Dinner and a Movie -- or not.

Alright... so it wasn't dinner and a movie. With three kids, anytime Kelly and I get out alone... we're on borrowed time.... so, we just did a movie. In this case, Juno. A good movie... I'd give it a solid B+. Quirky (I'm a big fan of quirky movies), funny and entertaining.... worth the $15. Now, going to the movies is pretty rare for us. There just is never something that hits us both. In general, these are the kinds of movies I like:

• Sophomoric humor (think "Talladega Nights" or "Dumb and Dumber")
• Quirky (see above -- "Oh Brother! Where art thou!", "Napoleon Dynamite", etc)
• Challenging (I like having to figure out what's going on. It doesn't bother me one bit if I'm confused for 2 hours as long as it's all sewed up at the end)
• Man Movies (a la "Gladiator", "Saving Private Ryan", "Braveheart")

Kelly prefers:

• 80's (Dirty Dancing, Mannequin, Footloose, etc)
• Romantic Comedy (Insert any handsome male actor with the young actress of the month, add a plotline where circumstances keep them apart.... then at the end there is some kind of kiss -- and you've got a winner)... "Never Been Kissed" is the perfect example here and the chick flick that started them all.... "Sleepless in Seattle"
• Musical (Sound of Music, Chicago, Hairspray, etc)
• Important note: movie MUST grab her attention in the first 10 minutes... otherwise she's going to fall asleep

Okay... so... you can see our movie likes don't exactly match up... so, going to the movies usually doesn't appeal to us (we'd rather just hang out and talk and make each other laugh). We'll occassionally bite the bullet for one another and watch something outside of our "zone" for the sake of the other's enjoyment...and, occassionally, a movie will come out that we both want to see... "Juno" being the perfect example.

Anyway, before we had kids, we went to many more movies... here is just a smattering of them:

• "The Wedding Singer": What's interesting about this is that we went to it on opening night. Nothing unusual about that right? Well... it just happened to open on Valentines Day in 1998... our first Valentines Day as an engaged couple and last Valentines Day before getting married (in May '98). GREAT movie -- the moral of the story here: any woman that will happily accompany you to an Adam Sandler movie on Valentines Day is marrying material.
• "Titanic": This movie had more of an impact on our year of engagement than any other. We first saw it after ice skating w/friends at Reston Town Center. It was December of 1997.... 11 at night and, on a whim, we decided to take in this nearly 3 hour long movie. Any movie for Kelly past 9 (see above comment about sleeping) is dangerous. Well... this was the exception. Kelly LOVED this one... and so did her good friend and roommate, Shannon (who was also engaged). They both resolved to watch it.... OVER and OVER and OVER. Kelly promised to watch it for a full 24 hours (umm... that's 8 times)....and we did. It was a good movie.... the first time... and the second time I watched it. Now, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.... but.. after about the 3rd time, I started noticing the acting wasn't so good (especially from Leonardo Dicrappio)...and that it had some glaring plot holes... but... you know... it made Kelly happy watching it so it made me happy. Over that winter, we even made a special trip with Shannon (and her fiance -- now husband -- Tim) to a museum in Virginia Beach that had a Titanic exhibit. Oh... and I also had to bear numerous references by both Kelly and Shannon to "Make it count"....
• "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter", "Chronicles of Narnia": These were all a series of movies we watched with Kelly's parents. As soon as the theater got dark and the sound turned up....Kelly fell soundly asleep.
• "Sixth Sense": I had heard good things about this movie and that it was a "little" scary but it had a "great" ending. This was one of these aforementioned movies that Kelly was willing to "take a bullet" and watch with me. Well, within the first 15 minutes, I almost peed in my pants from stuff freaking me out. Kelly was being a trooper. That is until this one scene, about half hour into it, where the temperature drops and the little boy (you know, the "I see dead people" kid) walks out of his room and sees this ghost in his kitchen that starts screaming at him. Once that started, I had the heebie jeebies... and Kelly.... well.... Kelly was sobbing uncontrollably saying "I want to leave... I want to leave... I don't like this movie".... well... so we left. To this day, still haven't seen the ending.
• "Patch Adams": This movie was, perhaps, the worst movie of all time. It was Robin Williams playing the same freaking character he plays in every movie.... in fact, it might as well have been called "The Genie from Aladdin plays a Doctor"... It was supposedly "based" on a true story.... but the only truth in it is that there was really a doctor named Patch Adams. The rest of the story was so incredibly ridiculous that is was completely lacking in any believability or credibility. Nothing wrong with an opinion... right? Well... unfortunately Kelly LOVED this movie. To this day, I think it's the only movie where we had diametrically opposed opinions.... so... don't bring up "Patch Adams" around us... it's our Kryponite.
• "Jackass": We are church-going, evangelical, family-oriented Christians. Naturally, we probably protested this movie and wrote the studios telling them to stop making such "crap"... right? Wrong. We were so excited for it...we went on opening night. So, there we were... with a movie theater full of drunk frat boys and sorority girls from JMU... and us... little Christian couple in the middle of the movie theater. Kelly laughed to the point of crying. Definitely one of the most unique movie experiences (rivaled in my mind only by a 1994 showing of "Dazed and Confused" at Grafton-Stovall theater at JMU... I can still smell the skunky stench of pot and the sound of Budweiser cans being cracked open during that movie).

Ok... so... there you have it.... long post... I know... but it could be another year before we hit the movie theatres again.

Whistling: Window to my Soul

I Whistle.

Alot.

I can't help it. If I'm doing work... I whistle. Driving... whistle. In the shower... whistle. Playing with the kids.... whistle.

Now... this usually isn't a problem. As long as you're not one of those loud, agressive whistlers (you know the type.... the guys that subconsciously pick up on your whistling and then naturally try to assert their dominance by whistling the same tune as you... only with much greater gusto and volume)... all should be okay.

Well, that is until you whistle something unbefitting of your manhood.

Today... I'm walking down the hallway at work... naturally whistling.... not paying a whole lot of attention to what I'm whistling until I pass Molly, the girl that works down the hall.

Something about encountering another human being makes me take inventory of what I'm whistling.

Then... it hits me... there is no denying it.

I was definitely whistling the following:

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line

Honey, I'm still free

Take a chance on me

If you need me, let me know, gonna be around

If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down

If you're all alone, when the pretty birds have flown

Honey, I'm still free

Take a chance on me

Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie

If you put me to the test, if you let me try

Take a chance on me... take a chance, take a chance, chance

Yes... that's right friends.... I was whistling ABBA. No... not something acceptable... like Skynyrd, Johnny Cash, or Willie Nelson. Heck... I could have been whistling Kenny Chesney and it would have been better than ABBA.

Ah... I can't believe I got exposed. Darn you, whistling... window to my soul!

So... once I realize I'm whistling a song from a 70's Swedish pop band... I'm forced with the obvious question. Do I pretend she didn't hear and run the risk of being outted later? Or, do I own up and admit my...umm... mistake.

I choose the latter.... I poke my head in her office and sheepishly issue my mea culpa... "Umm... Molly... yes... that was Abba I was whistling... umm... ya... so... sorry."

She tries to be accommodating and pretend she didn't hear me whistling.... Thanks, Molly... I really don't like Abba... really... I promise. I mean, I love Ikea as much as the next guy... but... ABBA??? you know... give me Southern Rock... give me country... no... wait... I can't deny it.... whistling... window to my soul... gosh darnit... I want to be happy...give me ABBA, baby!..... take a chance, take a chance, chance!

Father/Daughter Dance

I just got back from taking my daughter to our 2nd Father/Daughter dance. Pictures posted here. Not too much to report, other than how much Kelly and Reagan are alike. Some of the similarities:

• Prettiest girl in the room: Though I'm sure every other father would disagree (and should disagree), Reagan... just like her mother... was the prettiest girl in the room. Reagan was keenly aware of this as she asked me once "Daddy, am I the most beautifulest?"... my answer? "The most beautifulest to me."
• Mid-date dump: Kelly is going to kill me for saying this... but, if we're out on a date and then decide to stop by a store... say the Pottery Barn... or Restoration Hardware... or even Target... she's going to have to take a swampy. I don't get it... something about those (especially trendy houseware) stores that just gives her the urge. In fact, if she's ever constipated, I tell her I'll take her to Pottery Barn... because that's a surefire way to prime the pump, so to speak. Anyway... about 1/2 way through Reagan says "Daddy, I have to POOP, P-O-O-P, POOP." Probably the only girl there that used the facilities to go #2.
• Dessert: Reagan gravitated toward the dessert table full of cookies, chocolates, brownies and cupcakes. The highlight of a date with Kelly is watching her eat some kind of chocolate dessert... it's just WAYYYYYYY more satisfying to her than I'll ever understand.
• Closet Introvert: If you know Kelly, she doesn't naturally come across as introverted. But in truth, she's painfully introverted. Reagan is the same way. She wanted to dance so badly when we got there... but just couldn't. She told me...early on.. with tears in her eyes... "Daddy, I want to dance, but can't.".... and then another time she told me she was "afraid" to dance. There's a solution to this problem.... but... you know... she's not 21 yet... Thankfully... she eased up a bit and spent the 2nd hour dancing away.

So... that's all I got... sometimes I call Reagan, "KJ".... you know... Kelly, Jr... Now, you know a little bit as to why.

Save the Republican Party

OK... so I'm sitting at my desk today... viewing the (nerd alert! nerd alert!) results of "Super Tuesday" and was concerned... it looks like John McCain is going to win the Republican nomination. McCain... War Hero... yes.... McCain... the next Reagan.... ummm... no.

In reality, I don't care for Romney much either. Then it hit me... we have to save the Republican Party. So, naturally, I checked for the domain name www.savetherepublicanparty.com and ... amazingly enough... it was available... so, I paid the big $1.99 fee and registered it.

Hmmm.... now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to save the party. In the meantime, www.savetherepublicanparty.com points right back to this site.... so... no more typing in the unwieldy www.fairclothfive.blogspot.com if you don't want to. How's that?

On that note, I have no idea how to save the party... but, if you do... I'm all ears.

Now, I will be spending tomorrow and friday at CPAC where the President, Dick Cheney, the Presidential hopefuls (including Romney, McCain and Huckabee) will be speaking -- along with others (Ann Coulter, Mike Pence, Senators, Congressmen, etc)... so, maybe I'll get some ideas there.

If not, at least the domain name is easy to remember.