The Silver Screen Edition

It is starting to snow again. Apparently Sundays in February are a good time to have buckets of snow dumped on your town if you live in the GTA. At least that is what I've come to believe. Luckily, there are no more Sundays in February. Today is Academy Awards day and for the first time in my memory I'm completely indifferent to the event (mostly because I haven't seen any of the films nominated- another first in recent memory). I won't bore you with my predictions, as I've already bored others online. I did however want to reiterate in this post my love of movies, lest you think I've gone completely over the edge. The first movie I remember seeing as a kid was 101 Dalmations. I'm pretty sure we were in Germany at the time- my parents would have to confirm this of course. Later, when we returned to the States it was of course the heyday of Drive-Ins and my folks took us quite often to see Peter Pan, Herbie the Love Bug, the Escape from Witch Mountain series, the other great old Disney features with Kurt Russell etc. When my Dad was out to sea, and I was slightly older, my mom would take me to see the Planet of the Apes movies. I still remember crying when I though they had killed the little talking ape in Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Of course the Drive-In was also the place I saw the movie that most people of my generation still have a soft spot for- Star Wars. (Little did I know then that my future wife was obsessed with Star Wars as well and our first meeting, and a 3-hour plus conversation about Star Wars would be something that helped bring us together). Back in those days in the 70s B.C. (before cable) I'd stay up late on Friday nights and watch the Late Show on one of the local stations. That's where I saw all the old Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies, where I became awestruck by the Marx Brothers, and where I fell in love with Ginger Rogers and wished I could be as cool as Fred Astaire. Every month would be a different theme- one month the Bogart-Bacall movies, another the old Tracy-Hepburn films. They'd show The Thin Man series, Hitchcock's classics, and some of the old Capra movies all of which at one point or another starred Jimmy Stewart in small to large roles. I loved Jimmy Stewart. He was never too cool that he didn't screw something up, but he always had a good heart and tried to do the right thing. So Stewart and Ginger became my favorites so much so that I one night saw "Vivacious Lady"- the only movie my idols ever appeared in together. It instantly became one of my favorites. Stewart plays a professor who meets Rogers while on a trip and they have a whirlwind romance and get married. When Stewart returns he can't figure out a way to tell his university President father to that he's married, so Rogers poses as a student and screwball comedy at its best ensues. I love movies. I took my brother to see The Muppet Movie, I took my little sister about 9 times to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit (I think to this day it is still 'our' movie though we haven't seen it in a long time). My best friends and I have shared movies as well. Scott and I saw many of the Star Trek movies together and several times we watched all 3 Godfather movies in a row, while Dave Andrews and I had a standing agreement to see the latest Woody Allen movie together (I can't even venture a guess as to how many we saw). There were the trips to the NARO to see all sorts of double features and the occasional Rocky and Bullwinkle festival. The NARO itself played a huge part in my life growing up. The old style, art house theater in Norfolk that had a balcony was my favorite (still is) place to go to see a show. Their double features were legendary. I saw The Maltese Falcon and Citizen Kane together on the big screen (I could go on for days about Citizen Kane but most of you have probably already heard it- right?). I saw a double feature of JFK and The Doors. I saw the 4 hour version of Branagh's Hamlet in 70mm there. I saw the reprint of Touch of Evil there. I saw The Manchurian Candidate there. I saw The Godfather there. All favorites. I even once fell down the stairs from the balcony into the lobby once (something I've tried to forget but never could). I was lucky enough a few years ago to take Shelley there on Christmas Eve to see A Christmas Story and It's A Wonderful Life- still one of the best dates I've ever had. When I was in Utah I had a great place to go that showed movies for $1.50. When I was lonely, no longer married, living in a strange place with almost no friends, I'd go there on Saturdays and see 3, sometimes 4 movies in a day. Movies kept me sane. Tammi and I saw Topsy-Turvy in downtown Salt Lake and we were pretty close to the only people in the house. I dragged my friend Nikki to see Bring It On and I was pretty close to the only male in the house (okay I was but let's not daudle on that). Now that I'm here in Canada I love going downtown TO to the Paramount. Sure it's a modern multiplex but it has enough interesting design to make it an experience. It has the highest escalator I've even seen (though it does not as some people think go all the way to heaven...it just seems like it does). The Paramount was the scene of my longest movie going experience (yes even longer than 4 movies in one day at Sugarhouse in SLC). This was the day that my wife and I went to see the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 2003. Extended versions of Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers each covered about 4 hours plus. Then the premiere of Return of the King. All in all it was 11 plus hours of movie-going in one sitting. Now THAT is dedication. Well I can't of course leave a TGIF without a few photos and I've got a new little wrinkle in photo posting so if you click on any photo now you'll get a nice larger version of in a separate window (yeah, I know my computer geek friends are yawning but it is cool). Dixie and Willow have discovered a new sport- snowball catching. Here are a couple of pictures of them waiting for the glorious frozen ball of goodness to lose the battle with gravity. Shelley is feeling slightly better though still having some bouts of nausea. 2 more weeks until the next midwife check-up and 5 more weeks until the next ultrasound. Today we bought a few little baby things at the store as well. Last night we went to Chapters as I was searching for a book for one of my classes, and I was stunned to see how little there is for new fathers. Tons of stuff for new mommies, virtually nada for daddies. Well I guess that sums up this week so until next time... bahdee bahdee bahdee that's all folks Cheers

The It's Alive Edition

Well I guess there's just no getting around it now, I'm definitely going to be a Dad. Just got back from Shelley's first ultrasound and everything is going swimmingly (especially the little creature that will soon take over the world...er I mean) The day didn't start out well. We had a horrible drive into the city and then parking...gah...it made me want to kill. In fact I've saved the parking receipt because when the child is old enough to work, it's paying me back the $17.50 it cost to park today. Sure the doctor visit doesn't cost you anything, but the parking requires a second mortgage!! But once we got inside everything was fine. There it is (we still of course at this point don't know whether it is a boy or a girl). For the more adventurous of among you we have a little 30 second clip for you. It may take minute or so to download so be patient. Just click below. Baby's First Feature Film In another 6 weeks there's another round of pictures and then after that, as Tom Petty sings "The waiting is the hardest part". This weekend, since I wanted to be the first to do so, I went out and bought the first baby clothes for the 'little bit'. Nothing fancy just a few shirts and some socks. Now most of you know that I loathe shopping...Shelley has to club me, throw me in the trunk like a mafia rat and take me to the mall...and yet... There I was, on my own, shopping. Yes I know most of you have gone through this already and you're probably shaking your heads with that 'tsk poor Ron is doomed' wry grin on your face...but see I know I'm doomed. I harbor no illusions. You can't turn me copper, nyah (sorry too many Edgar G Robinson movies lately). So, since I've been inundated with the question lately...YES we have names picked out, but NO you may not know ahead of time. Besides I've got to hold out the hope that Bill Gates decides to license the merchandising rights to the baby's name for 8 figures...ahh Microsoft St.Amant...hey for $10 million I'll do it. Cheers

The Phoenix Edition

Happy Valentine's Day! As you may (or may not) have noticed my TGIF has been silent since Christmas and for a very good reason- which most of you know now but still a few of the more far lung friends and family who read this do not. So for those who know the news you can skip down since by now you're yawning to death. On Boxing Day Shell and I learned that we were going to have a baby. We wanted to wait a while until she got further along to tell Shell's grandparents (and thus the extended Snyder and Amos families) and so rather than having to write about other things with this news burning a hole in my literary pocket I chose to take an extended hiatus. Shell is now in the last week of her first trimester and so on Sunday we phoned Grandma and Grandpa Snyder and Grandma Amos and let them know so now it is free information for all and I can return to this weekly (or so) update. For those who have known for a while, once again I thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. For those who are just getting word now, just know it isn't because we love you less, only that we wanted to be down the road a bit before laying it on the baby's great-grandparents. Okay so where do we stand? Well Shell has a collection of midwives now (though we've only met one of them so far). We sweated it for a while because we weren't sure if they were going to take us, but last week we had our first appointment and tomorrow we go for the second one. Next Tuesday is another appointment, this time for an ultrasound that detects potential problems in pregnant women over 35. We are hoping to finally see the baby and that things are going well. Please keep sending those prayers our way. Of course right now we're a jumble of emotions: nervous, ecstatic, nauseous, hopeful, hungry, NOT hungry, and mostly sleepy. At the moment the different calendars peg the due date somewhere between September 3 and September 6...but as long as it doesn't become July or October I think we'll take a bit of the uncertainty- besides this baby is going to appear when it's good and ready and not a second before. So what else is new? Well the second semester for me at school is well into the halfway mark. This week in fact is "reading week" which is spring break if there was such a thing as spring in Canada (I'm beginning to doubt it). This semester seems more manageable and less crammed with overwhelming assignments and I only have three papers due this semester and then 3 finals in May. I'm enjoying my classes more and have met some really great people. I did finally received my one semester grade from last semester and I got a B+ in the Historiography class that I feared early on. So I've finally, officially, started a GPA at Toronto with a 3.30 It's a tad lower than Utah but given the strength of the grading I'm okay with it. Given the pregnancy, there's been little in the way of more renovations but Shell did manage to paint the hallway over Christmas break and it looks great. That leaves only the kitchen and basement as in need of new paint. It will get there in time. In dog news, Dixie and Willow are doing great (if a little stiff from not enough exercise). Winters are hard here and they don't get as much playtime as usual. There is dog news of a different sort as my Mom got a new puppy over the last few months. Since Maddie passed away, there was an absence of pug in the house for the first time in a looooong time. Here's the only photo I have thus far (this is a hint to my mother to send more photos of the puppy!!!) Apologies if you've seen it before. We had a lovely weekend this week. Renee and Jeff visited and we had a great time together. On Sunday a friend from Univeristy, Alex, came out to the country and we had a nice time as well. It feels wonderful to have people visit us, especially since the house is coming along (so if you're in the neighborhood stop on by). Well at least now the phoenix that is this blog has risen again and hopefully in the next few months I'll have more stories to tell, more political ideas to share, and more photos to show you...but for now... Cheers