Scrabble Mania

Oh, the holidays. I always associate this time of year with lots of board games and more food than I need to eat. Walking through the kitchen on my way to the living room, I grab a cookie. Bored during the board game, I grab a cookie. Finished with dinner, I grab a cookie. Yummy.

Anyways, this post is not about cookies. This post is about Scrabble. For a large family, board games are one of the few activities which everyone takes part in. In this house, Scrabble is the game to play. Monopoly used to steal the stage, but that was before some of the family players were known to be cheaters.I mean come on, it is not actual property they are stealing. Jeeze.

While staring at my Scrabble tiles last night with dismay—way too many vowels to make a word that is not Hawaiian—my memory pulled up an old episode of The Simpsons: Bart the Genius. What has seven letters, ends is “bo” and starts with “kwy”? The answer: kwyjibo. Bart’s definition of kwyjibo: a bald, overweight, North American ape of  below average intelligence. Doh!

If you wanna know a bit more about some killer board games, check out this interesting post. You’ll note that my family is certainly not the only family that puts way too much energy into winning a board game =D

Happy Holidays… especially to all the kwyjibos out there!

The 16 year old dork in me is stoked…

Summit Entertainment is set to begin filming on the film adaptation of the second book (New Moon) in the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. November 2009.

Hurray. Although, like others have stated before me, I am curious to see how the screen writer(s) and director manage it. Though a new male will take most of the stage time in the second film, I am curious to see how they weave in Edward’s presence in the story despite his physical absence.

Mumble, mumble… food for thought.

UPDATE 06/03/09: Here is a link to the official New Moon trailer!

Child Author

Alec Greven: a nine year old author. A nine year old published author who just sold movie rights for his book. The book is a self-help that teaches others about relationships. I just get a kick out of this. Here is some info about the child that hit luck head-on:
From Time

How did this nine year old become a media hot potato? Interested in becoming one yourself? Well readers, here is a simple step-by-step guide for making it Greven style:

Step 1: Shoot back in time.
Step 2: Pick up your #2 and start writing. Write about anything… how to wipe boogers on the side of a sofa without getting in trouble, how to make it seem like you ate your vegetables at dinner, how to make your friends get in trouble… just choose your childhood poison.
Step 3: Crank out 45 pages and bind the pages into something resembling a book and sell the packet at your school’s book fair where it will be noticed by one of the larger book publishing organizations. Your school doesn’t have a book fair? Damn, guess you are out of luck…

It is crazy to think that this kid’s book got picked up by a publisher, especially considering all of the manuscripts a publishing house receives over the course of one year. What are the odds? Sure the book is more of a joke book than a self-help book, but the kid still deserves kudos for his gumption.

Hey, now that I think about, I wrote a book in second grade. Yes sir. It was a Christmas book with detailed illustrations and it even had a hard cover. Hmm. I wonder if I can get a publishing house to pick it up?

Elfmas Time

I was one of those children who thought sitting on Santa’s lap was odd. Waiting in line at a department store to sit on someone’s lap just irked my sensibilities. Not to mention the over-the-top elves that parade around with the man in red.

If you walk through any mall in the US at this given point in time, you are sure to find a Santa atop a large, throne-like chair. After a trip to my local holiday hot spot, I realized that the scene no longer reminds of when I was young. Now the scene cues in my mind the images and quotes from the movie Elf [starring Will Ferrell].

Elf has made it onto my list of movies that I watch every year during the holidays. I even remember when I saw the movie for the first time. My two friends and I had planned the evening to a ‘T’. It was a jump start to the holidays. First, we went to an early theater showing of Love Actually. Then, we hit another theater for a late showing of Elf.

It was quite a night—complete with inside jokes about bears and misnamed coffee orders and chasing skunks. Ha ha. Not to mention, the cab fare! So, to commemorate the creepy mall Santa/elves and that night of the Xmas double-feature: some of my favorite clips from Elf.

Buddy the Elf arrives in New York City
“Santa! I know him!”
“Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?”