Yeah, there was no Thanksgiving post this year. I had a great time at my grandmother's house and ate so much, I wasn't really up to posting anything. Also, YouTube didn't have available that side-splitting "Seven fingers" sketch from "Kids in the Hall" (set at Thanksgiving). I really hope to have some actual posts here soon. I always say that, but I want to mean it.

Incredibly bored. Just surfing the net until I can think of something better to do.

Been noticing a disturbing trend developing in the last week and here's what I have to say: anyone who gives Twilight: New Moon a higher rating than The Blind Side is either a horny teenage girl in need of release or out of their fucking minds. Who knows? Maybe it's both.

Trying to write a script and, inspired by a post at CartoonBrew, construct a list of what I thought were the best (and worst) animated shows of the decade. Should be fun, either way.

From now on, when I'm super bored, I'm just gonna post what I'm doing at the moment. Think of it as a not Twitter (or noTwitter) account. 140 character limit be damned. (I don't think I could edit myself like that, anyway.)

Just got through watching "Draftee Daffy" on Cartoon Network. Now, "Falling Hare" is on. At this rate, I'll never get any writing or editing done.

"Who is responsible for this, this?!"

So, classic Looney Tunes are to air on Cartoon Network again. Honestly, it's not just a wham-bam-just to placate the fans of old cartoons that still watch us-ma'am.

What sticks in my mind, though, is the ad that promoted today's marathon, which featured Daffy (voiced by - I presume - Joe Alaskey) stating that "The Looney Tunes are coming back to Cartoon Network, though you could argue that we never left the building." This comes over a shot of an Acme (of course) storage door being pounded on, along with various soundbites of the characters wanting the door opened/to be let out.

What I see this commercial as is the brainchild of a staffer who loves the Looney Tunes, but a) hated that they weren't available on TV and b) kept his mouth shut, so as to avoid unemployment. Given the channel's current schedule, there's no way it couldn't be argued that they'd prefer to sweep the Looney Tunes under the proverbial rug. To the mastermind of this ad, I salute you.

This was inspired by a thread at Film Score Monthly's message board. The topic: Best scores of the decade (by year). (Okay, maybe it should say 'favorite scores', as best is subjective.) As usual, some of my choices are stranger than others:

2000
Chicken Run, Harry Gregson-Williams & John Powell
Hollow Man, Jerry Goldsmith
The Road to El Dorado, Hans Zimmer & John Powell
Terror Tract, Brian Tyler
Unbreakable, James Newton Howard

2001
Atlantis: the Lost Empire, James Newton Howard
Bubble Boy, John Ottman
Evolution, John Powell
Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within, Elliot Goldenthal
The Mexican, Alan Silvestri

2002
Big Trouble, James Newton Howard
Catch Me if You Can, John Williams
Lilo and Stitch, Alan Silvestri
Signs, James Newton Howard
Spirited Away, Joe Hisaishi

2003
Darkness Falls, Brian Tyler
Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Jerry Goldsmith
Matchstick Men, Hans Zimmer
Paycheck, John Powell
Willard, Shirley Walker

2004
Arsene Lupin, Debbie Wiseman
Hellboy, Marco Beltrami
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Thomas Newman
The Punisher, Carlo Siliotto
The Terminal, John Williams

2005
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny Elfman
House of Wax, John Ottman
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, John Ottman
Munich, John Williams
Racing Stripes, Mark Isham

2006
The Black Dahlia, Mark Isham
Casino Royale, David Arnold
Flushed Away, Harry Gregson-Williams
Inside Man, Terence Blanchard
Monster House, Douglas Pipes

2007
Enchanted, Alan Menken
Hot Fuzz, David Arnold
Live Free or Die Hard, Marco Beltrami
Meet the Robinsons, Danny Elfman
Ratatouille, Michael Giacchino

2008
Burn After Reading, Carter Burwell
In Bruges, Carter Burwell
Speed Racer, Michael Giacchino
The Spirit, David Newman
Wanted, Danny Elfman

2009*
Coraline, Bruno Coulais
Duplicity, James Newton Howard
The Informant!, Marvin Hamlisch
Public Enemies, Elliot Goldenthal
Up, Michael Giacchino

* - This list is purely provisional; the year isn't yet over.

Random thoughts.

- I only now discovered that the Banana Twinkies that were sold up until a few months ago are still available...two boxes for $16. Totally worth it. Just call me Tallahassee.

- I had hoped to devote a whole post to this, but, as it tends to happen, I lost interest: Paul Weitz's Cirque du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant crashed and burned at the box office, while Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon will likely make a fortune due to its built-in audience of teenage girls of all ages and sexes. First of all, this will make for a great many awkward moments at the Weitz home for years to come. Second, despite no familiarity with the source material, I really enjoyed Cirque du Freak and am forced to assume, due to the mixed reviews and miniscule B.O., that Twilight has debased the vampire movie genre to the point where people can't recognize a good one when they see it. I will admit that John C. Reilly is a most unlikely vampire, but he was one of my favorite things about the movie. If nothing else, his dry wit and his scenes with Willem Dafoe (all too brief) are the highlights, but I also liked the ensemble that brought the freak show to life. It's unfortunate that a follow-up won't be produced, but I guess I could read the books.

- The Disney Channel was airing the 1934 cartoon "Lonesome Ghosts". I would've watched the whole thing had the original soundtrack been used. As is, I couldn't bear more than ten seconds at a time. Maybe it's the way the new audio was mixed or how obvious it was that they tried to slap a new coat of paint on an old house, but (as with the redubbed voice of Mammy in the "Tom and Jerry") the new audio is distracting to the point of unwatchability. I suppose airing the real McCoy would cut into the "Hannah Montana" residuals, but does anyone want to take a fucking chance at that network anymore?

- Speaking of classic cartoons, Cartoon Network has been airing "Pink Panther" cartoons. The first of two observations: who's the pinhead what came up with that laugh track on some of the cartoons?! Watching "Pink Tuba-dore" and hearing that track smeared over every other moment (even when nothing particularly funny was happening) made watching the not-bad cartoon a trial.

- Second observation: There must've been 20-30 pieces of tracked underscoring for these cartoons...and I could swear that "Pink UFO" used them all. Watching the cartoons back in the early 90s on TNT (good times...), the music was engraved onto my subconscious, but the slipshod music editing wasn't the only problem with this cartoon. Between the sloppy animation (doors and chairs don't disappear when they're clearly blasted into nothing) and the weak writing (character thinks that one thing is another thing), it seems like they really weren't trying here. (I remember 1978 being the last year to appear on these cartoons, like the staffers were ready to check out, but didn't bother to do any quality control. Some things never change, I guess.)