I'll Give It To You

I was right in the middle of my post about my adoration for the Guardians soundtrack when I completely lost interest. I couldn't stop thinking about last night because it was beyond amazing. I attended the Villains Unleashed event at Hollywood Studios! I know. This is a big enough shock because I never go into the parks. I used to all the time but not so much anymore.

The event itself was kinda dull. Not enough to do and what there was to do had long lines. My buddy John aptly named it Queue Lines Unleashed, which is very appropriate. All that aside though there were two reasons I was there, and both completely surpassed my expectations. I was there for both Oogie Boogie's Freaky Funhouse Show and to meet Constantine, the villain from Muppets Most Wanted.

The freakshow was a lot of fun. I was surprised Disney got away with showing some of the stuff in their park. Parts were kinda sexual. Oogie Boogie was the emcee of the show introducing different acts: sword-swallowing, archery, and fire-breathing. They were all a lot of fun! The sword swallower was probably my favorite. He was completely in character, portraying a guy who had clearly escaped the crazy house to attend. Oh not to mention Oogie Boogie himself, who was absolutely amazing!

Meeting Constantine took all evening (too long of a story, not getting into it) but all the waiting was completely worth it! It was the Muppet from the movie, and it was the Muppet performer as well! IT WAS CONSTANTINE!! I was too excited. Thank God my friend Jason was there to be the voice of the group. I was speechless. I couldn't say a word.

He certainly made my dreams come true

Before we met Constantine, we were talking about what to say to him. We thought we'd ask him to impersonate Kermit. WELL the bitches in front of us overheard us, and they totally asked him to do that! RUDE! No bother though. It was still hilarious. When we reached him, he went on about how one of us needed to break him out, but none of us had any explosives, so he mourned how we were such a disappointment to him. It was great. I couldn't even handle it for the rest of the night. Or all day today.

So yeah. The event itself needs A LOT of ironing out, but we did what we wanted to do, and it was AMAZING! You should all be super jealous. 

OH! Before I go I have to give a shoutout to my sistah gurl Emily and her Freddiehusband. Today is their one-year anniversary! Congratulations to you both and many more years to come!

The Legacy Award Goes To...

Warning: This post is all things sappy and sweet. If you are allergic to either of these things, please run.

I'm sure by now you all know that Robin Williams has passed away. When I heard the news, I wanted bawl my eyes out watching Dead Poets Society before shedding happy tears with The Birdcage. Williams was part of many a childhood across the country starting in 1978 with "Mork & Mindy" all the way to the 90s with Hook and Jumanji. He wasn't just a gifted comedian. His dramatic work was incredible too. Look no further than Society or his Oscar-winning turn in Good Will Hunting. 

Meeting Genie and Abu in 2007 at the Pirate & Princess Party. Wow.

His legacy lives on at Disney of course through his voicework as the Genie in Aladdin (and to a lesser extent, its second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves). Aladdin isn't my favorite of the "Golden Age" movies, but there's no denying Williams is a key element to what makes that movie so memorable. The Genie is also still a beloved character at the Disney parks. Today's generation of kids love to meet him. It's fun to see their faces light up when he pops up during Magic Kingdom's Move It Shake It Celebrate It Street Party.

So thank you, Robin Williams, for the memories and the many laughs. Your legacy will live on forever.

I want to take this time to commemorate some people who were and still are very special to me. They are definitely very much with me today. I didn't update at the time of their deaths so here goes nothing.

Ann Caldwell, lovingly called Miss Momma by her family, was a wonderful woman full of life and love. She got her nickname when my mom was a kid. Mom had a friend over and introduced her parents as Momma and Diddy. So her friend, ever the southern belle, said, "Hello, Miss Momma. Hello, Mr. Diddy." The names stuck forever.

Miss Momma and a young Joe Moore

In 1986 Miss Momma was diagnosed with MS. She never let the disease get her down though. Even as her body deteriorated she was determined to very much be a part of her childrens' and grandchildrens' lives. She taught all of her grandchildren piano. (That's right, folks. I got some skills though my fingers have a good 10 years of rust on them.) She went to church every Sunday and Wednesday night. She was always there for any special event: birthdays, graduations, ballet recitals, etc. She even visited Disney World three times!

There's actually a pretty humorous story about Miss Momma that I don't think I've ever told anyone. Back when I first started writing, I would let her read my stories. (They were awful Harry Potter ripoffs by the way.) I used a thesaurus to find other words for the basic "said", "replied", and "exclaimed". So you can imagine the look of horror on this Christian woman's face when she read the following:

"Run! He's coming for us!" Dawn ejaculated.

Poor, poor Miss Momma. She calmly told me, "Joseph, you shouldn't use that word." That's all she had to say. Very matter of factly. That's how she was, and I never questioned her. I didn't even find out what the word meant until my teenage years. Good job, me.

Ray Moore. What can I say about Ray Moore that hasn't already been said? He's kind of a big deal. Yes that's an Anchorman quote. Very fitting because Ray Moore was an anchorman. He interviewed Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Frost. He hired Tom Brokaw. Click here for more of his fascinating broadcasting career.

Even with all his success in the news, he was simply Granddaddy to us kids. Like Miss Momma, he loved spending time with his family. Every time we visited his place, he always had something for us to do. We went to the park or the pool, and for dinner we would either have pizza or Chinese food with some Vienetta (sugar free of course) for dessert. Despite his age, he loved taking us to Six Flags every summer. He even took us on our first ever trip to Walt Disney World! That's the thing about Granddaddy. His body may have been old, but his mind was sharp as a tack! It must have been the journalist inside him.

There's a video Grandddaddy made when he was nearing the end of his career. He wanted to write a piece on grandparenting to show Atlantans he was a real person with a real family. WSB loved the idea and suggested that his son, my dad, shoot and edit the piece and that a young yours truly should be the star. Click here for that lovely three-generation feature, and grab the tissues if you haven't already. (It's on Facebook so I apologize if you are unable to view it.) There's also a great forward from my dad you can read, some of which I liberally borrowed just now. Thanks, Dad!

There's one more person I want to say good-bye to, and that's Marie Brinson, my father's mother. She was Grandma to us. We didn't know her very well. I vaguely remember her visiting us when I was very young, and that memory is probably from old VHS viewings. She and her husband Joe owned a lot of farmland not too far from our place, and we visited there a few times during my teenage years. I set one of my screenplays at that farm. It was based off a dream I had, and that dream was inspired by watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers earlier that night. While that might not be the most pleasant memory of Grandma and her farm, it's still a memory, and it still makes me smile.

So what do we have here? One celebrity whose life inspired millions around the world, and three family members who touched many lives during their time on this earth. It just goes to show that no matter who you are, you always leave behind a legacy. Whether you're a famous celebrity or more family-oriented (or in Granddaddy's case, both) there's always somebody out there that loves you. 

I hope you've enjoyed this sugary side of Joe Moore. He doesn't come out to play very often. Everybody have a good hump day!

The In-Betweener

I have three blog posts scrambling around in my head. Of course I'm never by a computer when the urge to write strikes. That's why I always carry around a handy dandy notebook. I've been keeping notebooks since high school. I mostly use them to write screenplays. When I hit a roadblock, I flip to the back of the book. That's where I doodle or write playlist ideas or other randomness that has nothing to do with anything. I love looking back at my old notebooks. It makes me laugh.

ANYWAY on to the three update ideas! 

1) Write a California blog, even though my sister has already gone above and beyond in that respect. Check out her version of our California Adventure! There's at least five stories from all the different shenanigans.

2) Write about how awesome Guardians of the Galaxy is, and how everyone should see it... yesterday. Also about how I'm obsessed with the soundtrack (surprise surprise).

3) This last one is more of an emotional update, which is saying something because I'm such a complacent guy. Losing Robin Williams last night was heart-wrenching (because we were bffs). Then I realized it's been two years since the family lost my grandmother, Miss Momma. So I'm suddenly reeling from that all over again. I should probably write this one while the emotions are still fresh in my mind.

I'll get one of these written before I leave for work tonight. That's the goal anyway. I always get distracted when I'm writing, either because I listen to music and end up throwing a dance party or because I hit a roadblock. You see, I'm kind of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. If it isn't perfect the first time, I can't stand it. I know the first time is never perfect. That's what drafts are for. I've never been good with drafts. It always has to be airtight the first time around. Even writing this brief in-between blog has taken me two hours. Just ask my pff bff, Andie. She can totally vouch for me. Totes.

Okay, enough of this. Gotta get writing!