Category Archives: Movies

It’s that time of year. Halloween is just around the cor—well, down the hall a bit. It’s time to connect with the true spirit of the holiday, which like all holidays, has been corrupted by outside influences…like Christmas was before people muddied it with a religious message. Halloween is not about costume parties and candy; it’s about turning off your lights, putting in a movie and having the wits scared out of you.

Horror movies as a genre can be frustrating. Edgar Allen Poe was able to combine the dark, nightmarish ideas of comic books with high art. This … Read More… →

Thanking Two Men I’d Forgotten to Thank 30 Years Ago: Mr. Denstaedt and Mr. Wentz

By Kevin Walsh | September 15, 2013 - 5:19 pm |September 18, 2013 Childhood Memories, Education, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Movies, Television

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After attending 25 years of high school graduation ceremonies, it finally dawned on me as I sat in my robe and was thanked by grateful students and their parents–I really didn’t deserve such nice seats.

Compared, to the folks who were really responsible for the pomp and circumstance, my hourly contribution was minimal. Elementary teachers put in the long hours and are stuck with the kids all day long. Middle school teachers are fighting the two-headed dragon of hormones and immaturity in a short, nasty body that hasn’t often developed a soul yet.

Within two days, Clawson lost two of its icons–John Denstaedt and Bill … Read More… →

Jimmy Kimmel’s Flaming Yoga Pants or Syria: What Climbs Your Firewall?

By Kevin Walsh | September 12, 2013 - 8:29 am |September 14, 2013 History, Movies, News, Photography

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Thanks to my teenage son and a gaming site, I spent five hours last Saturday removing a virus from our computer. “Conduit,” was a crazy search-engine device that refused to leave, breezing past my security software. The kid had let the intruder in disguised as an update of Adobe Flash that was “required” on my computer.

A good friend was startled to see a scary warning of a virus on his computer–so he clicked the large red “Remove Virus” button and thus began infecting his hard drive.

With “tears in my eyes” and begging for money from a US Embassy in London, a modern Odysseus, disguised as me, wrote to hundreds of my contacts. Most didn’t fall for the scam but a few did write … Read More… →

Cyber Schools–What the FAQ? A Union Goon’s Tea Party Question Reveals New British Taxation (with Podcast)

By Kevin Walsh | August 31, 2013 - 12:46 pm |December 26, 2013 Advertising, Education, Movies, News, Television

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Podcast of interview with Kevin about this post by Night Shift’s radio host, Tony Trupiano (WDFN Detroit, AM 1130). (Begins at 1:40)

If Columbus explored as much as the Detroit Free Press, he’d have never left that dock in southern Spain.

In a “Free Press-Release” yesterday by Lori Higgins, “Michigan Students to Have Many Options for Online Learning,” we learn of the many choices that Michigan students now have to their education via online learning following the passage of Senate Bill 619. I had high hopes that I’d finally learn a little more about the companies that are running these schools … Read More… →

Five Minutes That Could Redefine How You Perceive Media

By Jeff Mahowski | August 25, 2013 - 11:09 am |August 25, 2013 Art, Celebrities, Internet, Movies, News

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Jeff Mahowski

If you have seen a movie, watched television, or even spoken of the two, then you’ve probably heard of Kevin Spacey. Our main man is attributed to being the degree by which people are separated in the film world, the “Six Degrees of Kevin Spacey”. Indeed Kevin Spacey’s prolific career that began in 1986 spans television, film, and music. He has had unparalleled success in pretty much everything he has done. Spacey’s most recent notable work includes his new hit series “House of Cards” on Netflix. Speaking in Edinburgh, Kevin Spacey, describes the process he and his team went through trying to get “House of Cards” greenlit, and in the process, ever so eloquently explains how the current model of delivering media content to the … Read More… →

Life Epicenters: Where Are Your Memories Formed?

By Kevin Walsh | August 20, 2013 - 8:32 am |August 20, 2013 Childhood Memories, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Movies, Television

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It’s not normal, I suppose, to think of Cher at one’s high school reunion. One of my favorite seeming non-sequitors in movies is from Moonstruck, when her Oscar-winning Loretta informs her dad Cosmo that she’s got to tell him something important.

“Let’s go to the kitchen,” says Cosmo.

I’ve seen it dozens of times at household parties, the living room and dining room are empty, and the 12×18 kitchen has 24 people in it. We had a joke growing up that the only room in the house that had no life to it was the living room. I still remember sticking to … Read More… →

Dreaming and Hoping: Cruising Woodward, Happy Days and Retconning a Decade with Fictional American Idealism

By Kale | August 19, 2013 - 12:01 am |August 19, 2013 Childhood Memories, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Radio

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I can see why a lot of people don’t like the Dream Cruise, especially if you live in that area. Or, as is in my case, the Dream Cruise can be a big ol’ inconvenience to those who have to work in the Bloomfield Hills to Royal Oak area. It’s loud, a lot of the people are annoying. You can’t get anywhere quick, if you can get anywhere at all. Vendors are closed, and it’s no honeymoon trying to make the last FedEx pick up in Birmingham the Thursday and Friday before the actual Dream Cruise.

So, I get it. It seems there are more haters every year, though. In classic Michigander style, we like to complain when there’s nothing going on as much as … Read More… →

Breaking Bad-Ass: AMC–the Michael Corleone of Cable TV

By Kevin Walsh | August 9, 2013 - 5:38 pm |August 9, 2013 Movies, Television

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It’s hard to decide what’s more cold-blooded–Walter White’s slow-decline into Hell or the transformation of AMC?

This weekend, Breaking Bad and Hell on Wheels continue new bloodbaths on the same network that endeared us all to the old-man-in-the-fake-livingroom-introducing-the -movies. In Detroit, the folksy host of my childhood afternoons was Bill Kennedy, a b-movie actor who was known for such great appearances as, “the guy out of the submarine hatch, just before Cary Grant climbs out.” He’d read letters during the breaks, tell war-stories then press the play button again.

When cable TV hit my neighborhood in the early 1980s, I couldn’t believe that there … Read More… →

The Method Is Madness

By Robert Phillips | August 6, 2013 - 6:35 am |August 7, 2013 Art, Books, Celebrities, Movies

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I write this (the first draft, anyway) at 11:45 am, Monday morning, August 5. There will be approximately 4 more working hours in the day. About 6,060 minutes stand between me and the end of the work day on Friday. Now 6,059. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not a “clock-watcher,” someone who simply gets to work and runs out the clock until the end of the day. I’m all about the work. Still 6,059.

To those people who are dedicated to their craft, who are willing to spend as many hours as necessary to chase some unattainable perfection, I salute you…to an … Read More… →

Midnight-Screenings: Magic, Memories and Marketing

By Kale | July 24, 2013 - 12:47 pm |July 24, 2013 Movies, Nostalgia

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The other night, whilst sipping a brew or two, a debate arose amongst my friends and me—a debate that will seemingly never end. We discuss it all the time, and we can never come to a consensus:

What is the greatest superhero movie of all time: “The Dark Knight” or “X-Men: First Class”?

Because it is, of course, either/or. There is no (c) to this multiple choice question (sure, maybe “The Avengers”). My friends and I can’t seem to come to a decisive conclusion. No one wants to pit one movie against the other, but, as wayward, mentally adrift early-20’s males, it’s our duty to come up with some sort of conclusion to this mind-boggling question. Thus, that night, the debate carried on:

(SPOILERS)

“Dark … Read More… →

Save The Dates!

By Robert Phillips | July 23, 2013 - 6:21 am |January 5, 2014 Childhood Memories, Family Albums, Home Movies, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Movies, Nostalgia, Uncategorized

1 Comment

On October 11, 19-something, I got a call from an old college buddy. October 11 is apparently National Coming Out Day, a significant day in the gay community when LGBT people come out to someone close to them who doesn’t know. I was shocked–I had no idea. We had talked about girls for hours over beers and “za.” (transl. pizza). To help process the information, I called another friend, who was apparently sitting next to his wife when the phone rang.

Me: “Mike, does the date October 11 mean anything to you?”
Mike: “October 11th? No, what’s special about that date…OUCH…yeah, it’s … Read More… →

There’s Only One “Return” – A Deeper Look at Episode VI

By Kale | July 17, 2013 - 12:13 am |July 17, 2013 Movies

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It is, without a doubt, the greatest trilogy of all time. Especially if you take into consideration its historical context (which we should always do when watching a movie), the “Star Wars” to “Jedi” saga (now known as the Original Trilogy, or OT) stands as the greatest series of films in history. If you really think about it, “Star Wars” basically created the idea of a trilogy. Nowadays, it seems if one film is successful, studio heads and fanboys begin to think of sequels one AND two. And it’s all because of “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”‘s success. Of course, it wasn’t always suppose to be a trilogy. First, it was supposed to be one film, and then nine. And then it … Read More… →

Brain Ruts: Phantom Pets, Facebook Anger & Geographical Literacy

By Kevin Walsh | July 11, 2013 - 7:32 am |July 11, 2013 Internet, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Movies, Nostalgia, Oddities, Photography

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I’ve been opening the wrong cupboard for 15 years now.

After the first two weeks in our house, it became obvious that having the glasses right above the dishwasher made more sense. (You can stack plates, so moving them all at once to the cupboard four feet behind us was more “logical” — to quote my Spock-fan son.)

But it doesn’t matter. When I’m thirsty, I swing open the wrong door, swear under my breath, and trudge across our eight foot kitchen floor and get a glass from the correct place. 15 years.

I was recently going through a three-day training of a new software platform at work. Part of the drill was for us to respond with insightful comments on our experience. … Read More… →

“Loying:” Common Misperceptions About The Practice of Law.

By Robert Phillips | July 9, 2013 - 6:28 am |July 9, 2013 Books, Legal, Movies

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So, you want to know what I do for a living?

To those of you who have read my posts and feel I should keep my day job, remember that you’ve probably never seen me at my day job. If you had, possibly you’d encourage me to keep writing. I am a lawyer: I spend my days loying. Specifically, I’m a trial defense attorney handling personal injury cases. It’s typically auto accidents, but in my past, I’ve handled elevator-related injuries, construction site injuries, and sidewalk or business slip and fall injuries. Fed by a diet of television lawyers, many lawyers dream about practicing all … Read More… →

Reading Was Boring–Until I Met Matilda

By Courtney Zimmer | July 5, 2013 - 10:08 am |July 5, 2013 Books, Childhood Memories, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Movies, Nostalgia

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Courtney Zimmer

I was one of those kids who was always performing in front of his/her parents on top of the laundry basket/stage.
I never sang into a hairbrush. My thoughts – What’s the point? I need an actual microphone to amplify the sound. Yep. I was (and still kind of am) that kid.

But there comes a time in every child’s life when you need to learn how to read. Being the tiny, perky, ball of energy I was, reading was boring. You have to sit down for long periods of time and be quiet. There was no involvement, no reaction from others. You were the audience. Boy, was it lonely to be stuck with a book for a mandatory 20 minutes of homework … Read More… →

Motown’s Magic: Soul-Searching at 5th Grade Camp

By Kale | July 3, 2013 - 9:46 am |July 3, 2013 Childhood Memories, Movies, Music, Nostalgia, Radio, Uncategorized

3 Comments

I work a lot with people who are from out of town. When they ask me what’s special about Michigan and Detroit, the thing I bring up first is always Motown. A lot of people who don’t grow up in the area aren’t as conscious about Motown and its history as we are here in Southeast Michigan. The thing about Motown songs, though—just like, I’d say, songs by The Beatles—is that even if you aren’t a hardcore fan, you still “know” every song. So when I tell people that “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” “Baby, I Need Your Loving” and “Do You Love Me? (Now That I Can Dance)” all came from Detroit’s most successful pop culture think-tank, Motown Records, everyone is always impressed and intrigued about … Read More… →

The Ring Around the Rosie: Nursery Rhymes & Nightmares

By Robert Phillips | July 2, 2013 - 6:11 am |July 2, 2013 Books, Childhood Memories, Movies, Parenting, Stand-Up

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Have you ever wondered why every child under the age of 10 is a sociopath? OK, age 20. Psychologists talk about the years kids spend consumed with themselves, the years spent acknowledging only their own needs. I’ve developed a theory about this after about two hours of moderate research. Here it is: consider what we’re putting in our kid’s heads? When we force them to turn off the television to protect them from stories like Sandy Hook, Zimmerman, and from crazy people like Adam Lanza and Antonin Scalia, what are we using to replace these disturbing images?

Here are a couple examples … Read More… →

The Four Ignored Elephants of Quality in the Classroom & Teacher Retention

By Kevin Walsh | June 28, 2013 - 8:42 am |September 4, 2013 Education, Legal, Movies, Parenting

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I was reminded of Winnie the Pooh and his hallucinogenic-trip, envisioning heffalumps and woozles, the other day…

My priest was giving me an update on contract talks with his elementary teachers. “I tell them, ‘You only work 3/4 of the day and 3/4 of the year, why should you expect full-pay anyway?’”

I wanted to say “Yeah, Padre, and you only work three hours on Sundays and get free clothing, room and board.” But then I’d have to escort him to the confessional right … Read More… →

Micro Toy, Big Disappointment

By Kale | June 17, 2013 - 4:43 pm |June 30, 2013 Childhood Memories, Movies, Shopping

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