Spread Some Cheer With the Care Bears Vending Machine Toys

Ever since I was little, I've loved stopping at the toy vending machines that tend to be positioned in the entryways of stores like K-Mart and Tops. Up until recently, I could count on my quarters buying me something completely random and probably pretty junky. But the past five years or so has seen a great improvement in these vending machine toys. Now, most machines contain only one type of toy, so you're guaranteed to get a bouncy ball or a Peek-a-Pooh or a Lord of the Rings mini-bust... or a Care Bear. At the mall where I have spent several seasons as a kiosk attendant, there used to be an enormously tall machine filled with plastic Care Bears for fifty cents each. I often stopped by after work to buy one, and I was sad when I returned one year to find the machine gone.

The machine invited Care Bears enthusiasts to collect all 32 bears, which I never managed to do. However, it's really just eight different bears in four poses each. I did manage to get one of each bear, so that was good enough for me, though I've since given away most of my duplicate bears and wish I had easy access to another supply, as they make great little just-because presents. To paraphrase A. A. Milne, no one can be un-cheered by a Care Bear. Just to be on the safe side, however, the makers of this collection omitted Grumpy Bear, a standout among his perpetually smiling pals because of the stormcloud on his tummy and the scowl on his face. Like Eeyore, he grumbles a lot, but he's lovable nonetheless, and I wish he had been included. Indeed, it would be great if there really were 32 different bears, not to mention the Care Bear Cousins. Maybe they'll consider another line in the future; Peek-a-Pooh is still going strong after about 20 sets.

The eight bears available in this set are Friend Bear, Wish Bear, Cheer Bear, Share Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear, Good Luck Bear, Bedtime Bear and Funshine Bear. Each of the bears is a different color, though their snouts and stomachs are white. Their noses and the pads of their paws are heart-shaped and a darker shade of their fur color. Each also has a red heart located near his or her tail. My favorite is Good Luck Bear, who is green and has a four-leaf clover on his tummy. This is the one I was most excited to get, and though my Dad and brother aren't exactly the Care Bear enthusiasts I am, each of them gladly accepted one of these as token of luck and Irish heritage.

Wish Bear is halfway between green and blue, a pastel sort of sea green. She has a shooting star on her tummy. Bedtime Bear is all blue with a dark blue crescent moon on his tummy. Share Bear is pinky-purple, with interlocking heart-stamped lollipops on her tummy, while Love-a-Lot Bear is dark pink with two hearts on her tummy. Pale pink Cheer Bear has a rainbow on her tummy. Orange Friend Bear has interlocking flowers on her tummy, and yellow Funshine Bear sports a smiling sun on his. Each one wears a happy expression, with differing degrees of the smiling mouth exposed.

All of the bears are in seated positions, and there is no articulation to them. The biggest variation among the poses involves the arms. Two of the poses have both arms stretched out, though in one, the bear looks straight ahead, while in the other, his or her head is turned to the left. In the other two poses, the left arm is outstretched, but in one, the right paw rests on the knee, while in the other it rests near the mouth in a pensive position. I don't know that I can say I prefer one pose over the others; all are equally cute. These figures stand on their own with no trouble. I keep them in a cluster on my piano, though I will occasionally move them elsewhere in order to entertain myself with them. I especially had fun last week when we had a downpour that lasted all morning. I brought out several props from my Pooh's Friendly Places play sets, as the tiny figures of Pooh, Piglet and pals that came with those sets are fairly comparable in size to these one and a half inch-tall bears. I especially had fun placing pairs of bears in Piglet's ornate bathtub and sending them to float along in our neighbor's front-yard lake.

Because of their diminutive size I can't really recommend these toys for anyone under the age of four or so, but older children ought to have fun with them, as they are sturdy, colorful and just plain fun. They make terrific add-ons to birthday presents - just tape one to the package - or random pick-me-uppers to be send through the mail or given in person. You could also place them on top of a cake if you wanted to, or stick them in Easter eggs and make a hunt extra fun. Or hand them over to an aspiring juggler and see how he manages with them. There are all sorts of possibilities with these little bears, and if you don't happen to have a vending machine in your area that sells them, they're pretty easy to find online. A set containing one of each is available on Amazon for four dollars; another containing a random assortment of 50 goes for $25. If I ever find myself stuck for a fun giveaway item for a party or event, I may spring for that. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the ten bears I have and contemplate who could do with a little extra cheer in her day. One of my remaining duplicates is Friend Bear, the other Love-a-Lot. Both are poised to be a little plastic stand-in for an in-person hug, because spreading goodwill is what Care Bears do best.

Tranquility Trumps Terror in LOST's Surprisingly Mellow Season 2 Soundtrack

When I think of LOST's second season, there are many things that spring to mind: Desmond. Henry. Tailies. Dharma Initiative. Computer. WAAAAAALLLLTTT!!!! But perhaps more than anything else, the first word that pops into my head is artillery. It was in this season that it suddenly seemed everyone on the Island was packing heat, with deadly results. So while in certain respects the castaways are in a more secure position - they have shelter and ample food, and most of them have learned to work together - I tend to think of season two as having a somewhat oppressive flavor. I was surprised, then, to discover how tranquil the bulk of the season two soundtrack is.

Michael Giacchino has composed all of the music for LOST, and he has an army of musicians behind him to bring that score to life. Some of the musical themes from the first season are revisited in the second, while new ones are introduced. Surprisingly, none of the tracks on the season two soundtrack incorporate Life and Death, the iconic melody that I consider the drama's predominant musical theme. I'm fairly certain it made an appearance in the second season, but of course the album only gives us a small sampling of all the music composed. Nonetheless, variations on this particular theme can be found on the third and fourth soundtracks as well as the first, and I suspect the tune will turn up again on the fifth. Moreover, I fully expect an exquisite rendition of Life and Death that ingeniously ties together several prominent motifs to underscore the closing moments of the series finale.

While I'm on the subject of what the album lacks, DriveShaft fans are bound to be disappointed yet again. Season two includes snippets of flash-in-the-pan chart-topper You All Everybody and Charlie's contemplative, as-far-as-we-know unfinished ballad Funny Now, but unless Dom Monaghan and Neil Hopkins get together and actually record the fabled DriveShaft Greatest Hits album, YouTube is your best bet if you want to listen to these songs in isolation. Nonetheless, Charlie is well represented on this album, with three tracks bearing his name. These are from The 23rd Psalm and Fire + Water, the second of which is the only Charlie-centric episode of the second season. All's Forgiven... Except Charlie starts out heavy on the harp and strings and captures the emotion of the moment in which Eko and Charlie recite the 23rd Psalm together while the wreckage of Yemi's plane burns. The melody carries a hint of a famous musical arrangement of that psalm. The track goes back and forth between the sad, reflective Eko and Charlie music and the bouncier "back at the beach" music, which features guitar and some type of percussion that sounds like a mellow maraca. It ends on a note of suspense, which is how Charlie's Dream begins. This short, intense track demonstrates Charlie's confusion and panic during his vision of an endangered Aaron. Charlie's Temptation returns to a familiar musical theme that plays out in low tones on one of the album's shortest tracks.

If you crave the adrenaline rush of LOST's most pulse-pounding moments, there are plenty of tracks to satisfy, including the action-packed Peace Through Superior Firepower, which accompanies Desmond running and is augmented by eerie windchime-like sounds; the almost-cacophonous Just Another Day on the Beach and The Tribes Merge, in which oppressive drums are the predominant instruments as the Tailies and some of the Fuselage folks meet for the first time. Other tracks, like lengthy The Final Countdown and the brief Mapquest, are quietly menacing, which is how Claire's Escape starts before exploding into full-blown peril. Finally, all six of the tracks drawn from season finale Live Together, Die Alone have some element of danger about them. Toxic Avenger and I Crashed Your Plane, Brotha both feature spooky percussion that fits well with Desmond's deranged state of mind. Eko Blaster is short and punchy; The Hunt is sparse and suspenseful; McGale's Navy, which probably gets my vote for favorite track title, builds to a strong finish; and Bon Voyage, Traitor, which starts out quite lovely, finally puts a spotlight on Michael, whose centric episodes - Adrift and Three Minutes - are unrepresented on this album (along with seven other episodes).

If, like me, you prefer the emotional, character-driven tracks, you won't be disappointed either. The slow, strings-heavy Ana Cries doesn't have a strong driving melody, but it accompanies a moment of refreshing humanity from the usually-tough Ana Lucia, who receives some condolence from Eko after an especially trying experience. The Gathering is one of the prettiest tracks on the album, and it chronicles one of the most-anticipated scenes. Some earlier themes are revisited in the midst of many reunions, most notably between Rose and Bernard and Sun and Jin. Shannon's Funeral is sad, though not nearly as affecting as Boone's on the first album or A New Trade, which explores Sayid's emotions in dealing with potentially villainous newcomer Henry. The Last to Know, the backdrop to Sun telling Jin that she is pregnant, carries with it a feeling of hesitancy amidst the happiness, as Jin is afraid to believe such good news and Sun is afraid that he is not the father. My favorite of the "character" tracks is Rose and Bernard, a musical theme that stood out to me more when I listened to it after the season five finale, in which it is revisited with such aching beauty that I can almost guarantee it will be my favorite track on the season five album (and if it's not there, I will be sorely disappointed). It reminds me just a bit of the orchestral version of Unchained Melody at the end of Ghost; few pieces of movie music have moved me so much, and the idea of hungering for one's touch seems pretty appropriate for a couple who didn't find each other until their 50s and who spent the first weeks of their marriage separated from one another.

I ended my review of the first album with Hurley, and I'll do it again here, since I'm finding that music from any scene involving him tends to be especially satisfying. While Dave, Hurley's second centric episode of the season, is unrepresented on this album, three tracks are drawn from Everybody Hates Hugo. World's Worst Landscaping feels suspenseful until about halfway through, when the mood becomes playful, as befits a moment in which he and his best buddy prank their boss in a flashback. Mess It All Up is introspective and a touch mournful, accompanying his heart-to-heart with Rose. My favorite track on the album is Hurley's Handouts, which is the deliciously mellow backdrop to his distribution of the food in the hatch to everyone on the beach. Piano and guitar share the spotlight with the strings in this perfect montage melody, a variation on the tune found in season one's Leaving the Island. As in that album's unexpectedly amusing I've Got a Plane to Catch, the understated guitar adds a sense of fun, which eventually gives way to the emotion of the piano and violins.

The season two soundtrack is much less perilous and more character-driven than I expected, so although most of its tracks are not as iconic as those in season one, I find myself listening to this album nearly as often. If you're only going to own one LOST album, I still recommend the first, but if you want to go all out, don't hesitate to invest in this one as well.

Test Your Tolkien Knowledge With Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit

When it comes to J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, I like to think of myself as something of an expert. I first read The Hobbit in first grade, and my dad had already read it to me before that. By the time I was in high school, Sam Gamgee had replaced Bilbo Baggins as my favorite hobbit, though I'll always identify myself more with Bilbo. It was in eighth grade that my English class did a unit on The Hobbit and I was deemed so well-versed in the book that I was given an alternate assignment so I'd have a bit of a challenge. Of course, when Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy hit the theaters, those movies were highlights of my year three years in a row.

It's no surprise that the past decade has included many Lord of the Rings-related gifts, as merchandise inspired by the movies became readily available. One of these presents was Trivial Pursuit: The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Collector's Edition. Shortly after I received this for Christmas, my parents, brother and I sat down for a game in which I expected to emerge the victor. As I recall, I did, but I found the questions more challenging than I had anticipated. I was anxious to give it a go in different company last month when I went to visit my friends Erica and Art. They, too, own the board game, and I'm pretty sure they've both played the game and watched the movies more often than I have. Still, I thought we were fairly evenly matched. Then the game began, and after Erica and I each missed a question, Art managed a flawless run of correct answers that left him the undisputed champion in a mere turn. Clearly, I am not the biggest Tolkien expert out there...

This edition of Trivial Pursuit comes in an attractive brown box featuring the Ring on the cover and ornate designs in the corners. The board, which features a map of Middle-earth in the background, has the Ring in the center, with six straight paths leading out toward the circle. Each path has five regular spaces and an oversized space the connects with the circle; these are the spaces that allow a player to receive a wedge of the corresponding color. On the circle, there are six spaces between each of these mega-spaces. In order to win the game, a player must collect one wedge of each color, for which there are spaces inside the bases of the game pieces. There is no purple wedge, but there are purple spaces; these direct the player to roll again.

Orange spaces have a tree symbol, which represents Things. Green has a leaf, for Good Characters. Blue has a curious brown symbol that represents Evil Characters; I can't figure out what it's supposed to be, but it certainly looks sinister. The red spaces have the Ring, denoting Place & History. Yellow spaces have a dagger for Warfare, and the brown spaces have a movie reel for Making Movies. This last category concentrates on details about the production of the films and might include such queries as "Which actor portrayed Aragorn?" or "In what country were the movies filmed?" If you were a Tolkien fan completely unfamiliar with the films, some of the questions in the other categories would trip you up, but this would be the only one to consistently cause a problem. To even things out, it might have been nice if the folks at Hasbro had lumped Good Characters and Evil Characters into one category and added a category specifically pertaining to the books.

This game is designed for up to four players, with pewter figurines of four of the main characters: Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn and Galadriel. While Elf queen Galadriel is actually a rather minor character compared to the others, I have no objection to her inclusion, though I would have preferred that everyone in the Fellowship be included as well, giving players plenty of characters from which to choose. But I suppose that would have made the game quite a bit pricier!

Also included in the game are one die and a box full of trivia questions, and that's all you really need to play the game. If you land on one of the mega-spaces, you can decide whether you want to proceed in the circle or up the designated path. On any given turn, you're free to move to the left or the right as you choose. The main objective is to collect those wedges. Once you've done that, all that's left is to get to the Ring, which you must land on by exact count. At this point, you're at the mercy of the other players, and they get to decide which category is your weakest and hope that a question from that category will be enough to thwart you. If not, you'll be declared the winner.

The game can be more complicated than this if you wish. While the rules include suggestions for a shorter game, it's the Expert Fan Rules that require explanation. I'll do my best, though I prefer to play the simpler version. There's a Ring piece and a Ringwraith piece, and taken together, they add another dimension to the game. The One Ring belongs to whoever last correctly answered a question on a mega-space, even if that person already had the wedge for that space. The main purpose of possessing the Ring is to get you out of answering especially tough questions. However, if you elect to use this option, you must answer the new question correctly or you'll lose a wedge, and if you have no wedges to lose, you're out of the game. The Ringwraith moves with a roll of the die each time a player guesses a question incorrectly. Once it is out on the circle, it doesn't move along the spokes. If it lands on a space with a player, that player loses a wedge (or, as above, if he has no wedges, he is out of the game). If there are two or more players on the same space, the player with the most wedges loses a wedge.

Whether or not you incorporate these advanced rules, Trivial Pursuit: The Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy Collector's Edition is a fun game for Tolkien fanatics - though if at least one of you has an especially extensive knowledge of the trilogy, I would recommend amending the rules so that a turn is over after a player answers a question, whether or not the response is correct. That way, everybody gets equal play time - though it also makes winning more luck-based. However you decide to play, this is a great board game for those who are eager to show off their knowledge of all things Lord of the Rings.

Give Your Dog Some Style With the Tie-Dyed, Smiley Face Bandana

I've never been all that big on putting clothing on my pets. I'll pass a dog-walker with a Yorkshire Terrier or a Cocker Spaniel snugly dressed in a doggie sweater, and I'll think, "Awww, how cute." But I'll also think, "My dog would never put up with that." And don't even get me started on what my cats would do if I attempted such a thing. Still, I've been known to occasionally subject Mokey, a midsized mutt who is part Husky / Akita and part Basset Hound / Beagle, to Halloween costumes, if only for a few minutes, and silly hats or unwanted plush passengers. While her tolerance for such adornments is limited, there is one type of accessory that she does not object to whatsoever. Mokey loves to wear bandanas.

I couldn't tell you just when we discovered this. I have a feeling that it may have been one of the times we took her to be groomed by my aunt; perhaps she walked away with a souvenir bandana, and once we saw how well she wore it, we bought her others. We've now amassed a small collection, including a St. Patrick's Day bandana, a 4th of July bandana and a snowflake bandana. She doesn't seem to have any preference among them, but my favorite is the tie-dyed one adorned with peace signs and smiley faces. She's wearing it now, since it has such a vibrant, summery look to it. And, of course, it makes me think of hippies. It strikes me as something that would have been worn to Woodstock. The bandana may be physically square, but in the less literal sense of the word, it's all hip and not square at all. Heck, I'm tempted to borrow it from her sometime.

This particular bandana has been resting around Mokey's neck for several weeks. It's probably past due for a change; we should have switched it out for the flag bandana a couple weeks ago. But while it may be looking a little dingy at the moment, the colors still shine through, and if we toss it in the wash, they'll come out brighter than ever. The fabric is light but sturdy. Mokey's worn it for days on end, but there's no sign of fraying. I fold it into a triangle and over a couple of times, and it must be comfortable because every time she sees me with a bandana in hand, she rushes over and seats herself in front of me, patiently waiting for me to tie it around her neck. Or maybe she just likes to show off...

Mokey is a very photogenic dog, and just as I find that silly hats make pictures more fun, I think the bandanas add a certain light touch to the pictures I take of her. That's especially true of this bandana, which looks terrific on her outside in the bright sunshine. If you have a moderately patient dog, I recommend bandanas in general and the hippie bandana in particular. For a couple of bucks, the fun goes a long way!

Add Some Cheer to Your Celebration With Care Bears Napkins

I have been a fan of Care Bears for as long as I can remember. They were almost an essential ingredient for an 80s childhood, along with Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony. I loved them all, but I've always had a special soft spot for bears, as one can tell by glancing at the photographs of three-year-old me assembling a tea party to which all of my ursine friends were invited.

As much as I loved Care Bears, though, they fell by the wayside a bit over the years. I'd think about them now and then, particularly when popular TV shows like Captain Planet or Power Rangers would engage in a maneuver reminding me of the Care Bear Stare, in which the bears united the characteristics symbolized on their white bellies in order to overcome forces of destruction and despair. But it wasn't until college that I found myself truly falling in love with them again, when the 80s started to become big again and I found those cheerful faces peeking at me from all sorts of surprising places.

My Care Bear fandom hit its high point in 2003, my senior year of college. I needed a distraction from all the stress of my last semester, and along with American Idol, Care Bears fit the bill nicely. My 22nd birthday, which fell in February, reflected that. I received several Care Bears-related gifts, including a small container of glittery green kiwi-flavored lip gloss inspired by Good Luck Bear, my favorite of the bears, and a small plush version of the same. I also celebrated with cake eaten on Care Bears plates, next to which were set Care Bears napkins that were so cute, I hated to use them.

That's the main problem with novelty napkins of any kind, of course. It seems a shame to sully them with tidbits of food when the pictures are so endearing. But a good compromise is to set aside one or two and save them as mementos of the occasion. Same goes for paper plates. Several months ago, I was delighted to discover a paper plate featuring Ewoks hiding in the back of the closet. I don't have any recollection of using these plates, but given my love of the much-maligned Return of the Jedi teddy bears, I assume they were purchased in my honor. That plate now hangs in my room.

One of the most recognizable elements of Care Bears is the vibrant colors used to depict them. The bears live in a sort of utopian cloudland, and their fur covers the spectrum of the rainbow. These particular napkins show only one bear, Friend Bear. This orange bear with entwined flowers on her belly is shown squeezing the stuffing out of a smiling star while another looks on, perhaps waiting for its turn. I'm a little surprised that blue-green Wish Bear, whose emblem is a shooting star, is not featured instead, but since birthday parties are generally occasions for the gathering of friends, Friend Bear is most appropriate too.

She is set against a starry backdrop, though the color of the atmosphere is a daytime shade of sky blue, and the napkin's border features blocks of color ranging from green to pink and back to green. The napkins are of a generous size and certainly hardy enough for the average cake eater. They come in packs of 16, so depending on the size of the guest list, it may be a good idea to get two packs. One was more than enough for my little gathering, with a couple to spare. No doubt these are designed primarily with the under-10 set in mind, but if you are a nostalgic child of the 80s like I am, chances are you will find them a beary enjoyable addition to your birthday.

Make Your Boston Vacation Photos More Memorable With the Crab Hat

When I went to Boston recently while visiting friends of mine who lived nearby, one of the first things I did was buy a crab hat. I'd seen the hat already, as Erica had shown me hers, which she'd bought when her sister and niece came to visit. Her niece is seven or eight, so it was a matter of auntly duty to purchase a hat that would inevitably provoke amusement - or at least Erica is at liberty to claim that. I, however, had no such excuse, but as I suspect that she needed none to engage in such extravagant silliness, I shan't hang my head in shame. Even back in Erie, I wasn't blue as I celebrated the 4th of July with this red and white crab hat firmly on my head.

I saw this hat for sale at the store Best of Boston and at least one stand set up in the middle of the walkway around Fanueil Hall Market Place. I did not see anyone else actually wearing one, and throughout the day several people shouted, "Hey, nice hat!" as I walked by. I think some of them meant it, while others no doubt were thinking, "What kind of goofball walks around with a crab on her head all day?" Either way, I didn't mind the comments, and I loved the extra fun touch it added to all of the pictures my friends took of me that day.

The crab hat is a basic felt creation. It has red legs that stick out and two great big white eyes with black pupils suspended above the hat on black felt-covered wires resembling the legs. There are four legs on either side of the eyes. The longest ones are closest to the eyes, and each of these two has a pincher on the end. The remaining three on each side have no pinchers, and the legs get shorter as they get further from the eyes.

The hat has a diameter of about 20 inches, and the strap that wraps around the back is held in place by a piece of velcro. I suppose that with enough re-wearings, this might get worn down, especially if you open and close the velcro frequently, but mine is in terrific shape, and it fits most heads quite well. I made my parents, brother and even dog wear it when I got home, and it stayed in place with no problem, which is more than I can say for the spangly but flimsy wizard hat I bought in Salem, which is too small for most heads and has nothing to anchor it to someone's head.

I bought my crab hat for six dollars. The same amount of money will buy you a lobster hat, which is similarly amusing; it, too, is red, but is more plush and features little eyes on the hat itself, two black antennae and two huge, plush pinchers. According to Epinions, the crab hat is an Oriental Trading product, which surprised me, though upon reflection I guess it looks like the kind of thing they would sell. It goes for six dollars from the catalog, too, so while Boston is an especially appropriate place in which to wear this hilarious headgear, you don't have to go there to buy it. If looking like a goon doesn't make you crabby, yuk it up with one of the zaniest hats around!

It Takes a Village to Raise a House With ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This past week, my hometown of Erie has had quite a bit of excitement. That's because the crew of the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to fix up the house of a very deserving woman for the second episode of its seventh season. While I've never watched the series with any regularity, I always catch at least a couple of episodes a season. All have the same basic format: tear down the dilapidated home of a family with an emotional story and rebuild it while demonstrating to the audience why that family, off on an all-expenses paid vacation until it's time for the new house to be dramatically unveiled, is so special. It's ideal Sunday-night fare: family friendly, with a feel-good message that encourages community involvement and induces many viewers to sob into their hankies.

I first heard that EMHE would be coming to Erie a few weeks ago. I was excited, but the news slipped my mind until the announcement of the recipient was made, and when I inquired about volunteering, I learned the show had secured more than enough help. My services would not be needed, which is probably just as well since I'm a walking disaster likely to spill a can of paint all over Paul or drop a hammer on Ty's foot. But I was welcome to observe, so every day I found myself in the neighborhood, watching events unfold from afar, and on two days, I went in for a more up-close and personal look. I stayed for the duration of the Big Reveal yesterday, and if you tune in this September, you might just see me in my black Pooh shirt or my white EMHE shirt, screaming like a maniac.

Seeing the show from this angle gave me a deeper appreciation for what goes into these projects. The local news showed the progress of the house every day, so we watched it go from being torn down to being gloriously rebuilt in a mere week. We laughed about the fact that wherever we went within a mile of the house, we saw people walking around in white hard hats and bright blue EMHE t-shirts. I think I heard that there were more than 1000 volunteers from the community, and the number of spectators, many of whom brought donations of canned goods, books or school supplies, exceeded that. It really got everyone excited about pitching in to better the city, and I hope its effects will be felt well into the future.

Of course, the spectators also went in hopes of laying eyes on the show's celebrity design and construction team. As a bemused observer remarked to me yesterday, host Ty Pennington is the Elvis of home improvement. He's a bundle of energy who doesn't seem capable of sitting still or speaking below a shout, bullhorn in hand. He channels all of that energy into pulling off the incredible feat of building complex, highly personalized homes in just a week's time. Ty's charisma and rugged good looks make him the object of some pretty ardent devotion, and just a glimpse of him in a crowd of fans is likely to elicit a hubbub of ecstatic shrieks. 

Many episodes also include at least one special celebrity guest who is passionate about some element of the project or is a particular favorite of someone in the family; Erie's was singer Mary J. Blige, whose determination to help inner-city youth made her a good fit with Clara Ward, who has opened her heart and home to many children in the neighborhood.

Along with the many volunteers, both everyday folks and construction professionals (like the Maleno family, who were instrumental in the completion of Clara's home), from each city, Ty has a regular team of experts who concentrate on specific areas of each project. Two of them especially stand out to me. Carpenter Paige Hemmis looks like a model, but she wields those power tools with great authority. She signed autographs and posed for several photos in Erie, and she seemed to be very nice. My favorite member of the team is head designer Paul DiMeo, whose thick glasses accentuate a resemblance to Eugene Levy. At some point in just about every episode, nearly everyone significantly involved in the project ends up crying, but Paul tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve even more than the others. His tendency to be deeply touched by the plights of the families they help gave Fred Armisen plenty to work with when he portrayed him on Saturday Night Live in 2005. He also seems especially keen on making himself accessible; I saw him come and go several times yesterday, and he spent quite a while signing autographs for fans. I didn't catch a tear escaping his eye from my vantage point, but I did watch as he cradled a delighted little girl in his arms throughout the last portion of the shoot.

Except for the lucky few who won a tour of the house, we weren't treated to an inside view of Clara's new home. The outside looked amazing, but the most interesting elements of the homes tend to found inside, so we're all looking forward to seeing the finished product in a couple of months. One of the things I love about the show is the effort that goes into making each home tailored as much as possible to the personalities and interests of the people who live there. On the one hand, one might argue that it's unnecessarily extravagant and that the resources should be spread more evenly. Like the rest of the show, there's something a bit over-the-top about amount of detail that goes into these "special projects" and room designs. Nonetheless, I think that Ty and his crew find wonderfully creative ways to incorporate each person's passions into the home design, and watching them at work is inspiration for gift givers everywhere. I also appreciate their efforts to keep things as environmentally conscious as possible, recycling materials and setting up utilities in an eco-friendly manner.

I'm anxious to see my little corner of the world shown off to the rest of the country this fall via this show and interested to see how Erie as a city will be highlighted. I wonder, for instance, if the crew got a chance to go to our picturesque peninsula, Presque Isle, during their visit. Unfortunately, as is typical with Erie, they had some nasty weather to contend with, but Presque Isle can be enjoyed rain or shine. Their stay gave Erie residents an opportunity to show why ours is a city in which we can have pride, a city just as deserving of the adjective "cheery" as the more commonly heard "dreary". As for the rest of the season, I plan to watch the show more regularly, observing as Ty, Paul, Paige and the rest of the hard-working builders complete architectural works of art while introducing us to the beauties of a particular family and a specific community. Long after the original Extreme Makeover ceased to lavish plastic surgeries upon people willing to go to drastic measures to change their appearance, EMHE is still going strong, improving lives one house at a time.

** A Note About the DVD: This particular DVD is a collection of what the producers feel are the best episodes from season one.  On the plus side, reducing the number of episodes reduces the cost; this set, on two discs, is available for $20 on Amazon, which is pretty low for TV on DVD.  Then again, if you were involved with one of the five episodes omitted, I can imagine you would be pretty disappointed.  The families, all from California, featured in this set include the Powers (Santa Clarita), the Woslums (Palmsdale), the Coxes (Simi Valley), the Mendozas (Van Nuys), the Harrises (Watts), the Ziteks (Ventura), the Walswicks (Yorba Linda), the Powells (Arleta) and the Cadigan-Scotts (Livermore).  Celebrity guests include Tommy Lasorda and LeAnn Rimes.  Among the extras are behind-the-scenes features showing more about the building of the houses and the making of the show, so EMHE doesn't have to come to your town for you to get a peek at how they pull off such a feat week after week!

Michael Jackson Encourages Everyone to "Heal the World, Make It a Better Place"

There are many things I will remember about Michael Jackson, but first and foremost, I will recall his humanitarianism. He always struck me a man who was profoundly concerned about the welfare of the disenfranchised, especially children. Throughout the '80s and '90s, this focus was especially evident in songs like Man in the Mirror, Earth Song and, of course, We Are the World, a massive effort uniting many of the biggest musical superstars of the day for the sake of raising money for famine relief in Africa. Similar in tone and message to the latter is 1991's Heal the World, one of Jackson's quietest but ultimately most impressive hits.

Like several of his inspirational-style songs, it has a chorus that, at one point, grows mightier with each repetition as the accompanying choir swells. By the end of the song, you're left with the impression that everybody in the world truly is pitching in to help, while the child at the end drives home the point that each one of us ought to make an individual, personal effort. It's a child who starts and ends the song, one by speaking, the other by singing, and while it's a Jackson solo until about two-thirds of the way through the song, the children are the stars of the video, with the King of Pop completely absent. Of all his videos, at least the ones I've seen, I would say that this one is the least egocentric. I also discovered that, according to a 2001 chat session with fans, it's the song of which he's proudest.

Heal the World seems to me to have a very '70s vibe to it. It's mellow in the extreme, with the first half, anyway, sounding more like John Denver's style than Michael Jackson's - and I suspect that Denver approved of this song heartily. I'm not aware of their ever having worked together, but when it came to issues like the ones explored in this song, I think they were very much on the same page. What a collaboration that would have been! The video's whole theme of children (toting flowers, no less) convincing soldiers to lay down their guns feels very hippie-ish and reminds me specifically of Rhymes and Reasons, in which Denver sings, "For the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers" and "It is written, 'From the desert to the mountains they shall lead us...'"

I don't know that I'd ever actually watched the video before this week. If I did, it was a long time ago, and as I never had MTV, I don't know when the occasion would have arisen. I'm not a huge fan of music videos in general, but I generally like Jackson's, and I love this one. It feels so cinematic, so simple but powerful. It cuts between scenes of peace and destruction, of children playing and of bombs going off. It soon becomes the story of an ever-growing group of children from all walks of life drawing near to a group of heavily armed soldiers, who begin to take note of their approach and ultimately are moved, in the face of such innocence, to trade their guns for flowers. At that point, the rest of the video involves a candlelight vigil whose attendance grows with each increase in volume in the repeated chorus. There's a certain naivety to the video, but then Jackson was never known for being 100 percent in tune with reality. And who knows? If everyone took the sentiments in this song to heart, maybe wars could end this painlessly.

Jackson's voice always was on the high side, but this song showcases his upper register even more than most. It's so soft and flutey, and especially in the verses, it sounds like he's going into a falsetto. While the opening line of the song doesn't quite work for me ("There's a place in your heart, and I know that it is love" seems as grammatically suspect as "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free"), I love the lyrics in general. "We stop existing and start living" is a great line, and lines like "See the nations turn their swords into ploughshares" give the song a biblical resonance. The chorus works best of all; it's powerful and easy to remember, especially since it's repeated so many times. By the time the song ends, the message has really been driven home.

Michael Jackson was right to be proud of this song. It's one of his finest, especially when the video is factored into the equation. In fact, the video is on the verge of displacing my long-held favorite, Will You Be There. Unlike that exuberant number, Heal the World isn't the sort of song that makes you want to get up and dance. But it does make you want to get up and make a difference.

Mount Doom Sam Declares, "I Can't Carry It For You, But I Can Carry You!"

The Return of the King, the final installment in Peter Jackson's epic film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, is filled with moments that took my breath away. Many of them involve innocent young Pippin: his traumatic departure from best friend Merry, his golden-voiced recitation of an old hobbit walking song, his discussion about death with the sage Gandalf. But if I had to pin the "most iconic" award on any one scene in the film, its star would be not Pippin but Samwise, which is something of a relief to me, as Sam has always been my favorite character and I hated to see him overshadowed entirely.

I speak, of course, of the instance capturing both Sam's rustic simplicity and his heroism, which is inspired by fierce loyalty. As the putrid air of Mordor threatens to engulf them, Sam takes comfort in his recollection of the bucolic Shire. "Do you remember the taste of strawberries?" he asks the tormented Frodo, who doesn't. And that's when Sam's great Hero Moment comes. After appealing to his master to be rid of the Ring once and for all, he bellows, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" And he does, as noble music swells. Several years ago, I purchased a poster-sized calendar in which the photo for the month of January featured this scene. That calendar hangs on my wall today, still reading January 2005; I never turned the page.

On my recent trip to Salem, Massachusetts, I found myself in Harrison's, a comic book store with the most magnificent assortment of geeky collectibles I've ever seen, short of eBay or Amazon. Their Lord of the Rings selection was especially impressive, so I spent some time looking through the figures. I'm glad I took the time to take each box off the peg rather than simply trusting, as was my initial impulse, that everything behind the front figure was the same. If I hadn't done some digging, I never would have found Mount Doom Sam, the one action figure in the bunch whose allure I absolutely could not resist. Even before I activated the sound chip, I suspected that I would be taking Sam home with me, but when a touch of the button hidden in the rocky brown base yielded "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" my decision was made.

That sound clip is probably my favorite part of the figure. I only wish that Sam, like the larger LOST figures I have scattered around my room, played more than two clips. The other is the panicked "Throw it in the fire!" which is certainly fitting, but I would have loved the inclusion of the wistful "Do you remember the taste of strawberries?" That would have made this figure just about perfect. (Upon investigation, I see that Mount Doom Frodo is available online, and for about half what I paid for Sam; I'm mightily tempted to unite these bosom buddies, especially since Frodo's lone quote - "I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things" - is my favorite of his lines from the Mount Doom portion, and maybe the whole film.)

As the box announces, Sam boasts 29 points of articulation, including the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, middle, legs, knees and ankles. The only problem with all the articulation is that the presence of so many hinges makes the figure look a tad clunky in places, like the abdomen and the knees. His feet come equipped with holes that allow him to fit on pegs on the plastic base, but there's no need to keep him there, as long as you understand that getting him to stand up properly on his own two feet is tricky. Of course, like the LOST figures, his feet are a bit ornery about staying in place on the stand as well, though I eventually got them to cooperate.

Sam stands about four and a half inches tall, maybe a quarter of an inch shorter than MacFarlane's Charlie Pace, but Charlie is seated and hunched over. So Sam is considerably smaller than those figures, and consequently not quite as detailed, though the likeness is still quite acceptable. His feet are dirty and covered with hair, and his hands are grimy. On his face is a rather blank expression; I'd read it as determined, but it's rather nondescript. Sam's hair is a wavy brown, and he wears dark pants and suspenders and a lighter shirt and vest. All are so dingy that color is hard to determine, but varying degrees of brownish-green probably covers it. Attached to his shirt is the sheath for the dagger Sting, which is as good as a sword to a hobbit. Sting itself is included too, but you have to get it out of the packaging and stick it in the sheath yourself. If you choose, you can also equip Sam for battle by placing Sting in his hand.

I'm not one to leave action figures pristine in their packaging, but I would recommend hanging onto the cardboard portion of the box. On the front, behind the area where Sam is encased in plastic, is a nifty map of Middle-Earth. The back, meanwhile, includes a description of the circumstances in which this version of Sam finds himself. I can just hear the strains of Shore's majestic score rise up as I read the paragraph, which concludes, "His love for his friend is true, and the commitment to his promise to Gandalf will not be broken." The most pressing reason to keep the cardboard, though, is the instruction on how to install the three LR44 button cell batteries.

Mount Doom Sam is a hardy toy that I expect to have standing on my piano for years to come, with the occasional adventure to more exotic locales, like our neighbor's flooded front yard, where I took him yesterday. (I snapped a picture of him on his base surrounded by water, but I placed the base on an upside-down bowl to ensure the sound mechanism wasn't damaged.) When I was at Harrison's, I think I saw at least four different Frodos, so I suspect there may be as many Sams out there, though it's probably best if I don't look into the matter more closely. If I'm going to have one Sam, this is the one I would have wanted: Samwise the Brave. His proudest moment. I paid 14 dollars for him, and I saw him online for ten. A fair price, I'd say, for my favorite literary character at his finest.

The Proposal Shines a Light on Alaskan Wilderness and Family Togetherness

My friend Libbie and I have a mixed track record when it comes to Sandra Bullock movies. On the one hand, Miss Congeniality was one of the first movies we saw together in the theater, and we loved it. On the other, both of us agreed that 2007's Premonition was pretty dismal. Still, the good impressions outweighed the bad as we watched the trailer for The Proposal, and the premise looked cute, so we decided this was probably a cinema-worthy chick flick. I'm glad we followed through on those theater plans.

The Proposal stars Bullock as Margaret Tate, a no-nonsense book editor seemingly cut out of the same cloth as Meryl Streep's Devil Wears Prada tyrant, though she never quite achieves that level of cool collectedness. Still, she rules her office with an iron fist, and nobody has to put up with more grief than her personal assistant, the adorable Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). There's nothing he won't do in his sycophantic quest to achieve his dream job, and he's about to find out just how far Margaret will push that envelope. When she receives the shocking news that she is on the verge of deportation to Canada, she produces a fiance - Andrew. To satisfy the government, being engaged is not enough; they'll have to actually marry. First, though, they'll have to announce the news to his extended family, who are gathered in Andrew's Alaskan hometown for his grandmother's 90th birthday party.

My favorite Bullock movie is probably While You Were Sleeping, a wonderfully sweet romantic comedy about a woman whose longtime crush is in an accident that knocks him into a coma. She is the first on hand to help him, and by the time he's safely settled in the hospital, staff and family alike assume that she is his fiancee. After a few initial attempts to set the record straight, this lonely woman allows the family to embrace her. The details of the two movies are very different, but in some respects the basic plot is very similar: isolated woman falls in love with the family of a faux fiance. Because while film is about Margaret and Andrew falling for each other away from the stresses of work and the constraints of the boss-employee relationship, their romance blossoms largely because of the nurturing environment of the affectionate Paxton family. And all that fresh Alaska air doesn't hurt either. "How could anybody choose the city over that?" Dad asked me during a scene displaying a vast vista of verdant grass and snow-capped mountains. I don't know. (I do know, however, that I caught my dad not only admiring the landscape but laughing out loud several times, so guys, don't snub this one automatically!)

It's a surprise to us and Margaret alike when a ride through Andrew's hometown reveals that the Paxtons practically own the city. Their name is everywhere, and his parents live in a luxurious estate. His distant father Joe (Craig T. Nelson) has nothing but disdain for his son's chosen career path; he's the only child, so Joe was counting on him to keep up the family business. His mother Grace (Mary Steenburgen) is appropriately named, for she is happy to forgive Andrew for his long absences and only wants to keep the peace between the two most important men in her life. The always-delightful Betty White is the eccentric Paxton family matriarch, a position whose power she wields shrewdly. Grammy is no dummy, but unlike the bigoted neighbor White played in Bringing Down the House, she is genuinely sweet. The previews highlight her punchiest moments, giving the impression that there's more of a bite to her than there really is.

Aside from these three, there are four other significant supporting players. Denis O'Hare is Mr. Gilbertson, a smug immigration officer who distrusts the sincerity of Margaret and Andrew's connection. His is largely a comic role, though he is a central source of conflict as he tails Margaret with relentless Catch Me If You Can-style determination. There's also Gertrude (Malin Akerman), the childhood sweetheart who once turned down Andrew's proposal because, unlike him, she wanted to remain in Alaska, and Kevin, the adorable puppy who apparently has an innate dislike for Margaret. His slapsticky contributions to the movie are funny but seem to be there mainly for the sake of any kids who might be watching.

Finally, there's Ramon, a family friend and jack of all trades. Libbie and I are both fans of The Office, so we were excited to see Oscar Nunez, who portrays soft-spoken, level-headed accountant Oscar, in this film and amused by the many roles the zany character plays in the community. I do think, however, that a comedic bit involving him as a stripper is gratuitously raunchy and goes on much longer than it needs to. Though the movie is clearly geared towards adults and doesn't even have any characters in it who are children, this is one of the only scenes necessitating a PG-13 rating. Another involves Margaret and Andrew accidentally colliding while unclothed, but the circumstances are innocent and the shot is tastefully done. Scattered throughout the movie are a few suggestive comments, but there's surprisingly little profanity.

The Proposal is a tale about the importance of family and respect, and it happens to be set in an absolutely glorious location. Reynolds and Bullock have great chemistry despite the slight age gap; she's 12 years older, but that seems fitting, since she's so much higher up on the totem pole business-wise. He's lovable from the beginning, while it doesn't take long for her character to become sympathetic. Margaret has pushed Andrew around for three years, so it's fun to watch him yank her around a bit once their strange situation gives him the upper hand, but it's also touching to see him staunchly defend her when questions about her arise. Meanwhile, her big end-of-the-movie oration, while strikingly similar to her speech in While You Were Sleeping, shows how much she has matured in just one weekend.

If you like Bullock or Reynolds, you'll probably like it, and if you've also always wanted to visit Alaska, you'll probably love it. For a feel-good, mostly old-fashioned romantic comedy, I propose you check out The Proposal!