Talkin' Pictures...Our Life in Movie Quotes!

Our Video Store in the 1990's

The hideous minivan was mine...a car so wretched that it's

name was Jean-Claude the Damn Van.  But that's another story.

 

Top Hat Video! 

Once upon a time...the 90s to be exact...the Hatfield family owned a small shopping center in the Salt Lake area called Fox Crossing.  When the video store went bankrupt...the Hatfields decided to take it over and join a chain of video stores called Top Hat Video.  We always loved movies...but now the movies became our lives.

"Top Hat" the movie our store was named after.

Our colors were hot pink and black...I know, right?

 

Our whole family worked there...my teenagers had to be driven from Highland to the Salt Lake Valley several times a week after school.  My job was merchandising...decorating the store...and movie purchasing.  Our weekends were spent at the movie theater and each summer we went to Vegas for the big Video Convention, where we met studio reps and movie stars promoting their lastest flicks.  I was there when Will Wheaton announced that he quit his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation because "I wanted to grow as an actor." It was quite a life...until a Blockbuster and a Hollywood Video moved in within a couple of blocks of our little store. Suddenly "Mom and Pop" weren't cool anymore.  So we cut our losses and sold the store.  We thought we were leaving the movie life behind...but it was too ingrained in our psyches.  Like the episode of Star Trek where the alien race can only communicate in historical references...our family communicates in movie quotes.

 

Notable Quotables...

"I totally paused!"

We say this almost everyday...depending on who's driving.

Must use a "Valley Girl" inflection.

"Everybody remember where we parked."

My favorite Kirk quote...as they leave their ship in Golden Gate Park.

Used by us in every strange parking garage.

 

"Cap'n there be whales here!"

Mr. Scott...another favorite we will use for no reason.

Scottish accent is mandatory.

"Who's the moosiest moose we know...Marty Moose!"

A song we often sing on road trips to Disneyland.

 

"Okay, Sparky"

All of our daughters' boyfriends and husbands are known as "Sparky"

Some...the boyfriends...change so often we don't bother learning their names.

"Well, skin me alive and call me luggage!

Daddy Alligator...our expression of surprise.

Tiny Toons Vacation is one of our family's all-time favorites.

It's hard to find and isn't...as far as I know...on DVD.

 

"Happy World Land...Happy World Land...

where the fun doesn't stop, and only eighty bucks a pop,

at beautiful Happy World Land!"

More from Tiny Toons...we also sing this on the way to Disneyland.

 

Mystery Science Theater 3000...the most brilliant TV show and movie ever!

A lone astronaut...either Joel or Mike...is stranded in space with a couple of wise-cracking robots.  For some reason...an evil villainess is torturing them by forcing them to watch really bad movies.  Her plot is foiled when they have too much fun heckling the movies. It's like sitting behind some college kids...or the boys from Big Bang Theory.  A few of my favorite quotes follow:

 

"This Island Earth"

"Science and Industry!"

"Big men putting screwdrivers into things...turning them...ADJUSTING THEM!"

This must be said in a droning voice like the voiceovers on those movies

we watched in school on the building of Hoover Dam.

I think of this every time that commercial for patenting your inventions comes on.

 

"Jack Frost" 

"Ivanuska...I have a new church hat!"

Funny little mushroom man...ridiculous "Russo-Finnish Coproduction."

 

More Family Favorites...

 The Best of the Rest"

As I got going on this post I realized that there are just too many great quotes and it's taking too much  space...so here is a list of more favorites...

 

"It's so stimulating...being your hat!"   Labyrinth

Often said when someone is boring us.

 

"I'm older and have more insurance"   Fried Green Tomatoes

I say this every time I get a good parking space before someone else can get there.

 

"Mother, I'm hungry."  101 Dalmations

Chubby puppy looked just like our son Geoff...who is always hungry!

English accent  preferred.

 

"It's not a tumor!"   Kindergarten Cop

When any of the kids would get a headache, we'd say "It's probably a tumor."

 

"There's no crying in baseball!" A League of Their Own.

Whenever the granddaughters cry about something stupid.

 

"Napoleon Dynamite"

"Tina, you lard...come and get some dinner!" 

"I caught you a delicious bass."

"Whatever I feel like...gosh!"

"...bring me my chapstick.  My lips hurt real bad."

 

I think I will end with Napoleon Dynamite...this is...to our family at least...one of the funniest movies ever made.  We will be quoting this film until the end of time.  I'll bet we're not the only family to do this...talk in quotes.  I'd be interested to hear from you what your favorites are...you know you want to!

 

 

WARNING!!!  I MAY COME BACK HERE AND ADD MORE QUOTES!

"Inconceivable!"

(Extra credit if you know which movie that is from...lol!)



 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweetly Swapping Easter!

Spoolie Swap!

My Spoolie...

This Easter season I participated in two fun swaps.  The Spoolie Swap was hosted by Sandy of 521 Lake Street.  The object was to create a cute and unusual Easter decoration out of a wooden thread spool.  We were assigned a partner and got to work.  It's fun to do one-on-one swaps...that way we get to know someone just a wee bit better.  We try to find some "little extras" that might fit their personalities and taste.  My partner was Sue of It's a Very Cherry World!  I want to thank her so very much for what she sent me...and tell her that the chocolate bunnies never made it past my granddaughters uneaten!  A new world's record!



 

Sue's Beautiful Spoolie!

She made the picket fence stand separately...two gifts in one!

Which first...the chicken or the egg?

I love the German paper mache eggs! 

And I adore the cute vintage pompom chicken...made for each other!

I have very little vintage Easter in my craft supplies.

Thank you, Sue for these funny chicks in the polkadot scarves!

Also the ribbon that looks like wee pennants.

 

 

Sue's Easter Swap!

Hosted by Sue of  It's a Very Cherry World!

(Weren't we just talking about her? lol!)

Melody's Wonderful Spring Scarf!

 

Melody of Nannie's Attic was my partner for this swap.  We were to make our partner an Easter decoration or something Spring related.  Melody crocheted this beautiful scarf for me!  It is in my favorite spring colors and the softest of yarns!  I couldn't believe someone would make me something so wonderful.  Thank you, sweet Melody!  I hope we are partners again sometime!

Cards for my Swap Partners...

Hallway Easter Vignette...

Easter in Germany 1980

Missy and Amber in their little Dala Horse aprons.

Notice their cute little haircuts...Amber was playing "beauty parlor" with my sewing scissors!

How I miss these little darlings!

 

Happy Easter!!

Lehi Roller Mills...Flour Sack Pillows!

 
 Lehi Roller Mills...
 Lehi Roller Mills is one of my favorite historical structures.  It was built in 1905 by a co-op of Lehi, Utah farmers who wanted a closer place than neighboring American Fork to mill their wheat.  George Robinson bought the mill in 1910 and his family has run it ever since.  You may not be familiar with this mill...but it is an American cultural icon...a movie star of sorts.  Do you remember the original "Footloose" starring Kevin Bacon?

One Degree of Kevin Bacon...

This is how the mill looked in 1984 when the movie was filmed.

That grassy corner is now a McDonalds.

 

Kevin Bacon's character worked at the mill.

The joyful, climactic dance scene was set at the mill,

but mostly filmed at Osmond Studios...and later, re-takes in Los Angeles.

It has been a local tourist attraction since the movie come out.

 

The Mill as a Dowdle Folk Art Puzzle.

 

Lehi Roller Mills Flour Sack Pillows...

 

18" sq. pillows made from flour sacks.

 

The mill has an attached store where they sell baking mixes. The muffin and pancake mixes come in calico bags, popular neighbor gifts at Christmas.  I bought the flour sacks there a few years ago to make curtains like they had in their windows.  I meant them for my workshop attached to the garage, but they didn't work out like I planned.  So now these pillows are going out on the porch this summer.

 

Wow! Two posts in two days...I'm on fire!

 

 

 

 

Quick Craft...Parade of Easter Peeps!

 

I Heart Target $1 Bins!

Parade of Easter Peeps!

Egg Shaped Chicks

Available in several colors 2 per package.

Dressed in cupcake liner skirt.

 

Little Boy Peep...lol!

This style had pink and yellow peep in box.

Cutest polkadot cuppie cake liners!

Sweet Yellow Peeps.

I had passed them by for a couple of weeks...

today for some reason they made sense!

I love $1 Bin Crafts!

 

Happy Wednesday!

 

Fairyland Park...German Style!

Willkommen!

Welcome to Niedersachsen!

 

Map of Niedersachsen...the German state where we lived for 3 years.

The green spot central on the map is the City State of Bremen.

Just to the left is Delmenhorst...our home.

 

Marchenland...Fairy Tale Land

The park logo back then...

 

Es war einmal...

Once upon a time...in the summer of 1979, my parents came to visit us in Germany.  They brought my youngest brother and sister...Tommy and Lisa...with them.  We traveled all over the country in those two weeks.  There was so much to see and do.  But after a week in Bavaria, our visitors were getting tired, so we decided to take them to the little amusement park in the nearby town of Verden.  Verden is just to the right of Bremen on the map.  The journey through the villages was like a trip through a fairy tale.  Thatched roof houses and barns decorated with gingerbread trim still existed...but how could they in these modern times?  As a child I had read storybooks about storks nesting on the chimneys of houses and the good luck they bring.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a mother stork presiding over her personal chimney...magic!

Amber and her "carousel of happiness."

 

The park was small and a little shabby.  But the woods that surrounded it, gave it a storybook atmosphere.  Most of the rides were for children, but there was a zip line for braver folks.  A little train circled the picnic area.  Amber enjoyed the rides, but her little sister Missy was having none of it.  If she didn't like something...she was climbing out of it.  We had a close call with the train.  We thought Missy was doing okay...sitting with her sister.  But without warning, Missy jumped out!  As she fell the wheels of the train caught on her foot and started to drag her along.  Waving our arms, we yelled for them to stop the train.  We were in a panic...the Germans thought it was hilarious!  Can you say "schadenfreude" anyone?  Finally the train was halted and Missy was none the worse for wear.  In two ways we were blessed...first the train was small and moved slowly...second, Missy was wearing some thick-soled shoes that protected her foot.  Our little outing...and our little child...was saved.

Lisa and I riding the swings.

Notice the iron grip I have on Missy?

Hansel and Gretel

 

Part of the park was called "Marchenland"...or Fairytale Land.  There was a grouping of storybook houses peopled by rather creepy robots that moved to a recorded narration...in German, of course.

Dornroschen...Briar Rose.  Sleeping Beauty.

I have no idea what story this is?  Anyone?

I remember that food would fall in the giants mouth...yikes!

Another unfamiliar tale...there's a guy with pies!

A miller...again I don't know the story

 

2013

The park logo today

There are a lot more rides and attractions...I'm glad it's still there.

The entrance to the Fairytale Wood...Marchenwald.

I was so happy to see the gingerbread house!

Not so much the creepy children...lol!

The Pie Guy has a new house...what is that story? 

Some story about a giant rabbit...Harvey?

 

The Pied Piper...

 

The city of Hameln...home of the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

We took another trip to fairytale land with a stop in Hameln.  I have a lot more pictures that I will post another time.  But I thought it might be fun to add this to our "Marchenland" itinerary.

Actors re-enact the tale on the steps of City Hall.

Ironically...City Hall in German is Rat Haus!!

 

"...und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind,

dann leben sie noch heute."*

 

* We would say "and they lived happily ever after."  The German stories end with "and if they are not dead then they are living today."