The Karate Kid
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
From the sounds of Cruel Summer by Bananarama to the sights of Daniel sanding the deck to the pure adrenaline rush of the final Crane Technique kick in the chops, The Karate Kid is a pure classic time capsule of the 1980’s. Quality of the films not withstanding, there is no way that the recent remake is going to replace the 1984 original. And although Pat Morita’s performance as Mr. Miyagi was worthy enough to be nominated for an Oscar, those who were teens when this movie came out could better related to Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso. Read the rest of this entry »
With my ever-growing addictive obsession of celebrity encounters, I decided to attend my fourth consecutive Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia show in Chicago – even if it meant taking a road trip just two days after returning from Florida. I got back from that vacation on Wednesday afternoon, September 22, 2010. This left me only one evening to get the air filled in my new Acura over at Mom’s house, so it was road-worthy for another trip. And even though I had lots to do before the trip, it wasn’t difficult for her to talk me into staying for a nice beef stew dinner. 
It was an unassuming afternoon at the Disney World’s Magic Kingdom on Friday, September 17, 2010. Ashleigh and I had just finished roaming around Tom Sawyer’s Island and we were waiting for the next showing in the Hall of Presidents. I was excited to see the new updated show, now featuring Barack Obama. Sitting cross-legged on the floor and sending out texts to friends back home, I heard Ashleigh mutter something about some girl who ‘looks like Holly’. I had already noted this girl, who was with a friend. Both were wearing knee-high socks and were relatively attractive – but not so much that I had fixated on them while we were waiting. 
When I first planned out the Disney World trip that I took with Erin and her kids in July, I had wanted to start out in Atlanta before moving on to Plains, Georgia. However, after we added an additional day at Disney and realized we could get started until late morning on our first Saturday, we nixed the visit to Atlanta. Then I had hoped to take my fifth and final vacation in Charleston where Erin lived, and take a side excursion up to Atlanta. But when we broke up, that fell through. But I didn’t let the Atlanta dream die… 
…but it was a rather expensive one at that. Paper Moon, the 1973 comedy-drama film that is set in the black and white era of Prohibition ranks highly on my list of favorite films. Ever since I discovered this movie, I shared it with Ashleigh and Briana among others, and the consensus is that it is a timeless classic. It starred the father and son team of Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal, and it was in fact the then-10-year old Tatum who was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film. To date, she is the youngest recipient of a competitive Oscar.