#55. and #83. Completed.

A few weeks back, I went and saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Nita for Mr. Conrad's birthday. It was quite good, and both Nita and I had a good time.

One part of the movie that was particularly hilarious - Nita nearly died laughing - involved the infinite improbability drive turning everyone, briefly, into string puppets.

Yesterday, while killing some time before my show, I went to Warp 1 Comics and Games a few blocks away. While wandering around I stumbled upon the string puppet versions of the entire Hitchhiker's crew; Arthur, Marvin, Zaphod, Trillian and Ford (who comes complete with towel). I bought them all for Nita on the spot.

As I predicted, she loved them.

So I guess that satisfies #55, as there was no good reason for me to get them for her, except that I knew she wanted them.

On other 101 in 1001 news, I've just read A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Quite a good read, very well thought out fantasy and excellently written. I couldn't put it down for three days and polished it off in that time. I've just started on book two of the series, A Clash of Kings, but still have yet to purchase the third book. Nita also just lent me The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, second of the Douglas Adams series. So both #66 and # 67 are progressing. Plus, here's a little excerpt of conversation:

Dawn (my co-worker, comes in to rent a movie on her day off): Hey Scott. I was just talking about you.

Me: Oh?

Dawn: Yeah, I was telling my parents how you look like that guy from Star Trek?

Me: Which one?

Dawn: Commander Riker. I think it's the beard.

So I guess that should about conclude #83 as well. If someone comes up and tells me, out of the blue, that I've succeeded at growing a Frakes-esque beard, than who am I to argue?

#10. Top 100 Movies

So I finally finished my current top 100 movie list. That's two things off the list finally! The list is long, so I hesitate to post it here... ah, what the heck.

The list is of course subject to change, especially since I'm watching a list of 50 movies that may very well make my top 100. The list is also alphabetical because I can't bring myself ot rank them.

Addams Family, The (1991), Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Amadeus (1984), Being John Malkovich (1999), Big Fish (2003), Big Lebowski, The (1998), Blade Runner (1982), Blair Witch Project, The (1999), Bowling for Columbine (2002), Casino (1995), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Cool Runnings (1993), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Dogma (1999), Dracula (1992), Ed Wood (1994), Emperor’s New Groove, The (2000), Empire Records (1995), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Event Horizon (1997), Exorcist, The (1983), Fallen, The (1998), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Finding Nemo (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), Free Enterprise (1998), Galaxy Quest (1999), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Godfather, The (1971), GoldenEye (1995), Groundhog Day (1993), Happy Gilmore (1996), Hero (2002), High Fidelity (2000), Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The (2005), Incredibles, The (2004), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Jumanji (1995), Jurassic Park (1993), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Last Night (1998), Liar Liar (1997), Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The (2004), Life of Brian (1979), Live and Let Die (1973), Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), Mary Poppins (1964), Matrix, The (1999), Maverick (1994), Moulin Rouge (2001), Mummy, The (1999), Mystery Men (1999), Othello (1995), Payback (1999), Peter Pan (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pleasantville (1998), Powerpuff Girls Movie, The (2002), Predator (1987), Princess Bride, The (1987), Producers, The (1968), Professional, The (1981), Pulp Fiction (1994), Rashomon (1950), Return to Oz (1985), Royal Tanenbaums, The (2001), S1m0ne (2002), Schindler’s List (1993), School of Rock, The (2003), Scrooged (1988), Se7en (1995), Seven Samurai, The (1954), Shadow of the Vampire (2000), Shawn of the Dead (2004), Shawshank Redemption, The (1994), Sin City (2005), Spaceballs (1987), Spider-Man (2002), Spirited Away (2001), Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), Tailor of Panama, The (2001), This is Spinal Tap (1984), Three Musketeers, The (1993), Titanic (1997), Toy Story 2 (1999), True Lies (1994), Unforgiven (1992), Wag the Dog (1997), Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), Yojimbo (1961), Zoolander (2001)

I don't feel the need to justify any of my choices, but needless to say, each of these movies made my top 100 for a reason. Yes, even Zoolander.

Side note, I've watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - which you may notice on my top 100 - and Young Frankenstien (1974) this week, so that brings the count for #11 up to 7. 18 more movies to go.

In other news, my beard is almost to the point where I'd be satisfied to call #83 complete. Also, I've started my list of my favourite 50 authors and... wow it's hard to come up with 50 favourite authors. My list is currently up to about 37, but I'm really struggling to think about which other authors I like enough to put on it.

Oh well. I'll get it done soon enough.

#20. Reading horror novels.

I should clarify this one, as I've just discovered a list of the 100 best horror stories of all time, and really don't know if I can get through all the ones I've yet to read.

The list I was referring to was the Listmania! Best Horror Novels of the 20th Century. It contains the 11 best horror novels by contemporary writers:

Harvest Home (Thomas Tryon), Ghost Story (Peter Straub), I Am Legend (Richard Matheson), Rosemary's Baby (Ira Levin), The Ceremonies (T.E.D. Klein), The Exorcist (William Peter Blatty), The House on the Borderland (William Hope Hodgeson), The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson), At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror (H.P. Lovecraft), 'Salem's Lot (Stephen King), The Doll Who Ate His Mother (Ramsey Campbell)

Notably, I've already read At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft. So that leaves ten. I've borrowed 'Salem's Lot and hope to read it soon.

As an update on #11, I've just watched Amadeus (1984) and Ed Wood (1994). That brings the count up to five movies, so... twenty more to go!