Past Movie Scratches: Vacation-- Animal-- Amigos-- Caddyshack-- Vegas-- Nerds

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies seen on TV in 2018.

The numbers after the title are the date I saw these movies on TV or VCR.

73.  VACATION--  11-5--  The Griswolds overcome everything that can go wrong on a family vacation.

74.  ANIMAL HOUSE--  11-5--  "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"  Classic line from my all-time favorite movie.

75.  THE THREE AMIGOS--  11-6--   Movies get real.  Talk about three guys without a clue.

76.  CADDYSHACK--  11-6--  It's Bill Murray vs. that Groundhog.  Who wins?

77.  VEGAS VACATION-- 11-6--   Poor Clark can't win.  Rusty can't lose and Ellen gets a boyfriend.

78.  REVENGE OF THE NERDS--  11-6--  It's kind of another A"Animal House."  Nerd power!!

These Are Some of the Funniest Movies Ever Made.  --RoadHaHa

DID YOU KNOW:  "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."

Past Movie Scratches: Monster-- Hunger-- Jurassic-- Battleship-- Dodgeball-- Hunger

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2018.

31.  MONSTER U--  4-4--  It's the unpopular nerd fraternity versus the cool frats.  It's "Animal House" all over again, but this time with nerdy monsters.

32.  HUNGER GAMES:  CATCHING FIRE--  4-20--  Back in the game again.

33.  JURASSIC PARK 2--  4-20--  Mom and Dad T.Rex taking care of baby T Rex.

34.  BATTLESHIP--  4-20--  The "Mighty Mo" to the rescue. Sometimes, analog better than digital.

35.  DODGEBALL--  4-21--  Misfits (the Average Joes) beat the studs.

36.  THE HUNGER GAMES:  MOCKINGJAY--  PART 1--  4-27--  The Revolution begins.  Pieta gets brainwashed.

--  RoadDog

TOP TEN TRIVIA:  Helen Keller could identify friends by their personal odors.

Music Deaths: Stephen Furst "Animal House's" Flounder

STEPHEN FURST, 63

Died June 16, 2017

OK, he wasn't a singer, but he was on that great movie and soundtrack "National Lampoon's Animal House."  I regard that as the best movie ever made as it reminds me so much of my old fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi at Northern Illinois University.  Until the end, this was my fraternity.  We even had our own Bluto we called Czyck (pronounced Shike, long i)

Delta House was Delta Sig House.  Alright, we didn't cause a horse to have a hear attack in the dean's office.  Nor did we ever hve a Toga Party, but I'm sure we would have if we'd known about them.  And like Boone and the others, we really loved R&B music.  We were kind of the misfit frat at Northern, not as bad as the Delta Taus though.

Actor, film and television director.  His big break came in 1978 when he played Kent "Flounder" Dorfman on"National Lampoon's Animal House."  Then, the next year, he played the same character on the TV series "Delta House."

He played other roles on TV's "St. Elsewhere" and "Babylon 5."

Don't Shoot the Horse, Flounder!!  --RoadDog

Good Times in the Area: Leading Up to St. Patrick's Day-- Part 3: A Tribute to Harold Ramis

MARCH 13, SUNDAY--  Getting used to Daylight Savings Time.  Pizza and pitchers at Hickory Lodge in McCullom Lake.  Stop at Sunnyside in Johnsburg.

MARCH 14, MONDAY--  Took the '03 to Ray Chevrolet in Fox Lake to get the back lights fixed.  Went to Half-Times for their Monday Happy Hour with 1/2 price appetizers and $1 20 oz. drafts.  Really getting tired of all the political ads as tomorrow is primary day in Illinois.

MARCH 15, TUESDAY--  Took the '11 Malibu to Ray Chevrolet for recall on the seatbelt.  Enjoyed looking at the 2015-1016 Camaros and Malibus.  Probably our next car.    I tried the Taco Bell breakfast offerings, not bad for a buck.

Drove to Woodstock for the Harold Ramis Tribute at the Woodstock Theatre.  First, I saw the movie "London Has Fallen."  I then went to La Placita Taqueria Mexican Restaurant for dinner.  Great burrito.  Even better, this was where the Tip-Top Cafe was in the movie "Groundhog Day" and I sat in the spot where Bill Murray crammed all that food into his mouth.  Harold Ramis was very involved with this movie and directed it as well as co-wrote the screenplay.

I then saw the third of the movies in the tribute to him, "National Lampoon's Animal House."  This is my all-time favorite movie and it was great seeing it on the big screen again.  Until the end, this movie could have been my old fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi.  There sure was a lot of laughing and many, like me, knew the lines essentially by heart.

Laughing All the Way.  --RoadDog

RAMBLINGS OF A RETIRED MIND:  Why do they put up pictures of criminal in the post office?  What are we supposed to do-- write to these men?  Why don't they put their pictures on postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

Seeing Folks on TV: Buffett, Flounder, Spock and Kirk

The past several days, I have seen some interesting people on TV.

Last night, there was an old hippie helicopter pilot on "Hawaii-Five-0."  At first it didn't register, but as he talked I thought it was familiar and then took a closer look and it had to be none other than Jimmy Buffett.  We looked the show up on IMDB and TV Guide but there was no mention of him.  We finally came across an article and...it was him.

Earlier we had watched "CHiPs" and it was about an animal house fraternity at a California college which a snooty fraternity was trying to get in trouble.  The president-for-life was none other than "Animal House's" Flounder.  And, they were having a toga party.  It was like watching my favorite-ever movie all over again.

With the recent death of Leonard Nimoy, we found out that Nimoy and William Shatner of "Star Trek" fame first appeared together on an episode of "Man from U.N.C.L.E.."  It was on MeTV Thursday.  This was filmed several years before they became Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk.  And Commandant Klink from "Hogan's Heroes" was on the episode as well.

Book 'Rm Parrotheads.  --RoadDog

Some Great "Animal House" Quotes

AFI's "100 Years...100 Movie Quotes" lists "Toga! Toga!" at #82.

Honorable mention:  "Over?  Did you say 'over?'  Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  Hell, NO!"

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

"Blanks?"  --RoadDog

And, Especially Thanks to Harold Ramis for "Animal House"-- Part 6

Some great tracts from the soundtrack.  Actually, I liked the whole thing, both songs made for the movie and the oldies.

FABER COLLEGE THEME--  Elmer Bernstein
LOUIE, LOUIE--  John Belushi
SHAMA LAMA DING DONG--  Otis Day & the Knights

ANIMAL HOUSE--  Stephen Bishop
MONEY--  John Belushi
DREAM GIRL--  Stephen Bishop

SHOUT--  Otis Day & the Knights

And, of course, that classic scene with "I Gave My love a Cherry."


SONGS FROM THE MOVIE BUT NOT ON THE SOUNDTRACK

THEME FROM A SUMMER PLACE--  Percy Faith
WHO'S SORRY NOW--  Connie Francis
TAMMY--
WASHINGTON POST MARCH--  John Phillip Sousa

"Sorry."  --RoadBlutoDog

"Animal House" and My Old Frat, Delta Sigma Phi: Thanks Harold

And, Harold Ramis' best ever.  My all-time favorite movie, "Animal House."  Until the end of the movie, he might as well have been writing about my fraternity at Northern Illinois University, Delta Sigma Phi.  We even had a guy named Czichowski whom we called Cziak, who could have been Bluto's brother.  He drank as much and was on the seven-year plan and never did graduate.

We even had a serious pledge initiation ceremony messed up when one of them said, "I, state your name."  No one could keep a straight face after that.

Our parties were legendary, though we sure wished we'd known about the Toga Parties.  Like Boone, we loved out R&B, soul an Motown Music.  At every party we played just four albums:  Greatest Hits ones by the Four Tops, Sly & the Family Stone and Temptations.  The fourth was "Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, primarily because of "Lodi."  This was song we had adopted for our own words and particular dance to it.

We also had road trips and pledging.

When I saw Harold Ramis' "Animal House, it sure did bring back all those memories.

Thanks Harold.  --RoadDog


CHEERS' NORM PETERSON'S BEST QUOTES:  Hey Mr. peterson, there's a cold one waiting for you.  "I know, if she calls, I'm not here."