Friday 5 for August 30: GOAT

 

Friday 5 for August 30: GOAT

Questions from Scrivener's weekly Friday 5 blog.

1. If you are forced to choose only one, what is the greatest single episode of a television series, ever?

"Severed Dreams", season 3 episode 10 of Babylon 5.

https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/714543/s03-e10-severed-dreams

Babylon 5 remains my favorite science fiction TV show of all time and here is a small reason why:

2. If you are forced to choose only one, what is the greatest opening line of a song, ever?

I first heard this song at the age of 10 in 1967. We got this old Brenda Lee album that was released in 1960 after my Uncle Robert died at a young age of 29. The album was seven years old by then, but when I played track 1 on side 2 of the record, my 10 year old self thought... oh my this song sounds naughty but I did not know why.

After a few nondescript seconds of hard to decipher whispers, the first three words spoken by Brenda Lee caught me and has remained with me ever since:

"Aha Honey, Alright...." I did not know what it exactly meant at the time, but I always associated the song with something naughty or sexy. After all it is about "Sweet' Nothins'" and Brenda Lee herself was only 14 when she recorded the record in 1959. Wow! Take a listen. It is one of my favorite early pop music tracks ever.

3. If you are forced to choose only one, what is the greatest movie kiss of all time?

That wet kiss in the original Spiderman movie from 2004 is quite memorable. Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire, from the first movie series released from Sony and not from Disney's crazy franchise.

Otherwise most kissing scenes are not very memorable to me, though I have probably seen too many. I tend to gravitate toward sci-fi and action movies where kissing is not central to the story.

4. If you are forced to choose only one, what is the greatest building of all time?

I think for a building to be great, you must have gone to see it for yourself. That said I hardly ever traveled out of state in my life since it is so expensive. The last time I left was in the last century when I took that long trip on a Boeing 747... Gotta love those big 4 engine jets. 

That said, while I never went inside them, I did see the twin towers of the original World Trade Center back in 1974 when they were still being built. The one building I went inside to visit was the Empire State Building in NYC. I guess for me it is the greatest building that I have ever visited, but definitely not the greatest building of all time... I don't know... maybe that gigantic vehicle assembly building where they put together Apollo Saturn 5, the Space Shuttle and now Space X Falcon 9s and Super Heavys at Cape Canaveral Florida. 

5. If you are forced to choose only one, what is the greatest candy — not a candy bar — of all time?

M & Ms Plain or Peanut.

I also liked Horlicks Milk Chocolate tablets that came in a small jar with a red cover cap. They are no longer made.

Friday 5 for August 16: Scattergories, Part 14

 

Friday 5 for August 16: Scattergories, Part 14

The annual Scattergories thing for this week's Friday 5. Yay! My letter for this year is... 

i

1. If you can schedule it, what would you like for your last meal?

Among the menu items for my last meal, there would definitely be an ICE CREAM dish, preferably a big ICE Cream Sundae....

2. Where would you like to be buried?

Since I more than likely will be opting for CREMATION, I will be sent to the Mortuary's INCINERATOR to have the useless body reduced into a heap of ash. Hopefully the mortuary will scoop up most of my ashes and put them in an urn for disposal later... though I think some will end up on the floor in the INCINERATOR and be swept away. 

3. What will they place in your coffin to be buried with you?

Coffins are expensive, so I am going with INCINERATION which equals to cremation. Maybe I'll burn up my old iPOD TOUCH 4 with the long dead, built in battery along with my useless corpse. I HATE BUILT IN BATTERIES... They lead to an early death while the device is still functional.. Why can't they have iPhones and other devices that have batteries that end users can easily replace???? I hate built in obsolescence!

4. Who will sing at your funeral?

I will choose one of my playlists from either SPOTIFY or YouTube Music to stream my favorite songs. LIVE singers are never good as the record unless you have enough money to hire the original artists.... which is impossible in my INCOME bracket.

5. Who will deliver your eulogy?

At this time... ME MYSELF and I... I might audio record something really short and just have that play at some point in one of the above playlists... Easy to do with a YouTube Music mix since they allow you to upload up to 50,000 of your own MP3 or AAC files for free. I could probably put my very short eulogy at the beginning, middle and end of the music mix.

On another note funerals... are they even necessary? It's just another added expense to the death process.

The three letters offered on my only spin.

Friday 5 for August 9: Wrong answers only

 Friday 5 for August 9: Wrong answers only

These questions come from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

1. Wrong answers only: what is the secret of your success?

Staying home and doing nothing.

2. Wrong answers only: how would you like to spend this weekend?

Jumping off a cliff and splattering myself on the rocks below.

3. Wrong answers only: what’s next?

Growing all of my bones back and fixing myself as if nothing happened at a click of a finger.

4. Wrong answers only: when will you finally get that thing done?

In The Year 2525.  

5. Wrong answers only: what do you have to say for yourself?

Everything.

Friday 5 for August 2: EXCESSIVE NEGATIVITY

Excessive negativity

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

It’s been a while since our last gripe session!

CAUTION: SERIOUS RANTING AHEAD

1. What’s your biggest complaint about in-store shopping?

Self service checkouts. I hate the ones with a camera built in. I hate having my picture taken. I also hate these things because at some stores you still have to call the clerk to fix a bad error code or approve of a coupon code that you put in but still needs verification - I'm looking at you Don Quijote.

I also hate that the prices of items don't match what is on the posted on the shelf vs. what the checkout price is. Looking at you again DQ! And then I read WalMart is moving to dynamic pricing.... just like Amazon... this will really stink. I can imagine two customers picking up the same item in Walmart will be charged different prices... Ugh! 

I hate the fact we have to also bring our own shopping bags to avoid an additional charge at checkout. I love the good old days where stores always gave you a free paper or plastic bag at checkout. It was so much more convenient and less costly. Bud gawd dammit... the fucking environmental wacko lobby persuaded legislators to regulate our lives by setting up bag fees and recycling fees for bottles... all a tax as I can see it. Fucking environmentalists and left leaning politicians.

2. What’s your biggest complaint about seeing movies in a theater?

Fucking ticket prices are way too high... It is way cheaper to just wait for the movies to show up in streaming or better yet, on DVD. I would rather spend the damn $16 movie ticket price to get the DVD, where you can find cheaper ones of older titles at used DVD stores and thrift shops.... often atmore affordable prices.

The last movie I saw in the theater was the last episode of the 40-year in the making of the Luke Skywalker saga of Star Wars... Episode 9. While I love the first 3 or even 6 Star Wars, the later ones from Disney have been disappointing. Star Wars is fucked up by Disney. I hate the new Disney... so woke and politically corrrect... next thing you know they are going to have a Black Snow White!!!!

Oh another thing that pisses me off about theaters... super high priced snacks. Not worth it. Just sneak cheap eats in and fuck the snack bar. I also hate movie complexes...they are set up just to keep people going to the snack stand with multiple screens and staggered times... Ugh! I am so done with movies in theaters.

3. What’s your biggest complaint about personal hygiene?

Increasing prices for all items. Bidenomics truly at work for all consumer items. Time to get rid of the leftist, progressive liberals!!!!

4. What’s your biggest complaint about preparing a meal?

I am not a cook. I don't like preparing meals. It takes too long, and I am not very good. I am ok cooking for myself, but I have zero confidence of cooking for anyone else... "why are the eggs green?".... impossible!!!!!!

5. What’s your biggest complaint about your neighborhood?

TOD - Transit Oriented Development.... high rises springing up everywhere along the projected RAIL route that will not get here before I die... Plus I have been OPPOSED TO THE FUCKING RAIL due to all of the high costs associated with it.... GE Tax increase, property tax increases (due to new developments springing up in my neighborhood).... and many other items related to the RAIL that just compounds all of our cost of living issues!!!!

Also increased CRIME in my area with fights, murders and more happening in this area... There are undeerground gambling operations, prostitution houses and drug pushing happening in my neighborhood, even with the elimination of most of the older Korean bars in the area.

Friday 5 for February 23: Noms

 

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

1. What’s the strangest food you’ve eaten out of a can?

The usual canned foods I eat are tuna and sardines. Once in a blue moon spam or corned beef. I can't think of anything strange. When it comes to food I tend to go with what is familiar. I am not adventureous.

2. What food most recently made you ill?

I can't think of anything recent. As for something years ago, the only thing I remember are the runs as if my stomach was being pumped. Mamacita's pasta... lovely... gross.

It was most likely spaghetti years ago from Mamacita (I think that is the name) of the Ala Moana Center Food Court complex, which recently closed... for good... After getting sick from their awful food, I never went there again.

3. What movie makes you really want to eat?

Here at home anything that is longer than a half hour on streaming will get me to go back and forth to the fridge or pantry. Most recently it was the movie Tetris on Apple TV before my free subscription ran out. It's a good movie about the development and marketing of the popular computer game Tetris. Developed in the old Soviet Union, sold and pirated on PCs and how it got to the Nintendo Game Boy during the transition of the old Soviet Union into the "new" Russia. Good movie.

4. What haven’t you eaten in a really, really long time?

My Mom's Thanksgiving stuffing and macaroni potato salad. It is something I will never ever eat again considering Mom passed away in 2015 and stopped cooking about two years before that. I miss Mom.

5. What did you most recently eat in a moving vehicle?

My commute to anywhere is generally short, so I can't remember what I recently ate. In the past I've eaten burgers and fries after ordering them through the drive-thru.

Friday 5 for February 9: Insert coin

From Scrivener's Friday 5:

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. How do you feel about vending machine food?

Candy, potato chips and other junk foods are the highlight of most vending machine food fare. My feelings about them? Is this all there is? They are expensive! Cheaper at the supermarket for better food. It is a good thing none are near me.

2. Where on this planet is the vending machine you’ve given the most money?

My bank ATM machine when I make deposits to my own account(s).

3. Have you ever purchased a non-food, non-beverage item from a vending machine?

Yes.... Money! A Bank ATM vends cash when after you insert your bank debit card or any credit card.... in denominations of $20 usually. I only use my debit card for these at my own bank. Don't want to pay for the fees for using my card in some bank that I don't belong to.

Another type of vending machine I used a long time ago is a Jukebox...where you could play a recorded song on a 45 rpm record for about a dime back in my kid days, and a quarter later... long before the Walkman, iPod and other personal music audio devices.

And of course who can forget a payphone? I've used these off and on more than 35 years ago. There are still a few of them around, though the best ones can be found in posh hotels and at big international airports.

4. Where’s the nearest vending machine right now, and what would you get from it if you were to go immediately?

There is a Coca Cola machine four floors down in the building I live in.

5. What would you like to see in a vending machine?

Free money with no fees.

Friday 5 for February 2: Mayday! Mayday!

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. What does it take to make your way in the world today?

Staying focused (which is not easy), keeping myself safe and avoiding risk, being on time and know where I am going. Planning ahead if it is a destination I don't normally go to... Also keeping costs to a minimum if at all possible... Avoiding high priced events, venues and activities.

2. Where do you go to take a break from all your worries?

Can't really escape all he worries, but sometimes to the beach to catch the sunrise or sunset... somewhere in the country if I am so motivated... or else the easy way is to bury myself in recorded music.

3. Where does everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came? (or where did everybody know your name and were always glad you came?)

Family reunions or more usual, at a funeral for a family member. As you age you end up going to more funerals until your life ends.

4. Which no-longer-in-business establishments are you nostalgic for, and is nostalgia generally a positive or negative emotion?

• Tower Records
• Woolworth
• Kress Store (Downtown Hilo / Kai'ko Mall)
• SEARS
• JC Penney's (dept store closed all locatons in Hawaii)
• DJ's Sound City (record store)
• The Record Museum
• Records Hawa
• Computer City
• Comp USA
• Patti's Chinese Kitchen
• The original Jelly's Records and Books
• Froggies (records and books)
• Dairy Queen of Honokaa
• Hamakua Fountain
• Waikiki #1 #2 and #3 Theaters
• Cinerama Theater
• Honolulu Weekly (free newspaper)
• Project 3 LTD (Hilo record store)
• MJS Music (Hilo record store)
• Interlude Music (record store + books)
• TKS / T. Kaneshiro Store (Honokaa HI)
• Ujiki Store (Honokaa HI)
• KKUA radio 69 on the AM dial
• KPOI 1380 AM radio
• KPOI 97.5 FM (98 Rock) - various other rock formats
• Radio Free Hawaii 102.7 FM
• Muxtape
• Finetune.com
• Power Computing (Mac clone maker)
• Be Inc. (BeOS)
• Jaiku (social media website)
• Modern Photography magazine
• MacAddict magazine
• MacUser magazine

I'm sure there are more than I could mention. May all those businesses and their generally affordable prices and merchandise rest in special places in our memories.

5. Which television shows have great opening theme songs with opening title sequences?

My Top 10

1. Hawaii Five-0 (1968 - 1980 original series)
2. Miami Vice (Jan Hammer)
3. Crime Story ("Runaway" by Del Shannon)
4. Star Trek The Next Generation
5. Babylon 5 (5 different theme variations for each of the 5 years)
6. The X Files
7. The Avengers (British TV series 1960s)
8. Mission Impossible
9. Gilligan's Island
10. Cheers

More for the songs but the opening video clips are mostly memorable.