Happy Nearly New Year

It’s the last Monday of the year and it would be oh so easy to do a “year in review” type of post.  I wonder if that’s what this week’s daily prompts will be. The same prompt every day just worded a little different. Sort of like politics. Our politics this year were worded a little different. Mostly worded as lies. Turns out more people like lies more than truth, no matter how positive the truth might be. So yeah, but no, a year in review is off the list for today.

If not looking back, how about looking forward. I could make predictions of what 2025 will be like. But if you want to know how next year will be, you just have to visit your local shot and a beer bar and you’ll find more people than you can shake a stick at who will tell you just what’s going to happen next year. And they’ll be right because they all knew exactly how this year was going to be. I can hear them now. “Yep, I told you so” they will start. No, predictions aren’t for me.

How about I do a “best of” los of my posts from 2024? That’s perfect. Non-controversial. Non-political, non-critical of anything. Yep, we can do a best of from 2024, and um, that would be all of them. How can you pick the best? It’s like picking the best child or the best bacon. They’ll all yummy. Just like bacon.

I’m running out of ideas and if I don’t come up with something we’ll run out of Monday before I get anything typed onto the screen. What to do, what to do, what to do?

Aha! Why didn’t I think of this before? Resolutions! I’ll make my resolutions for 2025 and post them here and then you can check back with me later this year and together we’ll see how I did. And if you check back with me in March, I’ll tell you what they are. Didn’t you ever read that I don’t make resolutions in January. If New Year’s Day came later in the year, perhaps when the days are getting warmer and flowers are starting to bloom, then we can come up with some good resolutions.  Come see me when I’m not standing knee deep in used gift boxes trying to remember if they are recyclable, and when not I’m cleaning out the refrigerator of all the traditional holiday foods that everybody wanted but nobody ate.

Nope, the ideal time for New Year’s is late March, just about when spring is springing.  It’s far enough away from Valentine’s Day and Easter that we can use a holiday then. The long depressing nights are over so our resolutions can be positive and begin with “we resolve that we will do this” like the start of a real goal rather than “we will never again do that” like the opening for a bad excuse. So, resolutions are out too.

So just what should I write about? How about, I hope you all had a happy whatever holiday you celebrate. Whatever one that was I am certain it had traditions that leaned toward love and fellowship, peace and joy, happiness and more love. How about I write that I wish you the spirit of the holidays all year long until we can do this again next year.  I’ll bring the champagne.

And if you absolutely must have a New Years Resolution, try this on for size ⬇️

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Did you know there are 14 religious holidays in December and January? Do you even know 14 religions? I didn’t know any of that until curiosity got the better of me. Something they all have in common is that they when we remember something special shared with special people at a special time. Explore winter’s special times with us in our updated Winter Carol, last week’s Uplift post that we found, well,most uplifting.


The envelope please…

And the envelope please…

Ah, Major Movie Award time. The Academy is cracking down in unauthorized used of the gold statuettes’ nickname but you know what Major Movie Award I mean. The Major Movie Award ceremony was last night and I missed it – again. Intentionally. I love movies and this year I actually saw most of the nominees for the Major Movie Award best picture award. But I love old movies a whole lot better and I dislike awards shows even more. Awards shows, awards banquets, recognition ceremonies, even graduations, but especially awards show when anybody who ever got lucky enough to be cast in a good movie demonstrates how valuable screenwriters are. Anyway, I didn’t watch the ceremonies but instead, as is my custom, I watched a couple Major Movie Award winners from 60 years ago.

In general, forty years is my cut off.  If a movie is still entertaining (and relevant, if possible), 40 years after it first hit the theaters, then that’s a good movie. I would say I’ll be re-watching this year’s winner in 40 years but in 40 years I’ll be well ensconced in the centenarian camp, so…that’s a maybe.

So with all this experience of watching long-lasting, significant award winning movies from 40, 50, 60, 100 years ago, you’d  think I could pick out this years winner effortlessly. Yeah, no. A hundred, 90, 60, 50 years ago, significant was defined differently. Right around 40 years ago, it started to be more important to have the right message than to have the right stuff. But that’s okay. That only holds true for the “big” awards.  The true magic in movies, the costumes, sets, music, and cinematography are still awarded on merit so there will always be good old movies to watch. Even forty years from now.

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It so happens that I am writing this before the Major Movie Awards ceremony and the announcement of best picture. So, given that I’ve seen them, what movie would I vote for if I were a member of the Major Movie Award voting bloc?  I will say I don’t think the one I would vote for will win, but it should.  I think several of the best picture nominees are definite possibilities for cinematography and costume and would be worthy of those honors. But those same movies have no story, no coherence, or are just not good enough to be “best.” And there are so many this year (10 nominees for best picture), the field is clearly watered down.  But I digress.

What movie would I vote for if I were a member of the Major Movie Award voting bloc? West Side Story. It will have a hard time getting to the podium.  Although remakes dominate moviedom, rarely do remakes get nominated for the best picture award. To win the award, the odds are greater than finder teeth in a hen, but just barely. Only twice has a best picture been a remake. (Ben-Hur in 1959 and The Departed in 2006). To make it an even higher mountain to climb, West Side Story is the first time a remake of a previous best picture winner (1961) has even been nominated for best picture.

So … if I don’t think the. Ivies I would vote for will win for best picture, where would I put my money? Although almost all of the rest of the world thinks, The Power of the Dog will be so honored, I think last night’s winner was CODA. But wouldn’t it be a hoot if Licorice Pizza walk away with it?

We could do this for the other 23 categories too but I have to get dinner on the table.

How did I do?