Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Or, in this case, "THE TOP O' THE EVENING TO YOU!"

(A little late, but better late than never, right?)

As I was thinking about what to post for St. Paddy's Day, once again a favorite movie comes to mind. "The Quiet Man" is yet another one of my all time favorites (hey, being an only child in the middle of nowhere in the 50's and 60's, I saw A LOT of movies and read A LOT of comic books, ok?)



Here is the plot, as posted in Wikipedia:

Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an Irish-American from Pittsburgh, returns to Ireland to reclaim his family's farm in Innisfree. He meets and falls in love with the fiery Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), the spinster sister of the bullying, loud-mouthed landowner "Red" Will Danaher (Victor McLaglen). Danaher, angry that Sean outbid him for the land adjacent to his property, initially refuses to sanction the marriage until several town locals, including the parish priest, conspire to trick him into believing that the wealthy Widow Tillane wants to marry him, but only if Mary Kate is no longer living in the house. After learning the truth on Sean and Mary Kate's wedding day, an enraged Will refuses to give his sister her full dowry.

Sean, unschooled in Irish customs, cares nothing about the dowry, but Mary Kate is obsessed with obtaining it, the dowry representing her independence, identity, and pride. Angered and shamed by Sean's refusal to confront her brother and demand what is legally hers, she brands him a coward, and, despite living together, they are estranged as husband and wife. The truth about Sean, however, is known only to one other person in the village, the Church of Ireland minister "Snuffy" Playfair (Arthur Shields). Sean is a former boxer in the United States, a heavy weight champion known as "Trooper Thorn." After accidentally killing an opponent in the ring, Sean hung up his gloves, vowing never to fight again.

Later, in an attempt to force Sean to confront Red, Mary Kate leaves him and boards a train departing the village, although she continually looks around to see if he is coming after her. Infuriated, Sean arrives and drags her off the train, and, followed by the townspeople, forces her to walk the five miles to Red's farm. Sean demands that Red hand over her dowry. Red finally relents and gives him the cash, but to his horror, Mary Kate and Sean throw it into a furnace, showing that Mary Kate never cared about the money, but only that Sean stand up for his wife. Sean and Will slug it out through the village, stop for a drink, brawl again, then become best friends. Sean regains Mary Kate's love and respect, Red and the Widow Tillane begin courting, and all is well, at least in Innisfree.

This movie has it all...great acting, beautiful scenery, romance, comedy and a CLASSIC fight scene. If you have never seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it! Here is the trailer...it REALLY doesn't do it justice!...{PAUSE MY PLAYLIST OVER ON THE RIGHT FIRST!}



"The Quiet Man" was even featured in "E.T.", but I couldn't find the clip. Remember when ET gets drunk and Elliott feels the effect at school? E.T. is watching "The Quiet Man" when John Wayne grabs Maureen O'Hara lays a big kiss on her? Elliott does the same thing to his "crush" at school. Remember?

Finally, in honor of St. Paddy's Day, I want to mention that my Senior Pastor and our Youth Pastor from our church are in Ireland this week! You can read about their travels here and here

Here are some photos: first of all, "The Quiet Man Bridge"



Will Danaher's house:



How about Blarney Castle:




Apparently you have to lean over backward while kissing the "Blarney Stone"...



more beautiful views:








AHHHHH...maybe someday...

Gotta go. Lauren just walked in the door! She is home for a couple days! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

Edgar Jose...

For those of you who don't attend my church, you may or may not be familiar with COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL, a Christian group through which you can sponsor a needy child from a foreign country. About a year ago, our church, Farmland Friends had "Compassion Sunday" where a wonderful young man by the name of Shaun Groves...you may remember him from this post awhile back...presented Compassion Ministries to our church family.

At that time, Jim and I started sponsoring a little 5 year old boy from Columbia by the name of Edgar Jose. His tutor translated several letters between Edgar and us. He would send pictures he had colored and we would send photos of our family and whatever little somethings we were allowed to send.

This week, we got a letter from Compassion informing us that Edgar Jose and his family had moved from the area in which Compassion works and was therefore unable to continue participating in their sponsorship program. We were suprised and saddened to hear this, but are praying that God will keep his hand on Edgar and his family.

We will be "receiving" a new child in a few days...I will let you all know as soon as I find out.

This is a really good program. If anyone is interested in learning more about their ministry, or having someone from their agency speak at your church, etc, please contact them for further information.

Please say a prayer for Edgar...

2 down...

10 to go.

Goodbye, 16 year old Jasmine Murray



and

Jorge Nunez



The judges chose to keep their new "save" vote for another day.

So far, this is my fave:





Expect weekly updates...

Some things I just can't wrap my mind around...

Here's one.

From this...



To this...



...still does not compute!!!

I am happy for him, though. Maybe he will finally get to showcase his talent on a WINNING team.

Best of luck, TJ Houshmandzadeh. You and your family will be sorely missed in Cincy! I will be following your career and hope you shine!

Run away...as far and as fast as you can!!!

I am a TOTAL movie aficionado. That being said, tonight I think I just saw the WORST movie I have ever seen. Think cross between Fantastic Four, X-Men, Kill Bill (Volumes I and II) and Pulp Fiction...

I usually wait for the DVD to come out (catering to my frugal {cheap} side) unless the special effects are supposed to be awesome, right? That is how this movie was touted. But special effects, smecial effects...this movie was downright gross, pointless, and a total waste of my valuable time and money. (Think I have given you enough of my opinion?)

Sorry if anyone saw it and liked it. To each their own. Maybe the problem for me was I am not familiar with the "Watchmen" comics.

Having said all that, it will probably be the highest grossing movie of the weekend. It was gross, all right, just NOT in a good way...

Anyway, you can't say you haven't been warned...And just because I like posting photos, here are some stills...











Think "Peanuts Watchmen"





Here is a much better movie, if you get the chance: "V For Vendetta"




I am not expecting any comments on this one...just doing my civic duty in warning you all to stay away from this Rated R (for ridiculous) movie! LOL

It did have ONE redeeming feature. The music.

1. My Chemical Romance - “Desolation Row” (a Bob Dylan cover)
2. Nat King Cole - “Unforgettable”
3. Bob Dylan - “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
4. Simon & Garfunkel - “The Sound of Silence”
5. Janis Joplin - “Me & Bobby McGee”
6. KC and the Sunshine Band - “I’m Your Boogie Man”
7. Billie Holiday - “You’re My Thrill”
8. Philip Glass Ensemble - “Pruit Igoe & Prophecies”
9. Leonard Cohen - “Hallelujah”
10. Jimi Hendrix - “All Along the Watchtower”
11. Budapest Symphony Orchestra - “Ride of the Valkyries”
12. Nina Simone - “Pirate Jenny”

Here is the trailer...in case you wondered why all the hype:

The suspense continues...

...tonight at 10:00 pm on ABC!

Jason and Melissa (WHAAT HAPPENED?????)



The "other" woman...Molly



Come on Jason...Get a clue, man!



Reality TV...the opiate of the masses...

Speaking of...****rushes off to watch...****



Speaking of TV...the best commericals EVER!!!! (PAUSE PLAYLIST FIRST!!)

I am thankful for...

...a pastor who preaches the truth, straight from this source:



We had another great sermon today, continuing with the "Carpe Diem" series. Seize the Day..living a life of no regrets. (How many of us wish we could say we have lived our lives this way?)



A lot of people my age remember this type of preacher from their youth...a "hellfire and damnation" type of preacher:



But my pastor is more like this type of preacher (minus the suit and tie!):



(not really...just kidding! But, he IS a blogger. Here is the link to it:)


My pastor is not afraid of the truth of God's word. He lovingly instructs his God- given flock in the way in which we should go...and for THAT, I am very thankful. Thankful that Jim and I get to hear it, but more importantly, that our children get to hear it! Pastor Kris, (or PK as we fondly refer to him) has stressed over and over that it is NOT about religion, but rather about a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We live in an amazing age. Even if you weren't at Farmland Friends Church to hear the actual messages, you can download or stream the services from the internet. Here is a link to the Carpe Diem series (looks like today's message isn't up as of this posting...)

How many of you are thankful for your pastor? Remember, they are instructed to feed Jesus' sheep.



If you have a pastor who is truly feeding you from the word of God, you are blessed beyond measure!

Thank you, Pastor Kris, for loving us and telling us the truth...

Another thing I am thankful for is the worship at our church. In closing this post, I am including one of my favorite worship songs. This rendition was sung by last year's top 8 on American Idol! (I still haven't figured out how or why Simon allowed it! When Mandisa sang a worship song the year before, Simon told her, "it isn't the time or place for that!" Last year, Dolly Parton even sang her "Jesus and Gravity"! But hey... millions of people heard the name of Jesus and heard about His great love and was even able to "download it on I-tunes"!)

AS ALWAYS, DON'T FORGET TO PAUSE MY PLAYLIST OVER ON THE RIGHT FIRST! By popular request (Jim) I have moved my playlist more towards the top. It is a little above where you are reading now, on the right.




{However, looks like on this version they sang later in the season, they changed the lyrics from "my Jesus" to "my Shepherd"...}