Conversations I wish I could have had with my grandfather

My grandfather on my dad's side died when I was a teenager. He lived in New York and I only got to visit him once in my life. I always felt really close to him even though I never really knew him. I'd talk to him over the phone every Christmas. I went to New York when I was nine and got to spend a few days with him. I feel like I spent months with him. It was so important to me. My sisters grew up with him in New York, but my family moved to California just weeks after I was born. Living on the other side of the country meant I never knew my grandpa like my sisters did.

My grandpa during World War II

After his death my dad returned from New York with a box marked for me. I opened it up to find my grandpa's complete military history. He was in WWII and inside this box was his Navy uniform, ribbons, paperwork, photos of his ship, etc. I've always been a history buff that wanted to run my own museum so the family always gives me the family heirlooms. Since my grandfather's death I've done lots of research and found exactly how many battles he was in, how long he served and also what his job was. Although I can write up a nice bio on him based on facts, I never got to ask him personal questions. If I could have sat down with him I'd have a billion questions. Luckily my other grandfather (who is also a WWII vet) is still alive and I've made it a point to find out everything! Anyway, one of the stories I would have loved to hear about would have been his experience during the 1944 "Great Typhoon" in the Pacific Ocean. Have you ever heard of it? It was known as Typhoon Cobra by the United States Navy. It sunk three battle ships, damaged a ton more and killed 790 sailors.

The U.S.S. Langley, my Grandfather's ship, in the Great Typhoon

My grandfather was on his aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Langley, during the typhoon! I wonder what it was like? I found these photos of his ship in the middle of the Great Typhoon. Check them out!

The U.S.S. Langley in the Great Typhoon, my grandpa isn't in this photo

I wonder what his stories would have been? I wish I could have asked him. I hope you all enjoyed this post and it motivates you to talk to your grandparents before it's too late. They don't have to be veterans, just talk to them. You'd be amazed at how incredible your grandparents really are.

My Top 15 Favorite Female Singers

Last night I was laying on the floor with my daughter blasting Girls Just Want to Have Fun and I started thinking about how long I've loved Cyndi Lauper's voice. I thought it would be fun to do a Top 15 list. I'm sure there are a billion I'm missing out on. These are in no particular order. Hey, what are some of your favorite female singers? Okay here we go...

1. Bjork

2. Cyndi Lauper

3. Siousxie Sioux

4. Hope Sandoval (of Mazzy Star)

5. Patsy Cline

6. Julee Cruise

7. Elizabeth Fraser (of the Cocteau Twins)

8. Neko Case

9. Beth Gibbons (of Portishead)

10. Of course no list of mine would be complete without KYLIE! The Queen of pop!

11. Edith Piaf

12. Peggy Lee

13. PJ Harvey

14. Regina Spektor

15. Nico (this is one of my favorite photos of her)

Honorable Mentions:

Debbie Harry (of Blondie)
Madonna (strictly for pop reasons)
Martina Topley-Bird
Lhasa De Sela
Kate Pierson (of the B-52's)

January Jones on SNL

Do you guys know who January Jones is? I'm assuming you do. Sadly I'm out of the loop. I guess she's hot stuff right now. I saw that she was hosting SNL tonight so I guess she's pretty big-time. She's on a show called Mad Men. Have any of you seen it? Is she funny? She was in the American Pie movies right? Yikes... Anyway, I saw some stills from Mad Men and it looked really serious (but I love the costume and set designs). I hope SNL doesn't do that thing where they grab a good looking girl and ask her to host in hopes that she'll be funny because it never works (just like when they ask athletes to host). I don't know anything about January Jones apart from what I've already mentioned. I remember she was in a magazine I read a few years ago when Mad Men was just about to come out. Her name reminds me of Denise Richards' James Bond character Christmas Jones. Coincidence? Well, I hope she's funny tonight, if not I can always count on the Black Eyed Peas for a good laugh....


"What you goin' do with all that junk?
All that junk inside that trunk?
I'm a get, get, get, get, you drunk,
Get you love drunk off my hump.
What you goin' do with all that ass?
All that ass inside them jeans?
I'm a make, make, make, make you scream
Make you scream, make you scream."

Happy Friday the 13th!

When I was a child one of my favorite films was Friday the 13th part 1. It came out 8 days after I was born so it's almost like a twin brother. Okay, maybe not, but I have grown up with the ridiculous franchise. Like Halloween, A Nightmare On Elm Street and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the first film was good and scary. I remember in like 3rd or 4th grade Friday the 13th part VII: The New Blood had come out (yes I've been watching horror films for a long time and no, my parents did not allow it!). The rumor spreading around the playground was that they wouldn't stop making Friday the 13th movies until they reached #13. Do you remember that rumor? The best part was that everyone would say, "No way. They wouldn't do that!" Yet as they were saying that part VIII was already in the making. 8 films, yes...but 13? Not possible!


I have to say, apart from part 1, my favorite film in the franchise is without a doubt Friday the 13th part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Do you remember the tagline? "New York has a new problem." Ha ha! The film starts with Jason killing a teenager with a harpoon gun...nuf' said. You know, now that I think of it the 80s were the golden age of harpoon gun killings. Anyway part VIII was awesome!

So here we are. It's November, Friday the 13th, 2009. Guess how many films have been made over the last 29 years? 12!!!!! I can't wait for number 13! If I could travel back in time and tell my eight year old self I'd be doing something called "blogging" on a warlock's creation known as a "computer" about the Friday the 13th franchise I'd freak!

Happy Friday the 13th everyone. I hope you find yourself having an in-depth and meaningful self-reflection like me.

Tired

Sorry I've been such a horrible blogger lately. I've been really busy at work and I find myself coming home exhausted. Last night I fell asleep at 8:00 pm!!! My weekend starts today so I hope I'll bounce back. I'll try and check everybody's blog to see what I've missed out on. Let the weekend begin!!!

Africa, the greatest country in South America?

I love Family Feud! Making fun of people's bad answers is one of my favorite past times, petty I know, but I just don't care. Look, people say very stupid things and it's awesome. For example, one guy responded "Cupid" when asked to name a word that begins with "Q" or this one... "Name a word that starts with 'heavy'" and a guy responded, "Heavy D" Yes, Heavy D the rapper. I know I slip and say stupid thing too, but not like this next one...

Today was the greatest answer of all time. The question was "Name a country in South America." A lady rang the buzzer and said, "Africa!" She then looked disappointed when it wasn't a correct answer. What???? When I took a class on the History of African Art my teacher joked about how often people think Africa is a country. I do not think, however, she could have ever dreamed that someone would say Africa was a county in South America. Ha ha ha!

Okay, I can't help myself. Here's one more for the road. The question: "Name something you lug to the beach." The lady's answer: "The sun."

I love Family Feud! I love it, I love it, I love it! *that was a SNL reference.

My old blog has been resurrected!

That's right! For all the fans of my old blog The Zombie Spotlight....it's come back from the dead! I decided to restart it because it's so awesome. In reality I think I was the only one that thought it was funny, but that's a good enough reason for me! I won't be posting on it all the time, just when I feel like it. Feel free to follow it, read old posts, laugh, cry, call an old friend, make peace with an enemy and listen to some world music. THE ZOMBIE SPOTLIGHT IS BACK...BOO-YAH!!!!