Patrick Swayze

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Patrick Swayze has died. Like Farrah, we all knew it was coming and like Farrah, death was a welcome relief from a terrible disease. There are several parallels with Farrah Fawcett's death earlier this year. Both enjoyed (endured?) enormous fame - but arguably more so for being beautiful than for being talented actors, both were diagnosed with types of cancer which are virtual death sentences, both outlived expectations, and both left my generation with vivid memories.

We all watched as, despite defying the odds and living almost two years after being diagnosed, the strong, handsome Swayze deteriorated into a man who looked decades older than his 57 years. In my mind's eye, however, he'll always look like Johnny Castle from "Dirty Dancing" (above) or Sam Wheat from "Ghost".

I smile as I write this because it takes me back to a Saturday night in 1987 - I was 24 years old - and for some reason all the girls from my group of friends were dateless, so we all got together for dinner and to see "Dirty Dancing". I remember sitting there and watching Swayze - who I was aware of from previous movies but who hadn't really registered with me - oh my God he was beautiful! Like, painful beautiful. And the dancing, his body, the music, all of it right there on the huge screen. We all followed the sweet and simple rich girl falls for boy from the wrong side of the tracks story, we thrilled to the dancing and swooned to the love scenes.

One love scene in particular - the one where Baby goes to a shirtless Johnny's cabin and they wind up making love. Remember? We don't really see anything other than him taking her shirt off to reveal a chaste white bra and then running his fingers along her body as they dance. To this day, I find that to be one of the sexiest movie scenes I've ever seen. Nothing graphic, just sensual and romantic and...sigh. And then the ending, his redemption in her father's eyes, their triumphant final dance where Baby finally gets the lift right! At some level we knew they probably wouldn't go on to get married, but they - and we - will always have that summer in the Catskills.

As we left the movie, one of my friends, usually very straight-laced and conservative, looking quite flushed cried out..."Ay! I need a Slurpee!" We all did...

And a couple of years later "Ghost" - plot-wise a better movie than "Dirty Dancing" - with equally memorable scenes by two ridiculously beautiful people - Swayze and Demi Moore. I mean really...who cries better than Demi Moore in "Ghost" with that lone tear streaming down her perfect cheek? And remember the pottery scene - again, incredibly sensual and we really see nothing? And then of course the final kiss where Swayze is all glowy.

From all reports Swayze was a kind, decent man. Loyal to his wife to whom he was married for 34 years - nary a scandal about him, despite being People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. So I guess the last line Sam says to his wife Molly in "Ghost" just as his spirit is set free to go to heaven truly applies to the actor who so memorably portrayed him:

"It's amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you."

I hope he in fact takes his love with him as he joins the constellation of bright stars who have left us this year.

Rest in peace Patrick Swayze, thank you for giving so many of us "the time of our lives"...

Dinner and a Movie and a Meme

Troy over at Pheasantly Fascinating made up this meme - it includes movies and food - hello? How can I not do this?

So, here's the deal: List the items of a meal you'd serve and use a movie as your theme. Fellow Bloggers guess what what the movie and tell you in your Comments, also letting you know if they're going to play on their Blog.

Here's my menu:

• Sour Dough Bread
• Red Wine
• Dolmades
• Keftedes
• Roast Lamb
• Moussaka
• Baklava, Clove Cookies, Melakouni
• Ellinikos Kafes
• Ouzo
• Bom Bom Yara (to go)

OK - guess in my comments. Also if you want to play - let me know!

Movie Quote Meme

I found this at hamblog, here are the rules as stated there:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess in the comments.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.

GUESSERS: NO Googling/using IMDB search functions. I mean, you can cheat if you want, but that's no fun? One movie guess per human allowed in the comments.

Aaaaaaand...ACTION!

1. "She's going to say her final words, not through me, but inevitably, and ever so cruelly... through the immortal genius of the Bay City Rollers. " Dixie - "Love, Actually"
   
2. "Ladies and gentlemen, either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community!" Muffy - "The Music Man"
   
3. "I carried a watermelon" Dixie - "Dirty Dancing"
   
4. "Men are rats, listen to me, they're fleas on rats, worse than that, they're amoebas on fleas on rats. I mean, they're too low for even the dogs to bite. The only man a girl can depend on is her daddy. " Muffy - "Grease"
   
5. "For some miraculous reason, it's a wonderful feeling having a teacher you've seen dance naked in front of a mirror." Muffy - "Radio Days"
   
6. "...these walls were not meant to shut out problems. You have to face them. You have to live the life you were born to live." Purplepassion - "The Sound of Music"
   
7. "The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling? " Purplepassion - "Breakfast at Tiffany's"
   
8. "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. " Purplepassion - "The Matrix"
   
9. "Bottom line is... we're around each other an'... this thing, it grabs hold of us again... at the wrong place... at the wrong time... and we're dead." fort knocks - "Brokeback Mountain"
   
10. "Look, sweetheart, I can drink you under any goddamn table you want, so don't worry about me. " - No one got this one - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"

I won't tag anyone, just play along in my comments!

Lazy Saturday

On this, the last Saturday before Christmas, when according to the news stores and malls are packed with bstling shoppers I have spent the entire day watching movies. I am done with my shopping and almost done with my wrapping - YAY!

So far I've been in Manhattan in the mid-70s for Metropolitan, Nebraska in the mid-90s for Election, the North Atlantic Ocean on a luxury cruise ship for Poseidon and in the early 1800s in England for Vanity Fair. Who knows I may see some more movies before the night is over!

"Metropolitan" was great, "Election" was good, "Poseidon" was a disaster - pun intended - and "Vanity Fair" was really good. I have not yet read the book, although I own it - it will now grow on my ever growing to-be-read list.

So, what have y'all done on this should-be-busy-but-I'm-being-lazy Saturday?