BigKenagain

Ren and Mari; I made my statement a little hastily, just that for the most part I have not been well treated by your gender. With the exception of my wife, the truth is that relationships, both romantic and friendly have not always gone well. I was raised by my widowed Grandmother and my twice divorced Mother. I had two sisters, two female cats and a female dog... needless to say Testosterone levels in my household were not a major concern. I learned about "feminine protection" before most boys knew that there was a physical difference between boys and girls. Not to put to fine a point on it, but I knew when my sisters were having their "monthly visitor" before they did... for a few years I had it down to the day!!!! I have always been taught to respect women. In fact one of the last pieces of advice my Grandfather gave me, before passing away, was "no real man, ever hits a woman... even if she deserves it!!!" I know now that he was refering to not fighting with my sisters, but it is an advice I have taken to heart. My Mother taught me to always listen to what women had to say, my Grandmother taught me that women were (sorry about this fellas) wiser than most men. So you see it is a healthy respect that I have for women... and having said all that, women for the most part treat me ( and most of the men I know) like doormats. I have come to the conclusion, after years of clinical research, that men will NEVER know what women want, because WOMEN DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT!!!! For decades, women have professed the desire to meet a nice, sensitive, gentle, kind, considerate, intelligent man. And this is true, as long as all these qualities come wrapped up with Mel Gibson's face, Pierce Brosnan's ass and Donald Trump's bank account. Know, I know what you are thinking everyone, this sounds very cynical... Maybe I am, I wasn't always. Y'know, Guys have been the object of scorn for years because we lust after women like Pamela Anderson Daisy Fuentes and The latest cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition... While this is sadly true, here's the truth... Were in the open about it!!!! Does that make it right ? NOPE, but at least you know where you stand!!!! And if you decide to follow that guy down the aisle, then it's your own funeral. Now, I personally think Pamela Anderson 8O is an unattractive, silicon moulded, vapid, brain-dead, talentless, simpering moron... whose only redeeming feature seems to be that eventually she will die like the rest of us (I think, isn't silicon a known preservative). Daisy Fuentes, while reasonably attractive, has the intellectual capacity of a garden hose and I stopped being interested in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition after the last Kathy Ireland cover... I personally know of at least three friends, who would fill every one of the criteria listed above, but all are,sadly, single. I say sadly, because they are valuable human beings, who any sane woman would want to be with, but friend number one has a weight problem, friend number two is the exact opposite, he's 6' 7" and weighs 185... When we were kids we used to use him to get the football out of the sewer and the third guy, well I'll leave him out of it, because he has other issues he's dealing with at this time... So what is wrong with these guys??? Nothing!!!! Why aren't they dating??? It isn't for lack of trying... And when they have been in relationships they were frequently one sided and abusive... So I am sorry when I say that all women are evil, I just haven't had proof that I am wrong as yet... Big Ken: who after all that is a hopeless... wait-a-minute, hopeful romantic and knows that somewhere his "Basheart" is waiting...

Seeing as how we are talking two of my favourite topics here (Superman and the Superman movies) I gotta stick in my two cents worth (or after the American exchange rate .009 cents). Kirk Alyn was the Superman of the Forties George Reeves was the Superman of the Fifties Christopher Reeve is the Superman of all times and here is why... He did something with the character that no other actor had done previously... made him human. Hell, he even cries near the end of the first film. For the first time ever we related to superMANman. He made it seem like it could be any one of us... the guy sitting next to me in the theatre in December 79 could have been Superman. This was the first big budget treatment of the immortal character, and it meant a lot to the Superman fans of the era. Superman was strong without needing to flex his muscles. He could fly... he was, well, SUPER. But it was possible to be a man in amongst all that blue spandex. This was a guy who could date Lois Lane, or your sister and it was believeable and you wouldn't have minded, cause this was a guy you could talk to before the date... Bear in mind also this was the time of the Anti-Hero in motion pictures. Characters like Rambo in the 80's and Travis Bickle in the 70's, were the heroes of the day. Guys who answered every problem with a violent and bloody solution, Superman in the first film never throws a punch... Not once!!!! He uses his powers and abilities in a more pacifist manner, in defense instead of offense. read the comics of the 70's and 80's. For every action story there is a strongly character driven story, the stories of Elliot S! Maggin and Cary Bates. These stories were of novelistic (?) quality. Far better than the drivel being doled out now. And what is up with the comic appearance of Superman now???? The Incredible Hulk wasn't drawn the way they are drawing Superman now, give me the more realistic look of Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson's Superman all the time!!!!! But I am going off on a tangent here... No doubt that Christopher Reeve was dashing in the costume, but you didn't lose him behind the costume... That was sadly missing from the Dean Cain Superman, although Teri Hatcher's Lois Lane just seemed pissed off all the time, buth that's another story... In truth, Dean Cain more resembles the comic bookl Superman, better physically... But if you substituted a cardboard cutout of him in a scene no one would have noticed, and that's too bad because I really wanted Lois and Clark to work, I had very high hopes. I am sorry, but I just don't think that as long as names like Nicolas Cage, Jude Law and Brendan Fraser are being thrown around, that anyone will ever improve on the Christopher Reeve Superman... One last note; I believe Chris Reeve will walk again someday, because he believes it so strongly... If you read his wonderful book "Still Me" you will believe a man will walk... Big Ken: The Witches of Eastwick (DVD iso score)

Of course I remember you Jimbo... You came to my rescue on the worst birthday of my life, so far... Actually you have helped me out in a way you don't even know about... Your generous present of the discs from The Fury and The Towering Inferno have been some of the most listened to lately so thanks again. I am so sorry to hear of the difficulty you went through and I truly hope that this matter has resolved itself... You have my thoughts and prayers. Neil... All women are evil When you think you have finally started to understand them they throw out a WHOLE NEW SET OF RULES! See above... Daryl Van Horn... "Do you think God knew what he was doing when he created Woman?... So what do you think? Women? A mistake or did he do it to us on purpose? I really want to know! Because if it's a mistake maybe we can do something about it... Find a cure! Invent a vaccine! Build up our immune systems... Get a little exercise... You know, twenty push ups a day and you never have to be afflicted with women, ever again!!!!!"

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone... Figo; Rocket Robin Hood was a whole lot of fun, though my personal Saturday Morning preference went to... and of course

Well, in my own case I am judging his work on how it functions in the film, because I don't own any of his CD's... I have never heard anything that made me want to waste $20.00 bucks on his crap. In the slightly enjoyable category... Driving Miss Daisy Nice melody, good reflection of the era, completely over-used Green Card Again a nice melody, nothing great... In the bad to worse category Gladiator Sorry, IMO, this was the biggest fault in a movie full of them... Crimson Tide More of his "Jerry Goldsmith wannabe" sound... And the winner for the WORST film score thus far recorded... Mission Impossible 2... Arrghhhh, what was that tech-noise, pseudo-spanish, GAWD-Awful, steaming pile of dung all about. I wouldn't have thought it possible to make Lalo Schifrin's incredibly tuneful and catchy Mission Impossible theme unlistenable, but this un-talented musical mobster and his Media Ventures Mafia figured out a way to do it... Big Ken: who really needs to learn to express his feelings more :oops:

You'd be bitter too, if you had to claim kinship with people like Pamela Anderson However, all of us look forward proudly to the winters when, after rich and full day hunting the Polar Bears on the glacial plains of Toronto, we can come to our televisions, and while the women-folk skin and prepare the Bear meat from the hunt, we can proudly watch the Maple Leafs get their a$$es whooped by teams from Nashville... Big Ken: OOOOOO Can - a - da, our home and native laaaaaaand...

Y'know what? Agression is an underrated emotion. Sure, like all things it's easily carried too far, sometimes violently so... But if more people were willing to assert a certain amount of agression, then we would have less phony situations and probably a lot happier people in general. My own circumstance for example... The psycho-woman whos sits to my left, if she had been a bit more aggressive, she might have gotten the promotion in the first place. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing, but then she would have been a lot happier and not have felt this psychotic desire to make my life a living hell... Big Ken: just a thought... :roll:

I just have to chime in here and say that "hate" is probably to strong a word. I agree with what others have said, I have lost respect for the guy in the last few years, but every now and then I still find myself going back to the wonderful stuff that he created through the 80's. Brainstorm, IMO, is a masterpeice. This is what I find so annoying about the guy... He obviously has some skills, some talent... but he abuses it (and other composers before him) with his damned pentiant for plagerism. Again, IMO, James Horner's biggest problem is his inconsistency. He either Nails a score right on the mark like... Brainstorm, Sneakers, Gorky Park, Cocoon, ST: II even Battle Beyond The Stars is fun... Krull, An American Tail (the oscar he deserved) All excellent scores... anywhere from 3.5 to 5 out of five Then came Braveheart (sorry, I just don't hear what the fuss is about) Patriot Games, The Pelican Brief, and of course Titanic... all The plagerism is in all his scores, if you're going to listen to Horner, you might as well accept it... But he has enough talent to do more original stuff... I think the man has a couple of excellent scores left in him... It's time to piss or get off the pot, Jamie... Consider the gauntlet thrown... Big Ken: who loves to quote his Grandmother's colloquial sayings

There can be only one Accept no substitutes... Maybe you can help me with this one Neil, I want to use the same Superman avatar as before, but with the new restrictions (8kb, 80 x 100 pixels) I can't seem to make the darn thing fit??? Any suggestions? Anyone? My Favorite Year is one of my Favourite Movies. Peter O'Toole was robbed of his Oscar the year this came out... I was always disappointed that no soundtrack was ever released. Ralph Burns' score always reflected the sound of the 1950's. And the song choices in the film were actually good ones. Nat "King" Cole's Stardust, Les Paul and Mary Brown's How High The Moon... Would've made an excellent LP... Selma: Hey! You can't come in here this is for ladies only! (sound of fly unzipping) Swann: So is this, Ma'am... But every now and then I have to run a little water through it. Big Ken: Shadows of the Empire, Joel McNeely

Now that the internet seems to have finshed playing it's cruel, virtual jokes on me, I'm going to try to post this topic again... It seems that in my life, my passion for music has been the most reliable and consistent dirving force... A little history; it's no secret to anyone, that my wife and three year old son were killed in a car crash ten years ago. I was inconsolable at the time. Devastated and despondant, I severed all ties to family and friends. But, there was always music. Bach's Brandenburgh #3 was always filled with joy, Tschaikovsky's Pathetique symphony seemed to mirror the sorrow I was feeling. John Williams always gave me energy when I had none... In many ways, music, or at least my love of music, was more theraputic then all the sessions with my counselor. It's no wonder then, that as time wore on, and I learned to cope with my loss, that music followed me. Like a reliable friend... There, when I needed it's soothing melodies. In recent years, I've even re-learned how to listen to music with the simple pleasure of just listening, for no other purpose than to hear the music... No sorrow, no empathy with pain... just music. I even decided to try my hand at dating again... Diana Krall's music is filled with romance and scotch and the pleasure of sex. Something, that I had been lacking all these years... So it's no wonder then that when things recently turned to crap... Another brief history... Bear with me people, this leads somewhere... In my job, we recently have made a number of changes. One of which was increasing the size of the department, significantly. Where ther used to be two of us, there is now seven. The woman, with whom I have worked for a year now, was passed over for promotion to a supervisory position in the department. When our new supervisor went on holidays for two weeks, she chose as her replacement... me. Needless to say, this did not sit well with my co-worker. After a week of my taking on the department, her husband phoned last Monday to say that she would'nt be in to work that day. We were already short-staffed by one, but I figured that we could manage for the day. Later that same afternoon, I get a fax from her doctor saying that she won't be back for a week. No explanation of why, or what was wrong, just that she would not be back. I've considered this woman a friend for the past year, so I was worried that there was something seriously wrong. I tried calling her home, no answer. I tried calling her family, the only response I could get was "she is sick". At this point I am getting a little frantic... So finally, I ask our vacationing supervisor, if she would try to get hold of her... She did. Supervisor, reports back to me that my co-worker is suffering from depression... and that I AM THE CAUSE OF IT!!!!! It seems that she was so bitter about my being chosen as supervisor's replacement, that she is thrown into a full blown depression requiring medcation?!?!?!? As if that wasn't bad enough, she then accuses me, through the supervisor, of bullying her. She has since recanted that statement. She admits that the whole problem was caused by my selection over her, but it was recently brought to my attention that she has been lying about me, behind my back, to the head office. To the Vice President of our department in Toronto... Every time, I phoned in sick, VP was notified. She told them that I used to spend the entire day on the internet. Telling them that I took two hour lunches... All this, all the while sitting talking to me and having lunch with me most every day. I took this person into my confidence. I told her things that I did'nt want shared with others... Now I am in doubt... So after all this has happened, this week... I found myself on Tuesday, looking forward to my 40 minute bus ride home. Why, you ask? Because in my discman, I had my John Williams greatest hits CD. Superman, Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones rode home with me that night... Every night this week, as a matter of fact. There it was again, my old friend, music. Waiting for me like a patient companion. Not demanding anything of me except a few minutes attention. Always comforting like a soft, warm blanket that one can always wrap up in. Ready to whisk me away on Superman's shoulder's, far above this petty world. Someplace full of adventure and mystery and fun... Damnit, that's what music is really about... Not to be disseccted note by note. Not to worry whether we have every last note of the entire score. Music, is one of God's greatest gifts to us. Music enriches and enobles us... For a few peaceful moments we are on Aladdin's magic carpet, sailing through the streets of Baghdad. We are Scarlett O'Hara beating our breast and demanding from Heaven that we'll never go hungry again. We are a suave, handsome British super spy, to whom no woman can say NO... Has anyone else ever had such an experience? Where music was your only solace? Sharing is a cathartic experience... very healing... let's all join hands now... Kumbaya, my lord... Kumbaya... LOL Big Ken, who will now get down with Minority Report...

:oops: I am so glad that I appear to have made some impression, thanks for the warm wishes... Now that I have 15 days of uninterppted holiday time I intend to be around a lot more... Coffee and sponge cake at my place tonight, sounds good... Huh??? Nurse Diesel says that I can have my turn now in Hydrotherapy, now that Figo has finished doing laps... He's been full of piss and vinegar ever since he found those big funny looking rocks at the bottom of the pool... Big Ken: who has been lurking about all along, but now that the shackles have been loosed... I shall go forth and proclaim LIBERTY ... fanfare that is... Y'know... Liberty Fanfare... Can I have some more petite marshmallows in my cocoa, Nurse Diesel

I have just tried to put in a new topic, after writing a lengthy post, I have lost it due to an internet issue I know nothing about...' I am trying this post to see if there is a problem still, after I have tried re-setting my ICP (or whatever the 12 year old kid on the phone told me to do) Anyway if this works, Ricard feel free to delete this post... Ciao per adesso... Big Ken, internet novice...

I LOL I bawling I Very cool... Big Ken: whose eyes are tired... and head.... is drooo

There is indeed a fabulous soundtrack release (on RCA records) of the score by George Fenton and Ravi Shankar... It is just extremely rare... I am actually not sure if there is a CD release of it, to be quite honest... K.

It's hard to think of a mediocre film, made great by the music, one only really comes to mind and that is "The Lost Weekend" starring Ray Milland. When it was made, the movie was considered ground-breaking, I guess... but it really doesn't stand the test of time... except for the incredible score by Miklos Rozsa. Brilliant by any standard, this score does stand up to the long journey into the 21st Century and the original film is made so much better by Maestro Rozsa's efforts... Another one IMO (sorry Figo) is Planet of the Apes. The movie would be 'MIND-NUMBINGLY boring if not for the daring 12 tone score by Jerry Goldsmith... Big Ken: off to see "Who's Line is it Anyway?"Check with you this weekend!!!