Top 15 Childhood Movies I'm Sure You've Missed

So, I'm back, haven't blogged in a while, didn't really feel like blogging and I can't sleep so I thought I could do a movie review, the best childhood movies -assuming you grew up in the 90s as well- so here's my list:

15 - The Grinch (2000):

I don't know why, but I was siding with the Grinch almost the entire movie...

14- Dennis The Menace (1993):

 13- Ghost Busters (1984):

12- The Goonies (1985):

11- James and The Giant Peach (1996):

I loved the book and I love the movie

10- Jumanji (1995):

9- Mrs. Doubtfire (1993):

8- George Of The Jungle (1997):

7- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988):

6- Toy Story (1995):

5- Home Alone (1990):

4- Space Jam (1996):

3- The Mask (1994):

2- Ace Ventura (1994): 

1- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993):

If I keep posting, this list might grow to a 100, so I'll stop right there, they just don't make them like this anymore...*sigh*

Ok, I'm going back to bed, rant's over.

Off The Record:

What was your favorite movie growing up? You know, the one where you know all the lines by heart?...

Losing it!

I know I haven't been blogging much lately, been a little busy with Ramadan, who am I kidding all they do in Ramadan is drag you from one household to another and force feed you pounds of greasy food until you barf... or maybe that's how mine's been, other than that quite lovely really.

So, lately I've been feeling a little.. brain fog, I'm losing my ability to remember things correctly, I can't find my stuff for the sake of me and for the love of God I'm losing my spelling ability -I actually misspelled "restaurant" twice today... "business" and a few other easy words!!

Of course you know me, I jumped into conclusions, started looking up types of Agraphia, googled symptoms, run a few tests... yes, spoken like a true hypochondriac med-student, I'd make the people in the psych ward proud and I didn't mean the doctors.

So before I lose my mind completely -I'm soooo tempted to run a brain MRI, I would stay in there for 45 minutes without a problem- and start diagnosing myself with different disorders, I have 4 in mind so far...ehm. Anyway, before any impromptu visits to the neurologist, sleep medicine, radiology or psychiatry department, the somewhat sane part of me suggested that probably the over usage of internet, keyboards and spellchecks had made me way too dependent and is making me lose it, just how we can't do mental math anymore cause we have calculators now.

So, here's what I'm gonna do, ladies and gentlemen I present to you,

The Mind Modifier Challenge 


Starting September 25th 2010 - Ending September 25th 2011

Goals:

1- To read one book per-week = total of 52 books in a year

*Books should not be any less than 250 pages, collective book pages is OK (adding multiple book pages to measure up to the 250 goal, or spreading out a 1500 page book over 6 weeks.. you get the picture)

2- To master quick mental math trick per week, will be posting those

3- To solve a weekly Analytical puzzle, I'll be posting it for you guys as well, once I solve it =)

4- To buy and put together an actual puzzle every month -will upload pictures of that as well

Hopefully, in a few month my rusty brain will be functioning the way it's supposed to once again!! Wish me luck.

Off The Record: 
How often do you suffer from the occasional... "brain cramp"?

Smells like nostalgia !!

If you know me, you probably know that I usually get these random "blast from the past" moments, where you just sit and think about your childhood, pondering what went wrong.... and 10 minutes later you're playing your Sega, what? That's just me?

Well all jokes aside, growing up in the 90s had to be one of the best things a child could experience, I truly feel sorry for kids nowadays for missing out on their childhoods, we were fortunate enough to live it out, back when there was no internet, no cellphones, laptop computers were a luxury not a necessity and the word "fat" was spelled with a "ph"

Back when we actually learned something from cartoons and the stories were actually good - I learned a lot of random information from Animaniacs- you know what? Let me rephrase, back when cartoons were worth watching! When it didn't revolve around violence, futuristic bullshit and ... nonsense, you know what I mean, because you used to get up early to watch your favorite cartoons as well, am I right?

Getting up early to watch Mr. Bogus, Pink Panther, The Three Stooges, old plain Disney cartoons, Zaina, Lady, The Woody Woodpecker Show and in later years, Spongebob -most of us still watch it and we're proud, viva la squarepants!- Cat Dog, Hey Arnold! Rugrats, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, Freakazoid, Power Rangers -I hate to admit watching it- Chip N'Dale Rescue Rangers, Pepper Ann... seriously I can go on forever, but you got my point.

Oh one more thing, whenever this was on TV, I would literally drop whatever I was doing to go watch it, it took me a while to remember the name of the show but here it is, yes I know you're thinking I'm a pervert, I just find it funny how they just cut at 1:17 yet we never asked, "what the hell just happened?"... I'm pretty sure our parents were grateful we didn't as well.

So, here are some TV shows, I really miss, and I know some -most- of you must as well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoOzbVxxYI8

Feel free, to check out parts 2 and 3, gotta love Will Smith when he was skinny, goofy and yes I hate to admit it, but I can do the carlton, there I said it! My biggest embarrassment is on here for your entertainment, happy I hope?

Other great shows from the 90s

Martin, Saved by The Bell, less known show Student Bodies, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, بنك المعلومات Home Improvement Boy Meets World , Full House, Brotherly Love, Telematch  The Crystal Maze  Takeshi's Castle الحصن

Now that we're done with that, on to the music/fashion... cause as kids for some reason we drew our fashion inspiration from music videos... now we all know what a bad idea it was.

Fashion Fads:

1- Tightrolled Jeans

2- Neons, lots and lots of... neons:

3- Overalls... nuff said

4- Baggy Jeans and plaid shirts:

I can still go on about the crazy hair, light up shoes, jean jackets, clogs... etc, but again, I guess you got the picture.

Music on the other hand, was actually FUN, the lyrics were about having a good time, they made you wanna dance,look me in the eye and tell me you didn't dance to MC Hammer's Can't Touch this or the Macarena... thought so!

Remember the boy band craze? Remember how everyone told us that they were gay and we didn't believe them?... They had a point, right now I bet you're recalling N'Sync's songs, imagining Justin with hair or whatever, probably youtubing The Spice Girls or trying to remember the "Justin/Britney" relationship part of your life.... yes when I say "part" I mean it, you know you talked about it.

You also remember watching movies like Home Alone, Richie Rich -didn't we all wish for that McDonalds at home?- Beetlejuice, The Adams Family, Flubber, Mrs. Doubtfire, Matilda, Ghostbusters, Inspector Gadget, Jumanji, Scream -when you were allowed to- Toy Story when it first came out, A bug's life, AntZ... actually you remember when 3D animation was actually a BIG deal! 

Speaking of toys, remember these? 

Water guns ROCKED!!

 

I could seriously keep on rambling nonstop, it's just lately I've been missing my childhood so bad and feeling sorry for kids nowadays growing up without experiencing what we did... childhood, it's like they're jumping straight to adolescence, they lost their innocence. 

Off The Record:

What's your favorite 90s memory?

Me, myself and I

*Disclaimer: The following post is written for entertainment purposes only -partially from a male perspective, everything IS blown 10 times out of porportion to add the drama this blog is about, enjoy


"When I have one foot in the grave, I will tell the whole truth about women. I shall tell it, jump into my coffin, pull the lid over me and say, 'Do what you like now" - Leo Tolstoy


Old man Tolstoy would be bluffing if he said he knew the truth about women, no man alive knows the truth about women, why? Cause if they did, humanity as we know it would cease to exist, I can guarantee you most men would pass the chance to mate if they knew what we knew -yet we don't really admit- about ourselves.

Which is what I'm here to reveal today *dun dun dun duuuh!!* 


The reason why men can't simply understand women is very simple... women have multiple personalities during the month, the minute he figures one out, a new one surfaces and he goes into a very long "WTF" period, then the familiar personality comes back again just when he was starting to get used to the new one... see where I'm going with this?

Ladies it's not their fault, and sure as hell isn't ours either, our personalities are affected by our hormonal spurts, men don't have these so calling them "mood swings" seems like a solution that works for them, so I'll try to decipher this for the average male, most women are borderline schizophrenics! and their interests in guys change depending on which demon she's possessed by at the moment


See every woman has 3 personalities, The mellow/relaxed girl, The sweetheart and... The bride of Frankenstein, let's break it down a little more, shall we?

Mellow Mama: 

This is what co-workers, family members, friends... etc see most of the time, just a normal person with hobbies, interests, you know, the normal human being doing... normal human stuff

Her interests during this time: someone to keep her company, kick back with again... do normal human stuff.

Not too bad is it?

The Sweetheart: 

Estrogen levels are so high it can turn an ugly ostrich into a peacock, this is when she looks, feels and acts girly and can't really help it.

How to recognize? Just keep an open eye for ... pink, if your girl isn't a big fan of pink then keep an open eye for french manicures, spa trips, new haircuts, shopping sprees and chances are... a LOT of romantic comedies

Dangers: Just think how the delusional fly gets attracted to a bug zapper then *pzzzt*... poor fellow is vaporized.

And now without further ado -drumroll please- we present, the one and the only...

Bride of Frankenstein (A.K.A the crazy b*tch, the emotional mess, Satan's Mistress, The Hulk):


The most dangerous of all 3 phases, your best chances are... leave her alone! and even THAT will backfire at you, just try your best to stay on her good side, your in for:

-Over analyzing anything you say or don't say
-Accusations of infidelity and questioning sincerity
-Unexplained bursts of tears
-Objects can be thrown
-Objects can be thrown at you
-Objects can be directed at your genitals specifically
-Over indulgence in comfort food
-Cue the drama movie marathon, the sadder the end the better
-Use of 4 lettered curse words is often sighted
-Suddenly she describes everyone as insane *sarcasm*
-The urge to dismember/ hurt every male she sees

Expected question: Do I look fat? Answer : The answer is always NO, for the love of God if you even hesitate you've got no one to blame but yourself

Survival tips for those days: stock up on chocolate, tissues, chickflicks, keep a safe 10 feet distance at all times, agree to everything she says -even if it doesn't make any sense, because it won't- and finally... sleep on the couch, it's much safer there, remember what Lorraine Bobbit did to her husband? I figure she was going through this phase...

Notes:

-In case of stress, the bride of frankenstein takes over for a longer time, the sweetheart diminishes and the mellow mama ceases to exist.

-In case of falling in love, the bitch turns into someone whose ... oversensitive and let's just leave it at that and the mellow mama ceases to exist as well

-The only way to decipher when each character is in play is by eliminating all external stress factors, work, school,  family, stress... etc, which is impossible which is why you're screwed

*Dealing with the pregnant lady:

1- The first trimester wouldn't be so bad so enjoy it while it lasts, she'll sleep a lot, whine a little and be generally peaceful

3- 4th and 5th months are called (the 2nd honeymoon months) The Sweetheart takes over and I'll just say the rest is pretty self explanatory

3- 6th through the end is when The Bride of Frankenstein takes over, review the tips given above, and if by any chance your lady passes her due date, approach her very very carefully, cause you can easily lose a limb... or more

So ladies, no need to hide it anymore, you know it's true, every single word, we're hard to handle cause honestly we can't even handle ourselves, so go easy on the guys ok?

Gentlemen, God be with you... at least it's worth it in the end? Right?

Off the record: What's the craziest thing you've done when you were angry? 

Summer Music

*I had to re-write this damned post 5 times cause my browser kept freezing*

Summer is the time where your iPods gets it's money's worth of playing, constant and nonstop untill your ears start buzzing when you finally turn in off. Anyway, there were a few songs with great beats and catchy lyrics that in my book qualify to be called "Summer Hits", here are my favorites:





Even though Adam looks like he just jumped out of Grease and is getting his ass kicked throughout the whole video -which makes you believe he's immortal... and has a thing for S&M, but who am I to judge? To each their own right?- the song is catchy, gets stuck pretty fast and the video is just funny which is always a plus.




Ok, probably the song starts off a little weak, but once the marching band beats kick in, it gives it a little hiphop feeling, which is different, likable and enjoyable, and honestly who doesn't like One Republic?



Is it me or is David Guetta becoming the white Dr. Dre?! He's in every single hit right now -which is a good thing, I love David.

Btw, speaking of Dre, anyone noticed the product placement stunt in the first 2 videos where the band is wearing "Beats by Dre" headphones?



Judge all you want but I'll listen to anything with Will. I . Am... the song isn't half bad

Now, on a lighter note, something softer



Owl city's music is just... sweet, there isn't any other words to describe it, it makes you sigh and plaster a dopey smile on your face through the whole thing.



He sounds a lot like Justin doesn't he?

And we'll finish with Enrique, there's a reason it's at the end... it ranks at the bottom of my list lol



The chorus just kills the song other than that it gets like 7/10

To be continued when I find more songs, till then, enjoy ;)

Off the record:


What's playing on your iPod right now?

A song is worth a thousand words

You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? I figured out music sometimes speaks for us, especially when we feel tongue tied and can't think of something rational to say, I know what you're thinking, "been there, done that"

I really hate when you dwell on thought all by yourself, you tend to find things from your past that you purposely put a gigantic padlock on and threw the key down a bottomless ocean, it's like opening Pandora's box NOTHING good comes out of it, just pain and until you figure out how to close it again, it haunts you to the point of breaking down

So, my thoughts for the week? Listen on, enjoy




And another trip down memory lane...




Off the Record:


What songs can you relate to at the moment?

Wake me up before you Go Go!

Now if you're clicking thinking this post is about Wham, I suggest you click that "return" button right now, it won't take long... I can wait.

For those of you who actually wanna know what this is about, it's about something I would like to call, "the fire alarm curse".

You see, for over 15 years my family and I suffered the same thing every Summer; no matter WHERE we stay in, the fire alarm HAS to go on and it's NEVER ok to just wait it out, you have to evacuate being it real, a false alarm or even a system malfunction as they call it.

My Summer 2010 is about 10 days away from ending and I was hoping to break the damned curse! But I guess that's not happening cause tonight at exactly 1:06 the familiar haunting sound of sirens and flashing lights -if you close your eyes tight enough you'll think you're in a KISS concert- went off once again.

Here's the problem, being fooled by the same thing for over 15 years you lose the will to listen to the sirens any more, you're pretty much sure it's nothing, so getting people out of bed was kind of the hardest part.

Me: alarm's on, you think it's fake?

"Plural -pretty sleepy- yes"

Me: are we gonna go downstairs?

Dad: call the reception, check if something's up and that they're not running a test

Me: why do I have to do it?

Mom: you're the only one whose out of bed

---- I call the reception and they say they have no idea what's going on in our building and they're sending a security team to check it out----

Me: we have to evacuate

Bro: you guys go ahead, I'll sleep *mind you the alarm is still on*

Mom: you're coming with us

Sis: should I change?

Mom: what you're wearing is fine we'll be back up in a few minutes

Sis: should I wake my son? *the fact he didn't wake up in the first place still amazes me*

Mom: just carry him and we'll get going

So we go down 3 flights of stairs and my sis goes off cradling her son back to sleep -he got a little startled while she was going down the stairs- and mom goes into a little hysteric moment when she sees the fire engines coming with my brother still upstairs, she asks me to call him... yes the only thing I took down with me was not the room key but my blackberry, go figure. So, I call him and I kept getting rejected until I see him coming down the stairs with the car key in his hand where we spend the next half hour.

My thoughts in those 30 minutes? Please read on:

1- I like her pajamas

2- Dude, put on a shirt

3- Bunny slippers!!

4- Someone can actually pull off the bed head look and look decent, congratulations

5- Why in the world are you wearing a swimming suit at 1 am? You're going for a midnight dip in the lake by the golf course?!

6- The only thing you managed to save in case of a fire was your Goofy hat?

Yes I know, I seem very shallow, but experience taught me you don't go down in an emergency unless you're fully dressed and you look half decent, vanity comes first I guess? I took the time to find a hair tie, my shoes, unwrap a newly bought fleece robe, took a bottle of water and went down stairs... yes pretty ignorant you may say, I call it tolerance.

I have been through hurricane alarms, fire alarms, flood alarms...etc, and for some reason it seems that these situations lost their edge, I would probably be TOO calm.

So back to the story, at about 1:33 everything was clearing out, one of the firemen told us that it was s "system malfunction" a.k.a some kids set off the alarm.

Note to parents: your kids should be sound asleep by 1:00 am, let alone be INSIDE your apartment, not running around the building, you want me to call the CPS on your asses on claims of neglect? That'll teach you to lock your kids in!

So, the setting is all cleared up and people are filing up the stairs and the damned thing goes off again! This is when I suspected it'll be a long long night.... Thankfully though, it didn't go off for the third time or seriously someone would've been hurt, mess with a girl but not with her beauty sleep, mmkay?

So I guess I'm doomed to alarms, do I think it'll stop? No, does it bother me? Meh, it kinda grown on me, I don't mind anymore...

Off the Record: What's the worst experience you've had with a fire alarm?

Kids, children, bambionos ....Oh boy

Someone once said, "You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance", and they could not have been more accurate! I just came back from a ride to Hell and back with a 6 year old and a 2 year old -both I love dearly, but this was just too much.

Now don't get me wrong, I love children, I love their innocence, I love their creativity... but there's this little breaking point when those little rascals grow horns and tails.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the past week, I've been bitten, kicked, slapped, got my ear pulled, my shirt slobbered on and ran a block in very uncomfortable shoes, now you might assume I have kids, wrong! The kids in this post are my 2 nephews -I'm 21 remember?- One is just starting his terrible 2 and the other is starting the "why?" age, both will drive any sane person mad.

I'll give you an example of what I was going through today:

" 'Twas a dark dark night, the moon shone vividly over the bayou, a black leather studded carriage strolled calmly through the forest, nothing but the sound of the wind, the water and the sighs of a slumbering maiden. With a thundering cry and a sudden jolt she woke up to site of 2 thieves hijacking the carriage, they swiftly clamped her mouth and muffled her desperate cries for helps and...."

Ok this is probably a little too melodramatic -go figure- what really happened is after hearing the kids jump and play in the car for 40 minutes having this conversation:

O: "we're going hoooome"

H: "Ooome!"

O: "Don't repeat what I say!"

H: "yaaaay"

O: "Stop it"

H: "ithhh"

O: "mooooom"

H: "maaaaamaaaaa"

O: "moooom he's repeating me!"

H: *laughing*

O: "moooom he's laughing at me"

.... and it goes on for another half an hour, unfortunately I didn't have my ipod with me and somehow was stuck in the middle, so what a girl to do? sleep, right?... wrong!

I tried sleeping, 5 minutes after I dose off it goes very very very quite and I wake up with the elder's hand clamping my nose and the little ones hands practically inside my mouth -I'm secretly convinced it's revenge for not letting them have ice cream with dinner, they get freakishly hyper- and the whole car bursting in laughter over their ingenious method of waking me up...

I honestly can't wait to have kids of my own, but in the past few weeks I've realized how much of a handful they can really be, from stubbornness to moodiness to "mommy I think I made an accident", and the idea of starting pediatric medicine next year scares me a little bit, I adore them, but I'm not sure if I can tolerate ones I don't share DNA with, I seriously can predict one of 2 situations happening:

A) I'll be the very sweet doctor who they'll weasel themselves out of her hands with a hug

B) I'll be the b*tch that makes them pee their pants when they see my face

Which one will it be? Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Off the record:

What's the worst thing a child can do to tick you off?