Star Wars Celebration V-August 2010 Orlando!

There is an ulterior motive post-it is to pimp the blog for the crew responsible for New York Comicon Featuring Anime 2010, UFC Fan Fest, PAX (Penny Arcade) & this year-Star Wars Celebration V!

The shows have a lot of great panels, celebrity guests and is just days of fun. I used to work for the company that runs the shows-Reed Exhibitions and the Pop Culture team is compiled of fellow geeks and conesuiers of the Star Wars world, comic and Anime genre.

The events are all listed on the blog: http://www.mediumatlarge.net/

The blog is amusingly written as well as an update tool. If you like cats you will be happy to know that Caturdays are part of the blog as well.

I am particularly looking forward to the Celebration V event-the 30th Anniversary of "Empire Strikes Back-Episode 5" The blog announced the George Lucas himself will be there, a menagerie of celebrities, as well as some celebrities who are attending merely because they are fans. Jon Stewart will be interviewing Lucas at one point-so it should be interesting.

The event however is more to me than a mere convention. My children-particularly my oldest son, has inherited my geekiness and love of the Force. Since the announcement last year that the event was occurring, my son has been talking non-stop about it-which vendors will have which collectibles, if he'll get autographs and from whom, the chance to meet celebrities. The fact I can share the joy and excitement of this with my children makes it the best family vacation. Immersed in Star Wars for 4 days-spending quality time, meeting illustrators and talent makes for a memorable scenario.

Check it on out-have an experience that is truly a once in a lifetime and most of all-May The Force Be With You, Always.

Big Time Rush-A Parent Review


I will be straight with you-I loathe Boy Bands with an unbridled
passion, I think their mere existence was created to provide a
purgatory on earth to make us suffer for the human race creating teen
idols as we evolved. As one from the New Age meets Punk Rock age of the
80's-my children heard The Ramones, Queen and Metallica as opposed to
Raffi. One of my proud moments was my daughter borrowing my Ramones
shirt to wear to school, and my son bonding with his previously
impossible Social Studies teacher based on their mutual love of Cream
and The Rolling Stones. The concept of me enjoying a show about a
pre-fab four boy band, fish outta water situation-they come from the
Mid-West United States and are relocated West Coast-would normally be
inconceivable.

However-I am a huge fan of parody and laughing. The show is a paradox
because Nickelodeon wants to market the boys and sell their CDs,
however they decided to go back to their roots-the Nickelodeon I recall
watching endlessly during the age of "You Can't Do That On
Television"-twisted, silly and true to the spirit of many of their
shows, slinking in references to a variety of movies, pop culture
references etc. with some twisted humor a la "Pete & Pete". This is why
it is watchable for me.

Why, one may ask-do I watch this show? Simply because I believe it is
my responsibility as a parent to watch TV with my children, to know
what they see, what influences them etc. Ratings are nothing to me-I
know what my children can handle and although I embark on several
outdoor activities with them, at the end of the day after work-I am
tired-however rather than lock myself in my room for "me time", I make
it a point to have "we time" and watch with the children.

Upon learning the concept of this show-I was worried. However, these
boys are adept at comedy. Add in David Anthony Higgins as the greedy
Landlord and Steven Kramer Glickman as foils for the boys and you get
some serious laughs.

The show has a skewed sense of humor, sound effects giving it a Chuck
Jones feel to it. The cameo of Eric Estrada as Carlos' Policeman father
was nothing short of brilliant-parents could laugh at the CHIPS
reference and Estrada showed a great comedic talent. Fabio also made a
cameo as a dream man-who the children kidnap to give the obviously
widowed Mrs. Knight (Kendall's mother and the groups chaperone in CA) a
perfect date. There is Buddah Bob-the handyman character that is
introduced as someone that Mrs. Knight assumes is an Ax Murderer which
is set up on a series of humorous scenarios where it looks like he is-a
very telling side story on judging people-which also had the sweet
enough to rot teeth perky neighbor girl end up being a psycho.

And it works. I laugh every episode. Gustavo-the band's manager-refers
to the boys as dogs-but you eventually learn he actually LIKES
them-noted by his assistant Kelly who really loves the boys since they
are so goofy, silly and real.

The friendship shown between the boys-who we learn have relocated to
California to form their band is cute. We find out they are simply
hockey players who wound up being discovered. One of them, Carlos wears
his helmet all the time-a running joke throughout the show. Kendall,
the sort of leader of the boys has his mom and his adorable little
sister, Katie (brilliantly portrayed by a talented Ciara Bravo) is
shown to be adjusting to his new status, Logan is the group's geek
genius, Carlos is the goof one,James is the least explored so I am
hoping they give some more definition. The boys are adjusting to a new
world of competitive musicians, dealing with normal teen stuff like
girls and things like that. The show is too silly to deal with actual
issues like drug use, however they replace normally contraversal issues
with a humorous version of it-Buddah Bob's introduction as a storyline
on judging people.

All in all though, the show reminds us constantly that it isn't reality
by the slapstick and silly situations. It laughs at itself, which is
the best of comedy.

The performances, the silly stories etc make the show very watchable-a
good bonus when one watches TV with their kids. Watch, laugh and don't feel guilty-watching it with your kids makes for a bonus family time and relaxing time rolled into one.

"The Butter To My Bread...The Breath To My Life"

I have had the opportunity to do something I haven't been able to do in a long time the past couple of weeks-watch movies.

I am a self confessed movie hound. A combination of working at Sono Cinema when it still existed, and then at Videosmith back when I was a student in Boston has left me with a higher end of taste when it comes to celluloid sampling. One of the benefits of Videosmith was renting movies for free-add in my massive insomnia and it made for a great deal of movie watching. I had forgotten how much I missed it.

One of the films I have recently had a chance to enjoy has been "Julie & Julia". To be fair I am biased when it comes to Meryl Streep-she is a master of dictation, taking any accent you could imagine, spinning the dialect as if she had been born speaking that precise way. She has the slight rough (and her own native) accent in "River Wild", the calm, calculated cool dulcet tones as Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" and a Brooklyn edge in "Doubt"-I don't think I need to even mention her superb job in "Sophie's Choice"-I have known from working in the film industry that Meryl Streep's very name is synonymous with "Sophie's Choice"-her Polish accent made me think for years she came from there.

Watching "Julie & Julia" was, in a word, fun. Streep's performance as Julia Child is spot on, however she injects into the character her joyous and unashamed love of life and food. Stanley Tucci breathes life into Paul Child as a devoted, loving husband who even after years of marriage gazes upon his beloved wife as if they were newlyweds. The relationship between the Childs is why I enjoyed the movie so much-to the point that I am now planning on reading "My Life In France".

Theirs is a marriage of true equality-they are partners. They discuss every and anything. Despite her inability to have children-Paul is always willing to take the time to remind Julia that she is a woman, worthy of his love and attention. His support as she writes her one of a kind, unique book is both inspiring and touching. I believe that if Julia Child had decided to become an Astronaut, Paul Childs would be enrolling her in NASA to make it happen. That kind of love is a wonder to watch to begin with-having Streep and Tucci perform it gives it a reality-you BELIEVE they are these people. That kind of acting is amazing to see occur, and is the core of why I loved the movie so much.

I did find myself almost bored with the Julie Powell end of the movie however. This is not any fault of Amy Smart or Chris Messina, indeed their excellent acting made that part of the story bearable-it took me awhile to realize why I found Powell's part of the story annoying and then it hit me. I don't like her as a person. She is a bitch to her husband, selfish and thinks only of herself. I had discovered prior to seeing the movie that she cheated on her "sainted" husband which made me mad that she would do that to someone so supportive of her antics. They say he cheated as well-but given the self centered person she comes off as-that is almost understandable.

Amy Smart gave the character way more innocence and sweetness than Powell deserved. This is no fault of Smart-she just has that air about her-she is sweet. Her performance in "Doubt" was so effective due to this sweet nature that shines through. She tries so hard to be bitchy and it just doesn't work. Her passion for the cooking however was perfect. Powell's obsession with Julia Child is given a very real life result-apparently Childs felt Powell's blog and project was disrespectful. The devastation upon discovering that her hero disapproves is one of the best scenes Smart is given. There is a scene recreating Powell dressing up as Julia for a birthday party that made me uncomfortable-particularly when she said "Bon Appetite"-Powell dreams of channeling Childs, worships her and dares to compare herself and her marriage to Julia. I would be hard pressed to see Julia cheat on Paul. Messina's Eric Powell is great-he is supportive, funny and amused by his wife's antics-he does get annoyed after awhile, but gets over it. He does call her out on her over the top actions, and for that I am grateful-it proves that someone saw this as unstable as I did.

To be honest-had the entire movie just been about the Childs, I would have watched it happily-when I had it OnDemand and could fast forward, I did to their scenes. Powell's contribution can be that because of that blog, this movie was made and I am grateful for this, as seeing the Childs relationship and the effective chemistry of Streep & Tucci (reunited from "The Devil Wears Prada") made for a more than satisfying film. However, and again this is in no way meaning to discredit Smart or Messina-I just didn't care about the Powells-the Childs shone more as a great and believable couple.

Paul Child once said to Julia she was his "butter to my bread, the breath to my life"-to have anyone feel that way about you-consider yourself blessed.

Gramma Is The Summer

The last day of school is historically the date most children associate with summer coming. In our household however, summer wasn't officially on until Gramma came for her yearly, month long visit.

My Gramma used to visit every summer-indeed we marked the coming of the summer with her and Grampa Willie pulling up in the driveway. My mother would be rushing around the week prior all but sterilizing the house-Gramma was neat-a trait my mother never quite inherited and as such rather than have Gramma pop out of the car and start cleaning-which she WOULD do, we all cleaned before she came. My sister and I sacrificed our sanctuary of a bedroom in order to house Gramma and Grampa, relocating to the rec room in our basement-neither of us minded-since it was summer, the cool of the basement was very welcoming and besides, we usually we so happy to have Gramma there we'd probably sleep on rocks to accommodate her.

She always brought presents, crazy things that as a child we loved to go through-Gramma always brought fascinating items with her-frying pans, crazy kitchen gadgets etc. Nothing was to be wasted with Gramma-she saved everything in a neat and orderly fashion which I envied. She also brought tons of whatever her cooking project was that year and was guaranteed to make plenty while she was at my parent's house. Coffee cans and various tins were produced containing homemade English Muffins, cookies etc. Her specialty were the Chocolate Chip Cookies-for years we had no clue-but it turns out one of the ingredients was Kaluha-and yes that makes it taste amazing!

With Gramma came something that to this day makes me think of her-cigarette smoke. She smoked Pall Malls-unfiltered. We had Central Air Conditioning thanks to my father's line of work-so fortunately it circulated out of the house for the most part-however the smell would hang in the air. That mixed with her pearl toned nail polish-gave a particular scent to the house that when she left-we knew she was gone. My mother would never tolerate anyone smoking in the house-but when Gramma was there-she never batted an eyelash. Gramma would wave her hand and dismiss me whenever I scolded her for smoking-I made such an issue out of it that when I was in High School and I smoked one cigarette I was reminded for the rest of Gramma's life about the incident.

With Gramma also came all our relatives. Hours upon hours of visitors, cake, coffee and conversations. My family is a literal melting pot due to Gramma remarrying after her first husband-my mom's father-took off for what appeared at the time-no reason. After 7 years she was allowed to divorce him without him there and she remarried my Grampa Willie-who in the technical sense was my Step-Grampa, but to me he was as much my family as anyone else. We called him Grampa Willie to distinguish him from my dad's father, Grampa. Grampa Willie to this day is probably one of the smartest men I ever met in my life-he had moved to America from his homeland of Puerto Rico, had lived an interesting childhood of poverty, came to America I believe around 1950 and became a Mailman for the United Postal Service. I always thought he should have become a teacher-he was a very intelligent man who absorbed information like a sponge. He adored all his Grandchildren, just like Gramma did and being in their presence could make anyone smile because you just felt loved-they exuded this familial love that wrapped around you and could provide so much comfort.

Grampa Willie had been married prior before and as such my extended family is huge, since their heritage was Puerto Rican, I was raised with a very anti-Racist mentality. It is one of the things I can say I love them both for-creating a childhood that shows acceptance of races and shunning ignorance is a great and irreplaceable gift. Gramma hated one thing-Judgemental people. I still carry that with me.

I loved seeing my cousins, my Uncles-some summers we would get lucky and the whole house would be crammed with the ENTIRE clan. My Uncles-Jaime (incidentally my Godfather) and David, their children, Gramma, Grampa and almost a revolving door of various extended family would spin through the house. I loved it-to date it summers when Gramma and Grampa Willie came were probably up as the happiest times in my life.

Then of course-there was the food. My Gramma was a master cook and with all these people, came a ton of food. My Uncle Pito-Grampa Willie's oldest son from his first marriage-would come in bearing donuts, bagels etc. Aunt Eleanor would walk in, picture perfect in her neat suits providing cake-my sisters and I to this day have a theory that Aunt El has a Entenmanns Factory located in her basement, pasta made up by Gramma, rice and beans, and this yummy pork that I still have to pull the recipe out of my cousin Glen called Pernal. The refrigerator was stuffed with every and any kind of snack, cold cuts and treats. Gramma was a firm believer in always having something sweet on hand-my mother was generally anti-sugar-Gramma believed ice cream was mandatory-in her case she would actually mix it with Pepsi (stop retching-ever have a root beer float? Think about this). If my mom said no to Ice Cream, Gramma would produce a bowl of it, declaring she "superseded" my mother as the Gramma and a little something sweet never hurt anyone.

The house was alive when they came. The chaos was as comforting as their presence. She always left behind something special for each of us when she came, slipped money in our pockets when she could, made sure if one of us wanted dessert-it happened-even if it was before the meal. She would ask if we wanted a snack and would produce this huge plate of whatever she made in front of us. She taught me to cook, patiently gulping any crazy creation I came up with praising it as if it were the best of gourmet.

I still have china she patiently gathered from a grocery store special-one of those long forgotten premium deals where one buys so many groceries and you get one piece of china at a time. She had gathered a 4 place setting, complete with main plate, salad plate, bread plate, saucer and teacup. To date, excepting one tea cup-I still have it all. She gave it to me when I was 9 and it stayed patiently in my parents attic for years until I finally claimed it-during that time I always had one saucer and one teacup which came where ever I moved to remind me of her.

The best thing however was Gramma was probably one of the most supportive people on the face of the planet. Although she stopped working after a fashion-her job in life-as far as she was concerned-was the Public Relations manager of all her Children & Grandchildren. One of her gifts was making you feel so special. If one of us had a dream-she supported it with an infectious enthusiasm that I have never seen in my life. If it was our graduation-she was the one standing up and applauding before our names even finished being pronounced. She encouraged all of us to not just walk the unbeaten path, but pound our feet in determination to make our own mark and path-filled with examples for all who came after us to follow.

If anyone crossed us-she'd scold them....... and then invite them to the table to eat-no one was forbidden from her table. Gramma had a firm belief in this-proven that even at her funeral-ex-girlfriends of both my Uncles showed up-weeping with us, just as Gramma would have had it. She'd let you know how she felt and she'd move on. I loved that about her. My empathy and compassion was directly influenced by her actions. A deeply religious woman, her faith was unshakable. Her advice was savvy and her wisdom was beyond reproach.

Summer comes and with it my neighbor smoking a cigarette-the acrid smell combined with the summer smells of New England makes me close my eyes and remember how for one month every summer-Gramma showed us how much we were the center of her universe.

Gramma was home, even when she lived in Florida and was just a phone call away. She could make even the most discarded person feel loved and accepted. When Eric died, I found comfort in the thought that Gramma was at the front and center of the greeting party in heaven, ushering him in, hugging him and saying " You were married to my Granddaughter,so just that you know, that makes you my Grandson-welcome"-probably followed by her feeding him non-stop from her top notch kitchen because as far as I am concerned, Gramma's heaven would be a kitchen feeding every and anyone.

I miss you a lot Gramma-I hope you know that in my heart you are summer, always.

To The Fathers By Nature & The Fathers Of The Heart

I have a picture, simple really-of Rory, napping on the couch, curled up with Eric, snuggled into him, that I took the winter before Gabby was born. They are both at ease, comfortable and it is a charming picture. I remember when I brought the pictures home from the store, Eric saw that and must have stared at it for about 10 minutes straight. When I asked him why, he said "I'm going to be a Father"-I then pointed out something that to me, was even more obvious "Eric-you already are a Father".

DNA can dictate some people become a parent. Sometimes that DNA lottery is golden-like Gabby-Eric was her father, and he lived, quite literally, for her. He had gone from being considered by friends and family alike as the permanent bachelor to a father of 2 with one on the way in a short period of time. He took on this daunting task with an enthusiasm I cannot even begin to describe. He always said he didn't just fall in love with me, he fell in love with my children.

So what makes a father? DNA? Sperm fertilizing an egg? I suppose on a scientific level, this is true enough, but to be a father, a true father-is so much more.

Orion was 3 and 1/2 when he met Eric, Rory was 2 and 1/2. When we were in Boston, it was the 3 of us, we were inseparable, close, protected and loved each other. I remember burning my finger one time while I was cooking-Rory-then 2 and Orion, then 3 comforted me, with Orion running to the fridge to get an ice pack. I was concerned on how they would take to Eric. However what I never realized was that despite our clan like existence, the children missed that father figure. That missing link is what brought me back to Norwalk to begin with-my father had offered to step up and be a role model for the children. Within a short time of being back, Eric and I reacquainted and within a few months we had our little motley crue family. They welcomed him, open arms. That missing link was no more and the comfort level was peaceful. It was a lovely, fairly low stress existence. Money was tight but for the time Eric was doing well, we had Gabby on the way and she was born in wonderful health-a replica of her beloved daddy. Until I started working regularly again, we never spent a moment apart and it was a fun time.

The dark time followed and the scars created from that still exist. I can't get too specific, but let's leave it at the DNA father was so incensed at HIS children choosing to call this other man "Papa"-by their own creation and choice, he wanted to break us apart. He never truly succeeded in doing that, however he did manage to make the final 2 years of Eric's life hell, and utilized the children to do this.

When Eric died, Orion put it best "Daddy is my biological father, Papa is my father in my heart"-articulating this in such a way at 8 years old-a man who he only had in his life for 4 and 1/2 years held a place in his heart that no manner of lectures or punishments could remove.

I remember being concerned about the children meeting Mark. Gabby met him first-their first meeting involved Gabby supervising Mark hanging Christmas lights. She was happy and managed to, on her own make this distinction in her mind-Daddy was her Angel, Mark was her, well Mark. Watching the two of them develop this adorable father figure and daughter relationship has been a lesson in humans and their emotional needs. This year Gabby created a heart shaped paper weight that simply said "I Love You, Happy Marky's Day". She made something similar for her to put on her daddy's grave. Their relationship is proof that a father figure doesn't necessarily replace a daddy-just creates a special and unique bond on it's own.

Orion and Rory immediately took to Mark. He has always been firm with them, letting them know day one he would not tolerate disrespect, however he can always be counted on to get extensions on bedtime, provide fireworks and more importantly, he listens to them offering his advice and guiding them. My favorite picture of Mark and Orion was from last year, when the Orion and Aurora made their First Communion, Orion insisted on wearing one of Eric's former ties-and the picture is of Mark showing Orion how to tie it. That picture pretty much describes their relationship-Orion looks to Mark for opinions, advice and approval that he doesn't feel comfortable approaching his father with. Aurora-the running joke is that she is Mark's "favorite"-this is because out of all 3 kids she listens the best. She also confides in him like she does with me. So our crazy Brady-Level family exists, Hallmark has no holiday for who we are, however we are pretty happy, so that is the most important thing.

What makes a father? DNA? Love? Respect? I think like Orion feels, Eric is his father of his heart, someone who he has good memories of. Gabby has limited memories of Eric-made stronger by all of us encouraging her to remember details, telling her stories etc. Eric remains in our memories, loving him and missing him, and Mark is here, being the best father he can be to 3 children who love him more than even he knows.

Happy Father's Day-to the fathers who became daddies by nature and human emotion, to the fathers who became fathers in the hearts of their stepchildren or the like, the ones who dry the tears, provide the healing hugs, who remind the children to respect mommy, who knows the difference between the fake tears and the true ones and who have open ears and willing hearts to take on a job that will be the basis of how their children will rate and have expectations of men from and who always succeed in convincing mommy that 15 minutes more of awake time is perfectly acceptable.

Happy Father's day to my own father, who had to wait 30 years to get a little boy to enjoy since nature dictated he'd get 3 girls-and who made sure I knew how to drive in reverse before driving forward, who quietly reminded me moments before marrying my first husband that I didn't have to go through with it if I didn't want to and we could leave right there and then (we didn't but the support was there), who beamed when holding his first grandchild and who received his nickname when Orion, at 8 months old, attempted to leap from the bathtub into his arms, soaking wet crying out joyfully at the sight of him "POP POP!". To the man who called me Boss Tina and took me everywhere to his A/C jobs so I could pet the dogs that lived there and who would catch me watching the snow fall at 2AM and invite me to go plowing with him in the darkness of snowy dawns in our Connecticut winters.

They do deserve more than one day to honor them and I am lucky enough that I have mine here to spoil with steak tomorrow. Now, go and hug the special daddy in your life and have a lovely day.