Good morning everyone and welcome to week number thirty-one of Morning Cup of Coffee, and welcome to the first Sunday of December. Only twenty-one days until Christmas!
Things are good here in sunny, windy, chilly SoCal. Nancy and I are getting ready for one of the proudest days of our lives – our son Bryan graduates from California State University San Bernardino next weekend, so naturally we are very excited about that. Also, it’s getting close to Christmas, so we are shopping and doing all of that fun stuff.
We had an interesting discussion last week. Our question was this:
If you were given $1 million and 24 hours to spend it, how would you spend it? And…..you cannot spend it on yourself:
A lot of really great responses, but there were a couple that stood out for me. This one from Jerry Garrett:
“This would be an easy one for me. I would make sure my family didn’t have to worry about their future. And all the remaining I would give to my favorite cause which I donate a lot of my spare time to. That would be shriners hospitals for children. There is something that really makes you feel good about helping children that probably would not get help if it wasn’t for the shriners hospitals. When I make the trips to Shreveport hospital its amazing watching the young kids learning how to work there new prosthetic limbs roiling around and playing like they don’t have a care in the world. the burn hospitals are a different story you know they are receiving the best care possible but I can’t walk out of there with a dry eye know a million dollars is not a lot of money in this day and time but it could help a lot of kids who otherwise would not be able to live a normal life. Glenn thanks for the chance to brag on my second family of shriners
Great posting Jerry. I first became aware of the Shriner’s back in 19blahblahblah….and they do wonderful work. I also liked this one from Karen Elzy:
“I would pay off my siblings debt (8 of them). I would open a Mentoring Resource center for our 540,000 children that are in the Los Angeles County Foster Care system. This center would also include parenting classes for parents of these children.”
Excellent, Karen. Nothing more to add to that.
Alright, let’s get to today’s topic. Let’s get the rules out of the way first:
Rule #1 – Absolutely no politics allowed
Rule #2 – ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICS ALLOWED!
Breakfast this morning is going to be salmon eggs Benedict – I first had this years ago at DuPar’s Restaurant in Los Angeles. Mimi’s Café makes a good eggs Benedict. And for our coffee, let’s have a nice cup of French Roast. Take a sip of your coffee and let’s get started on this fourth day of December 2011.
It is that time of year when they start showing those sappy, tear-inducing holiday movies. To be honest, I never cared for them much when I was growing up. But after becoming a parent I learned to appreciate these flicks. You know the ones: It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, etc. Now, I do not get weepy (Nancy takes care of that for our family), but I have learned to like these movies. Here are my favorites in no particular order:
A Christmas Story – This was a movie that flopped when it was released but has become a classic on DVD and runs on TV marathons every year. Peter Billingsley stars as a 1930s era kid Ralphie who wishes for a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas. This movie is not only funny (it’s actually hilarious), but it influenced many things that came after. See if you see the similarities between this movie and the 1980s TV show The Wonder Years
It’s a Wonderful Life – Just watched this last night. Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. What more do I need to say? Another movie that did not do great business when it was released, but is now on everyone’s favorite film list. Above and beyond everything else, this is a life-affirming story. Everyone has a purpose on this earth. MERRY CHRISTMAS, OLD BULDING AND LOAN!!
White Christmas – Forget the sentimental and weepy ending. This movie starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen has some of the best musical moments ever on film. Heatwave, The Best Things Happen White You’re Dancing, Gee, I Wish I Was Back in the Army are but a few. Oh yeah, that title song is pretty good too.
Home Alone – I don’t consider this a great movie. It is slap-shtick, Three Stooges type comedy. But it is at time pretty funny. I just remember when we took our kids to see it. Bryan was maybe three-years old and belly-laughed the entire time. That was so great…
This Christmas – This movie was released a couple years ago, and I for one think this could be a contemporary classic. This is an example of the power of family. One of the stars is the talented (and later convicted felon) Chris Brown. But if you get past that, it is really a good movie. It is set in my home town of Los Angeles (hard to imagine a Christmas movie set in L.A. with the year-round sunshine), but it works here because Christmas is all about family.
There are plenty more, but I will leave that up to you. So, take a bite of the eggs Benedict and a good long sip of that French Roast and start writing. Remember, it does not have to be one of the regular Christmas movies. It can be an obscure one. As long as it meant something to you, that is all that is important. Have fun with it!
Catch you all on the flipside…..
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