Late April Update

Lately I've been running out of topics about which to write essays. I find that irksome, although it was more or less inevitable that this blog, to the extent that I continued to post to it, would devolve into a diary of sorts. Thus I feel a need to write something about what is happening in our family right now. I seem to be doing pretty well with my new sleep meds; the most critical thing in the short term was to get off Temazepam, but I think I'll also be able to get off Lunesta soon as well, which will leave me taking only Rozerem. And I think it will be much easier to wean myself off Rozerem than it would have been to go "cold turkey" off the combination of Temazepam and OTC "Simply Sleep" that I was taking every night. The "VPAP Adapt SV" machine, apart from "curing" my problem with complex sleep apnea, has the added benefit of filtering out most of the nasty pollen that permeates the air in Albuquerque at this time of year.

Dorine, who works for the Albuquerque Public Schools, will have the summer off work. She's our ward YW camp director this year, and of course she's playing softball again this summer with her team the "Lady Saints" -- although she only actually plays when she has to fill in, as softball for her is much more a social event (giving her a chance to see and converse with friends whom she doesn't otherwise see much) than an athletic one. I usually go with Dorine to the games, as I enjoy keeping score and engaging in a little badinage with the team.

Kristy and Chris are about to move from their current rental home into a newer, larger one (belonging to Jimmy Romero, a member of our bishopric, and his wife Joy), which will be a boon to them and their suddenly large family. Their kids are all doing well, and the twins are thriving, although I'm certain Kristy can't wait for them to start eating solid food so that they'll sleep more at night.

Heidi and Dion are likewise doing well. Heidi will probably work more shifts this summer in her job as labor-and-delivery nurse at Presbyterian Hospital, now that Dorine will be more available to babysit Kayla. Dion's business installing satellite-TV systems is as "dynamic" as usual, and he stays pretty busy. Kayla is still a lot of fun, at least when her mother isn't around and she has no reason to be fussy.

Devery and Easton will be living with us this summer as Devery does another student internship at Sandia National Labs. With Devery working at Sandia (and Easton beating the bushes to find summer employment here as well), and with their living rent-free in our home for 2-3 months, they saw that they could save quite a bit of money to help get them through next school year at BYU. (Devery hopes to graduate in December, and Easton reportedly has another year of school after that.) And, of course, we're really happy to have them and look forward to doing some fun things with them this summer.

Darren's missionary companion Elder Herrera is about to finish his mission and go home, and we're anticipating that Darren will stay in the same area and receive his first assignment as senior companion. (I'm hoping he has at least a few baptisms in the first 2-3 weeks to get him off on the right foot as senior.)

Kiley just received an academic letter from her high school and is working hard to prepare for her audition for the Albuquerque Youth Symphony cello section on May 12. She's also trying to log enough driving hours this summer to get her provisional driver's license by the time school starts up again in August.

I look forward to this summer -- hiking, bouldering, a trip to the cabin in early June, family camping trips, a vacation trip in late June and early July, maybe a little overnight backpacking in the Sandias, the stake youth handcart trek in the latter half of July, maybe a trip to Ft. Stanton Cave, and hopefully a backpacking trip with Bob Maes to the Pecos Wilderness in the early-September timeframe. I need all the outdoor activities!

Sleep Disordered, Part 4

I've now gone back to see the nurse practitioner at our primary-care physician's office about trying to kick my dependency on sleep meds. For months, I'd had to take a combination of one 30mg Temazepam (Restoril) capsule and two caplets of "Simply Sleep," (Tylenol-PM without the Tylenol, or diphenhydramine hydrochloride [i.e., benadryl]) to sleep through the night. Temazepam is a pretty nasty med when used habitually, and it was starting to have a few side effects that made it clear I needed to get off it. The NP has prescribed a protocol that at least will get me off Temazepam and on Rozerem, which supposedly isn't a sedative but, rather, is supposed to help restore the body's natural sleep rhythm. For the first two weeks, I'll be taking 2mg Lunesta with 8mg Rozerem, then cutting down to 1mg Lunesta with 8mg Rozerem, then cutting down to just the 8mg Rozerem. Eventually, I'd like to take nothing (and like it!), but we'll see. I've been on the new protocol for three nights, and each night seems to be better than the last; I think I'm actually suffering a few mild withdrawal symptoms for leaving off the Temazepam, but that could be simply the effect of the mulberry pollen that's at high levels in Albuquerque currently.

My Favorite Websites

I probably spend too much time on the Internet, although nowadays it is far and away my biggest source of news and information. Over time I've tended to gravitate to a central core of websites, and here are my favorites:
1. National Review Online (http://www.nationalreview.com). I regard National Review Online as my most-indispensable website. The quality and quantity of conservative political commentary on NRO is extremely high, and the tenor of the articles is almost always thoughtful and measured.
2. SteynOnline (http://steynonline.com/). Mark Steyn is simply the wittiest, most cogent, and most tell-it-like-it-is political writer of our time. His prose must be the envy of every left-leaning pundit in America.
3. Best of the Web Today (http://online.wsj.com/article/best_of_the_web_today.html). "Best of the Web Today" is really just a feature of the larger Wall Street Journal website, written by James Taranto. Taranto is masterful at deconstructing other people's writing and putting it in a logical context.
4. YouTube (http://youtube.com/). I'm constantly amazed at all the old video clips of bands from the 1960s and 1970s that can be viewed on YouTube. Just one example: Someone uploaded several clips from Finnish TV of the Spencer Davis Group (featuring a very young Steve Winwood) performing live in 1967. Who could have imagined, even ten years ago, that video that old, from that obscure a source, would find a world-wide audience?
5. Real Clear Politics (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/). A great source of political commentary from across the philosophical spectrum.
6. Lucianne.com (http://lucianne.com/). Lucianne.com is, in essence, a conservative version of DailyKos, where one can post links to articles and then comment on them. The quality of the commentary isn't always great (although it's certainly much less profane than that found on DailyKos), but it's often as instructive and insightful as the articles themselves.
7. eBay (http://www.ebay.com/). I've sort of reached a saturation point in terms of buying things on eBay, especially as sellers in general have become more savvy about the market value of the items they sell (thus making bargains increasingly hard to come by). In short, I buy things that I perceive I need or want (and can afford), and gradually I've met all those needs and wants; however, eBay remains a great place to find merchandise that you can't find at the local Wal-Mart.
8. SuperTopo Climbing Forum (http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum.html). SuperTopo is a commercial concern started by Chris McNamara, aid-climber extraordinaire, to sell rockclimbing "topos," or route maps/descriptions. The forum, despite being the cyber-hangout of scores of burnt-out old hippies with paleo-liberal views (and the inevitable ad hominem attacks that seem naturally to flow therefrom), is special for two reasons: (1) the regular participation of dozens of living rockclimbing "legends"; and (2) the posting of many interesting and hard-to-find climbing photos and articles.
9. Weekly Standard (http://www.weeklystandard.com/). The Weekly Standard is another conservative political site that often contains even-better content than NRO; I rate it lower, however, due to the limited quantity of online articles.
10. Classmates.com (http://www.classmates.com/). This site embodies a great concept -- bringing old school friends and acquaintances back together -- but it has two drawbacks from a practical perspective. The first is that much of the content is only available to paying members. The second is that most people's level of participation is so low (or non-existent, in the case of many of the folks I'd really like to know about) that the content isn't really worth paying for. (I'd say people generally aren't all that interested in being contacted or in revealing much about themselves, perhaps with good reason.)
11. ESPN (http://espn.go.com/). I used to visit this site much more often than I do now, but it's still the best overall Internet source for sports-related news and commentary.
12. ICECAP (http://icecap.us/). A great place to find articles and commentary concerning the overblown nature of herd-science's claims about anthropogenic climate change.
[13. Albuquerque Tribune (http://www.abqtrib.com/). The Trib website used to be one of my favorites, at least until the paper folded and they stopped updating the website. I liked the layout, the high level of content (we took the paper itself, but really only so that Dorine could do the puzzles), and, especially, the forum that followed each and every article, which was much nicer than having to write to the editor.]

[Update 1/14/2011: At this late date I'd include Facebook and Amazon.com in this list, and I probably would leave Classmates.com off but for the yearbooks it has uploaded to its site, which is its only feature worth paying for.]

My Fifty Favorite Films

For some time, I've been considering making a list of my favorite movies and writing about why I like them. Here goes..

1. The Sting (1973): I've watched The Sting so many times now that I'm tempted to shove it further down the list; however, if I had to take one movie with me to a desert island, this one would be it. Simply put, I love the way it captures perfectly both a moment in American history and the Depression-era "con man" criminal subculture. Its plot twists do seem pretty manipulative after the first couple of viewings, but that's my only criticism of it. (Favorite line: "Sorry I'm late, guys.  I was taking a crap!")

2. North By Northwest (1959): I regard North By Northwest (followed closely by Rear Window and Psycho) as the pinnacle of Alfred Hitchcock's film art. The plot grows increasingly unbelievable as the movie goes on -- culminating in the contrived chase scene across the face of Mt. Rushmore -- but Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill makes a great protagonist, and no film villain was ever better than James Mason as Phillip Vandamm. It wasn't a period piece when it was made, but it has turned into the perfect snapshot of the late 1950s as the U.S. was then experiencing the Cold War. (Favorite line: "Now, what can a man do with his clothes off for twenty minutes?")

3. My Favorite Year (1982): Most people would consider this film an obscurity, at best, but it's probably my favorite movie comedy. Peter O'Toole is masterful as the aging ex-movie idol Alan Swann, and Mark Linn-Baker makes the perfect "little jiminy-cricket pest bastid" -- the young TV writer Benjie Stone. The film is full of memorable one-liners and physical comedy, and I never tire of watching it. (Favorite line: "This is for ladies only!"  (zip!) "And so is this, ma'am, but every now and again I have to run a little water through it.")

4. Lord of The Rings (Trilogy) (2001-2003): I won't even try to distinguish among the three parts of the trilogy (The Fellowship of The Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of The King); except for the nine-plus hour length of the complete story (and the fact that it comes on three DVDs), I regard it as seamless. I've tried several times to read the book, but I always get bogged down in Tolkien's insufferable minutiae; the film, in contrast, distills the essence of the story -- and all its good parts, changing them as necessary -- down to a great epic-movie tale. (I do have one question, however: If it's so easy for Gandalf and his eagles to come rescue Frodo and Sam on Mount Doom in Mordor after the Ring of Power is destroyed, couldn't they simply have surreptitiously flown Frodo there in the first place?) (Favorite line: "Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!")

5. The Odd Couple (1968): I remember going to see this movie three times when it first ran in Albuquerque's Hiland Theater in 1968. (What a different world it was when a mother could drop off her precocious nine-year-old at the movies on a Saturday and not have to worry about him for several hours!) The film is a classic of humorous dialogue and, again, the perfect snapshot of a time (late 60s), a place (Manhattan), and a circumstance (the effect of divorce on middle-class joes). (Favorite line: "Never mind, I can't wait that long. How about five quick minutes behind the cash register?")

6. Dumb and Dumber (1994): Many people would regard D&D as coarse and disgusting (if they could bring themselves to watch it at all), but I've always been a fan of ironic humor, and this film fairly drips with it. It combines two time-honored types of cinema, the buddy film and the road film, but it is Lloyd and Harry's (Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, respectively) utter cluelessness that gives rise to most of the humor. My favorite sequence is where Lloyd, while driving, fantasizes about sweeping Mary (Lauren Holly) off her feet; it includes one bit of scatological humor, which is hilarious not on its own terms but because the audience realizes Lloyd is imagining that sophisticated people would find it entertaining. (Favorite line: "What happened, Harry? Some little filly break your heart?" "Nah, it was a girl.")

7. Shrek (2001): Shrek was a groundbreaking film in various ways. Not only was the computer-generated animation astounding in its day, but the script's humor operated on multiple levels, allowing almost everyone to find it funny. The movie sort of falls a little flat after Shrek and Donkey rescue Princess Fiona from the dragon's lair -- that is, when it turns from a humorous adventure into a beauty-and-beast love story -- but over time it will go down as a film classic. (Favorite line: "All right, you're going the right way for a smacked bottom!")

8. Murder On the Orient Express (1974): I love the star-studded cast, the fact that the movie takes place mostly on a train, and the intricate details of the conspiracy leading to the killing of the gangster Ratchett. Some of the music seems incongruous for a murder-mystery, but then it quickly acquires an ominous air at appropriate moments. Some people don't like Albert Finney's portrayal of an epicene, overly conceited (and no-neck) Poirot, but it wouldn't be the same movie with another actor and a different interpretation of the character. (Favorite line: "Now you have accidentally said something valuable!")

9. A Knight's Tale (2001): This film, starring the ill-fated Heath Ledger, works on a number of levels. It's a history of medieval knighthood and jousting tournaments. It's a love story. It's a rags-to-riches tale of "changing one's stars." It's a vehicle for presenting 1970s-era "classic" rock music to a new generation. And it sketches out a number of memorable characters. (Favorite line: "Yes, Master Falhurst, I'm well aware a good fonging is on the way.")

10. Casino Royale (2006): This film is an inspired take on the James Bond series, featuring less camp, more depth to the character, Daniel Craig (a real man's Bond), three-dimensional villains who seem nearly invincible, a heck of a poker game, and a constant reminder that Bond stays alive by the slimmest of margins, relying not only on his wits but also happenstance. (Favorite line: "You like married women, don't you?" "It keeps things simple.")

11. Harry Potter (Series) (2001-): The Harry Potter movies, much like the J.K. Rowling book series on which they are based, started wandering off-track after the fourth installment, leaving me without much hope for the last two episodes. However, the magical backdrop of Hogwarts and the friendship and adventures shared by Harry, Ron, and Hermione sort of stand above the mounting over-seriousness of the story line (as well as its obvious flaws, such as why no one thinks to seek official sanction to administer "veritaserum" to Harry in Year 5 to ascertain whether he's telling the truth about the return of you-know-who, not to mention the notion -- if, as the story suggests, magical "combat" is necessarily reduced to a question of who can attack with the quickest draw, the best aim, and the baddest curse -- that people wouldn't be dropping dead in droves from the "Avada Kedavra" killing curse). (Favorite line: "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know?")

12. Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975): This movie marked a milestone in irreverent humor -- heck, it even makes fun of itself all the way through -- and thus I can't help but love it. (Favorite line: "Oh, Lord, bless this thy hand grenade that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies into tiny bits...in thy mercy.")

13. Indiana Jones (Trilogy) (1981-1989): I love a good adventure film, particularly if it plays light, has well-defined characters, and produces a bit of laughter. The second film in the trilogy (Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom) becomes a little dark for my tastes once Jones leaves China and ends up in India, but otherwise I like what came of the material, particularly the supernatural angle that each of the three movies has. (Favorite line: "It's not the years, honey -- it's the mileage.")

14. From Russia with Love (1964): I regard this film as the best of the early James Bond films, before all the gadgets and puns wore thin. I confess that I probably wouldn't like it as much if it didn't have the long sequence on the Orient Express, as Bond and Tania try to escape Istanbul with the Russian decoding machine; however, I love how Sean Connery, about to be dispatched by Robert Shaw, plays to the latter's greed and tricks him into opening a "Q"-supplied briefcase and spraying himself with tear gas. (Favorite line: "By good fortune, I was resting on the settee for a moment.")

15. The Shawshank Redemption (1994): It's hard to recommend this film with all the bad language (the f-bombs are just the start), although of course profanity is probably an integral part of prison life. However, the manner in which Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) deals with adversity, and the patience and determination he displays in ultimately escaping from prison and turning the tables on his corrupt captors -- and, more importantly, in elevating the spirits of his fellow prisoners (especially Red [Morgan Freeman], from whose perspective the story is told) -- amounts to nothing less than a complete triumph of human will. (Favorite line: "I've had some long nights in stir. Alone in the dark with nothing but your thoughts, time can draw out like a blade." [Okay, so the dangling modifier in the second sentence is pretty egregious -- it's still a good line.])

16. A Hard Day's Night (1964): I didn't see this movie for the first time until several years ago, when I bought a DVD of it. It is nothing short of amazing, especially given the low expectations one would otherwise have of the "rock 'n' roll film" genre. All of the Beatles were natural actors and comedians -- never mind musicians and songwriters -- and it's no wonder their popularity soared after this piece was released in 1964. As Roger Ebert has noted, many aspects of this film, revolutionary at the time, have become fundamental elements of the film-maker's craft. (Favorite line: "Hey, look at the talent. Let's give 'em a pull!")

17. A Christmas Story (1983): An absolute comic masterpiece about childhood and growing up, this film has dozens of great lines that have become ingrained in the American dialect. (My wife and kids accuse me of having the entire movie memorized.) (Favorite lines: [1] "My old man's spare tires were actually only 'tires' in the academic sense: they were round; they had once been made of rubber." [2] "Over the years, I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap; my personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor -- heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Lifebuoy, on the other hand....")

18. Beetlejuice (1988): Still Tim Burton's best film and the high point of Michael Keaton's acting career, this offbeat comedy about the afterlife, and the weirdness of the still-living, has always appealed to the eldritch part of my sense of humor. (Favorite line: "I wonder where a guy, an every-day joe like myself, could find a little action.")

19. Napoleon Dynamite (2004): Everything that can be said about this movie has already been said, but I love Jared Hess's deadpan directorial style and the understated acting of Jon Heder, Tina Majorino, et al. (Favorite line: "I see you're drinking one-percent.  Is that 'cause you think you're fat?")

20. Dead Poets Society (1989): This movie really captured my fancy when it came out, as I could identify with prep-school students trying to discover their individuality in a cookie-cutter world and being guided on the way by a non-conformist teacher. However, the suicide of Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), and Mr. Keating's (Robin Williams) ultimately being blamed for it, is a complete downer that negates most of the romance of the first three-quarters of the treatment, despite the small tribute that some of the boys pay to Keating at the end. (Favorite line: "Now, medicine, law, business, engineering -- these are all noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love -- these are what we stay alive for.")

21. This Is Spinal Tap (1983): I've loved This Is Spinal Tap ever since its first run in the theaters in 1983. I think a lot of aging rock stars felt, and continue to feel, just a tad uncomfortable with how close all the film's irony came to hitting the mark, but almost everyone can get a few good laughs out of it. (Favorite line: "The musical growth rate of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry.") I also like the Mormon-themed take-off of Spinal Tap that Will Swenson did, 2004's Sons of Provo.

22. Groundhog Day (1993): A wonderful tale of redemption and making oneself worthy of the love of another, this movie traces Bill Murray's path from narcissistic misanthrope to suicidal depressive to all-around great guy. (Favorite line: "I really don't know. They've been hitting on me all night.")

23. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976): I remember thinking, when this film first came out, that it was too fantastic and over-the-top, but curiously it's now my favorite of the entire Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers as Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is one of the great comic characters of modern cinema, and he's funniest in this episode. (Favorite line: "I thought you said that your dug does not bat!" "That is not my dog.")

24. American Graffiti (1973): For my money, American Graffiti is still the best film George Lucas ever made, propelling Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, et al., to stardom. It's a great document of the early-1960s cruising scene in central California and how much impact one night can have on the lives of an entire circle of friends. (Favorite line: "What a babe! What a bitchin' babe!")

25. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (1969): I'm not overly fond of this picture after the point where Butch, Sundance, and Etta arrive in Bolivia, but the first half of the film is priceless for its humor and, especially, the sequence where Butch and Sundance are being chased by a super-posse hired by the railroad. (Favorite line: "Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch?")

26. The Princess Bride (1987): I'm almost surprised that I like this movie as much as I do, given that it's more fairy-tale than action-adventure; I think it's the characters (and the actors who play them) that give it added life. (Favorite line: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.")

27. Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): A nice send-up of Cold War tensions and the inherent absurdity of mutually assured destruction. I always get a kick out of the characters' names: General Buck Turgidson, President Merkin Muffley, General Jack D. Ripper, Soviet Premier Kissov, Major "King" Kong, Colonel Bat Guano, etc. (Favorite line: "I do not avoid women, but I do deny them my essence.")

28. Forrest Gump (1994): Forrest Gump was another film that fired my imagination when I first saw it, filling me momentarily with compassion for the human race and all its constituent members. Its basic question about our existence -- whether it has meaning independent of the moment or is a completely random notion -- obviously struck many other people equally hard, given the awards it won. (Favorite line: "Have you ever been on a real shrimp boat?" "No, but I've been on a real big boat.")

29. Rear Window (1954): My second-favorite Hitchcock picture after North By Northwest, this movie contains an amazing amount of action (and interaction) considering 99% of the story takes place either in L.B. Jeffries' (James Stewart) apartment or looking out its large back window. As others have noted, Grace Kelly looks simply stunning in her role as Jeffries' girlfriend Lisa Fremont. (Favorite line: "Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence.")

30. Charade (1963): This movie is a mere frolic filled alternately with comedy and suspense, but it's notable for its sophisticated humor and romance, as well as its Paris setting. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn had great screen chemistry. (Favorite line: "Any morning now you could wake up dead.")

31. Jeremiah Johnson (1972): I guess I like this movie because I can identify with the twin notions of (a) wanting to get back to nature, and (b) wanting to be alone. I wouldn't have either the "proper wit" or the "adventurous spirit" required to be a mountain man, but the idea is sort of an appealing one nonetheless. (Favorite line: "The injuns put you here?" "'T'wern't Mormons!")

32. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): The screenplay does a good job of wringing the essence of the story out of the novel. I now think that Gregory Peck was a little too "earnest" in his interpretation of Atticus Finch, but perhaps that was intentional; after all, the story is told in hindsight from his daughter's perspective, and she obviously remembers him as a serious person of few words but courageous actions. (Favorite line: "Not until Atticus agrees to play football for the Methodists!")

33. The Kids Are Alright (1979): Being a life-long fan of The Who, I couldn't help falling in love with this documentary, for which principal photography ended shortly before Keith Moon, the group's drummer, died of drug-related causes in late 1978. Jeff Stein, the director, did a great job of juxtaposing various stages of their career, in search of an artistic thread, and of intercutting footage shot specifically for the film. (Favorite line: "You can't write a ten-minute song! Rock songs are two minutes fifty, by tradition!")

34. The Commitments (1991): Another movie laced with f-bombs, but funny as the dickens. This film is notable for the fact that Alan Parker took young Irish musicians/singers and taught them to be passable actors, instead of the reverse. The soul band giving the picture its name is Ireland in microcosm: full of promise but torn apart by internal strife. (Favorite line: "There's a band around called 'Free Beer' -- they always pull a big crowd.")

35. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1987): Even after twenty years, this film seems fresh and up-to-date, pitting impossibly boring high-school teachers and administrators against impossibly bored high-school students. (Favorite line: "Oh, he's very popular, Ed. The sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads -- they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.")

36. Animal House (1978): Dirty, dirty, dirty, but funny, funny, funny. The perfect college spoof, this flick has every larger-than-life stereotype imaginable in it. I remember I felt guilty when one of my brothers took me to see it two weeks before I started my church mission, but I felt a little better when the most "spiritchal" elder in my MTC district confessed to me in a candid moment that he'd seen it eight times. (Favorite line: "But that doesn't relieve you from your responsibility for this material...I'm waiting for reports from some of you. I'm not joking! This is my job!")

37. The Trouble With Angels (1966): This movie was a childhood favorite of mine; I guess I've always been a sucker for films set in boarding schools! It provided Dorine and me with a name for the first daughter we had together -- Devery, the last name of Mary Clancy's (Hayley Mills) sidekick Rachel (June Harding). (Favorite line: "Cloister Tours will show you that mystery of mysteries: where Mother Superior sleeps!")

38. Ocean's Eleven (2001): Full of improbabilities and even impossibilities (e.g., the idea that one underground vault could connect the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas), this picture is still filled with fun, intrigue, and cool, interesting characters. (Favorite line: "I hope you were the groom.")

39. Amadeus (1984): One of the best period pieces ever made -- even if it's full of historical inaccuracies -- Amadeus is made special by F. Murray Abraham's astounding performance as Antonio Salieri. (Favorite line: "Aw, shut up! I'm sick to death of that tune!")

40. Hasta el viento tiene miedo (1968): This movie is a cheesy Mexican horror film, but it's loads of fun and pretty scary, too (at least I found it so when I first saw it in a theater-style setting at BYU in 1981). The fact that it has a totally gratuitous striptease scene (heck, what else would upper-crust Mexican girls do to entertain each other in a strict boarding school?) makes it clear what kind of audience the movie was aimed at, but, weirdly, it all works. (Favorite line: “¿No sería bueno preguntarle a Fibia? Ella sabe interpretar los sueños – ha leído a Freud.” “¡Por eso es tan loca! ¡A mí me dijo que yo tenía una frustración sexual!” “¿Y no?” “¡Mensa!”)

41. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993): Robin Williams at his best. It's a stretch to think that his wife and kids wouldn't recognize him and his voice despite the cross-dressing disguise and "muddled" English accent, but if anyone is capable of suspending our disbelief, it's Williams. (Favorite line: "If I find the misogynistic bastard that invented heels, I'll kill him.")

42. Blazing Saddles (1974): Sophomoric but satisfying, this comedy does precisely what it was intended to do -- skewer the traditional movie western through the heart. (Favorite line: "'S'cuse me while I whip this out!")

43. Casablanca (1942): Atypical of the standard studio fare of the time, this film is both smart and unflinching in its treatment of complex matters of the heart. Who, having watched this film even one time, can forget characters like Rick, Ilsa, Laszlo, Renault, Sam the piano man, Major Strasse, Karl, et al.? (Favorite line: "How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Someday they may be scarce!")

44. Citizen Kane (1941): No true movie aficionado's list of favorite films would be complete without a mention of Citizen Kane, a piece that broke ground in so many ways that one cannot count them all. And, of course, what's truly astounding is that Orson Welles was a complete novice at making movies when the RKO studio gave him carte blanche to make this one. (Favorite line: "I have a hunch it might turn out to be something pretty important -- a document, like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution...and my first report card at school.")

45. JFK (1991): Bad history but great art, this film represents Oliver Stone at the height of his creativity. (And boy oh boy, does he get creative -- he's got about nine or ten internally inconsistent and mutually exclusive conspiracy theories going on at one time in this movie!) (Favorite line: "I find your story simply not believable." "Really? What part?")

46. Caddyshack (1980): The prototypical "snobs vs. slobs" comedy, this film has a number of memorable tableaux, and Rodney Dangerfield, playing a nouveau-riche and extremely gauche contractor, completely steals the show. (Favorite line: "I've sentenced boys younger than you to the gas chamber -- I didn't want to do it, but felt I owed it to them.")

47. It's a Wonderful Life (1946): I can certainly identify with James Stewart's character in this movie, the smart guy who, due to inbred generosity and selflessness, fails to fulfill his talents and dreams and then is left wondering what it was all for. "No man is a failure who has friends" -- words to live by, I guess. (Favorite line: "And I'm gonna have a couple of harems, and maybe three or four wives.")

48. Die Hard (1988): This film is the gold standard of action-adventure movies, even if various references in the script, as well as certain elements of the art direction, will always date it to the late 80s. I love the me-and-my-wits-against-a-group-of-major-baddies premise, the high-rise setting, and Bruce Willis's take on a NYC cop caught up in an international conspiracy to commit high-dollar robbery in LA. (Favorite line: "Actually, I was always partial to Roy Rogers. I really dug those sequined shirts.")

49. Dr. Zhivago (1965): This movie is somewhat depressing in that it leaves all the major characters dead, unhappy, or unfulfilled (or, in the case of Rod Steiger's evil Victor Komorovsky, unimpeded), but it is a wonderful work of art nonetheless. It is best understood as both a history and an indictment of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the conditions that provoked it. (Favorite line: "Good marriages are made in heaven, or some such place.")

50. The Wizard of Oz (1939): I can remember the days when this movie came on network TV precisely one Sunday evening every year, usually during church. To millions of American kids, it was every bit as big an event as the Super Bowl has become since that time; even today, the film stands out in the crowd of family-friendly movies. (Favorite line: I could while away the hours, conferrin' with the flowers, consultin' with the rain/And my head I'd be scratchin', while my thoughts were busy hatchin', if I only had a brain.)

Sleep Disordered, Part 3

This photo illustrates how I sleep at night these days -- with a full-face mask strapped tightly to my face. (You should see the deep creases and indentations it leaves when I take it off every morning!) The Resmed "VPAP Adapt SV," which I've described in previous posts, completely resolves my problems with complex sleep apnea; unfortunately, I was sort of counting on the machine to help me kick my dependency on sleep meds, a misplaced hope at best. I may not need the meds anymore to sleep at night, but falling asleep is a different matter, and at this point I just can't shut my mind down enough to become drowsy without chemical assistance. I need to get off the meds, however, which leaves me with a choice between (a) weaning myself off them gradually (a process that could have indefinite duration, theoretically), and (b) going "cold turkey," staying awake (for 72 straight hours? 96?) until my body gives up its aversion to sleep. (I keep flashing on the scene in The Two Towers where Gandalf exorcises Saruman from the body of King Theoden of Rohan.) Neither is a happy alternative, but I'm almost leaning toward the latter, even though I'd need to take at least a week off work to accomplish it -- I don't even want to think about how unpleasant it would be.