink Panther movies

Mr Bean shows

all Monty Python

Outrageous Fortune

When Harry met Sally

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

RED (with Bruce Willis)

Tintin

The African Queen

Mastermind

The Incredibles

Pirates of the Caribbean

Something About Mary

A Fish called Wanda

Best In Show

Spinal Tap

Galaxy Quest

Eurovision (movie, new on Netflix)

It Happened One Night

Gunless

Second Hand Lions

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Date Night

Hero (with Dustin Hoffman)

The Philadelphia Story

Trading Places

Big

Local Hero

The Holiday

Elf

My Man Godfrey

Son of Paleface

How to Marry a Millionaire

Ghostbusters

The Emperor's New Groove

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Best in Show

School of Rock

Kung Fu Panda

Rush Hour

Midnight Run

Silver Streak

Blues Brothers

Beetlejuice

Deadpool

Guardians of the Galaxy

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Better off Dead

True Lies

Benny & Joon

Waking Ned Devine

Spy

The Fabulous Mr Fox

About Time

 Blast from the Past

Bedazzled

A Fish Called Wanda

The African Queen

Second Hand Lions

Groundhog Day

Big Fish 

What we do in the Shadows

Spies like Us

Long Shot

A Simple Wedding

Dioni and Devine Meet the Apocalypse

Bandits

The Secret of Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller)

Liar Liar

Water Boy 

Cable Guy

Series

Life in Pieces (Amazon Prime

Barry (dark comedy, HBO)

FX TV

Performers:
Anything with Tim Conway

Stephen Wright

The Amazing Jonathan

Not comedy but recommended

Greyhound (Tom Hanks)

train to Busan  (Korean)

Past me vs Present and Future me

Does anyone else have time laden conversations with themselves?

Like Present me is grateful to Past me for taking pictures of the garden, especially the iris in bloom so I know what colors they are when I'm separating them. 
But Present me is also somewhat irked because Past me planned to organize the photos such that Future me could easily see what was where without having to search through years of photos. 
Past me was also going to make beautiful photo albums for each of the children when they turned 18.  Or 21.  Or 22.  But Past me has not been as helpful as she intended. 
Present me would like to do better for Future me, but Present me is also already talking to Future me about exactly when would we have the time for that kind of bullshit?  It's a nice idea and all, but I don't see you doing it either bitch, so cut the complaining already.

Also, pouring through the photos makes Present me jealous of Past me, who got to travel and take lots of fun camping trips.  Present me wants to do that, but thinks that being a thoughtful adult means that would be a stupid and irresponsible action right now.  Present me hopes Future me appreciates our sacrifice.

Ya, so that's a tiny bit of what it's like to live in my head.

These smell like purple kool-aid!

this exists somewhere in the yard, good luck figuring out where

Games for sanity, or at least a little fun

Pleasant distractions are welcome, especially in this time of pandemic when we are trapped inside with the same people, day after day after day.  A recent New York Times article touted the value and joy of table top games.  Which is great, and it recommended a couple of good games (Patchwork and Japir), but they left out some of our favorites. 
We have a lot of games, as I've posted before, so I'm here to correct add to their list.

Carcassonne
Quirkle
Century Spice Road
Pandemic the Cure
VivaJava
King Domino
Xenon
Bonanza
Dominion
Wits and Wagers
Codenames
Las Vegas Dice
Dixit
Anomia
Geistes Blitz
Hey That's My Fish!
Gobblet
Trambahn
San Juan
Citadels
Sheriff of Nottingham

and so many more....

So how to pick?  I'd want to know about who you've got stuck in your house with you.

Want to buy a gateway game?  Quirkle and/or Carcassone

Party game?  Anomia, Wits and Wagers, Dixit, or Codenames

Need something quick and easy to learn?
Quirkle, Las Vegas Dice, Wits and Wagers

Some pre-reader or not-yet-fluent readers?  Remember, just because a kid isn't reading, doesn't mean they can't clean the table with you.
 How about Quirkle, Hey That's My Fish, Dixit, Gobblet, Geistes Blitz, Las Vegas Dice, King Domino, or Carcassone

Only two of you?  Try Gobblet, Carcassone, Quirkle, Hey That's My Fish!, Trambahn, San Juan, ...

For more details on each game and suggestions and ideas for more games, check out BoardGameGeek

If you want to play virtually with friends there are a few resources to try, TableTop Simulator and Tabletopia are some I've heard of.

Got a specific question or need?  Ask me, and I'll offer an opinion.
Let me know what your favorites are.  (but don't say Monopoly, please)

Universal Slack

I want to introduce you to a most useful concept

Granting Universal Slack

I just got off the phone with Janice, who had to tell me that a surgery for our big rescue dog had to again be rescheduled to some date that is not yet known.  I said of course, and that I hoped she was staying well in these crazy days.  She almost cried, and said "Thank you for making this easy" - because other folks had been making it hard.

So, don't be that person.  Don't make it harder for anyone else right now.  Things kinda suck at the moment.  They just do.  It's hard enough, grant folks some slack.  Grant Universal Slack, to everyone.  Including yourself. 

Universal slack means acting with patience regardless of how you're feeling.  It means remembering that nothing about the current state of affairs is anything like normal, for anyone, and we're all just doing the best we can.  Universal slack means granting it to someone who isn't ready to reciprocate.
It means remembering that what is really important is how we treat each other, and that real character is shown when things aren't going your way.  And it's ok to screw up, just try again.  and again.

We're going to figure this out together, somehow.  Somehow, some day, we'll be on the other side of all of this mess.  What we'll remember is how we stood together, how we treated each other.

So cut each other some slack, ok?

I love you enough to share some cuteness
Here's a picture of two of our foster kittens

and our eighty pound rescue dog who won't be having surgery anytime soon

Make bad art

The act of imagination is an act of survival

To learn is human
To engineer is human
To create is human

Create because it feels good, not because the product is good, but because the process is.  It fufills a basic human drive to effect change, create, express.  It's good to feel good. But, if you need an excuse, make art because making art is good for us, like vegetables and exercise level good.

Remember when you were little?  You'd make something and not know that it was "bad"?  Mud pies were real.  You'd draw a picture and it was so satisfying, no, it didn't look like what you'd intended, but it felt good to do it, you liked the colors, the shape, the way it felt.  You'd hear a song, it gave you shivers, and then maybe you'd sing it, with no thought to if you were "good".

Then, probably, somewhere, you got feed back that didn't feel so good.  You handed someone a picture and the tone when they asked "what is this?" stung. Or your fourth grade music teacher told you to just mouth the words instead of singing. 

When I was a little kid I would sing, all the time.  Real songs I'd heard (or mis-heard), songs I made up, pretty random, but to me it made sense.  It was comforting.  Some time in 6th grade I learned that maybe this wasn't socially acceptable. (ya, late bloomer here)
[I think it was when I got peeved with a friend on the play ground and loudly sang at her "Anything you can I can do better, I can do anything better than you!"  You get a certain sort of rep when you do shit like that.]

Even as a teen my brother and I would play a game where we would only respond to each other with snippets of song.  Huh.  Firelord and I found ourselves doing that when the full implications of COVID19 started to hit us.  "It's the end of the world as we know it" "We didn't start the fire, 'cause the worlds been burning since the world's been turning" "Staying alive, staying alive"
So, ya, I guess I haven't really outgrown it.  It feels good.

There's research out there that shows that art is good for you. 
Making art is good for you.  The  objective quality of your work is irrelevant. 
Play.
Make art because it feels good. 
Call it a mediation if you need an excuse. 
Do it to stay sane. 
Do it to model for your kids and community this oh-so-valuable survival mechanism.