Hey!

This one is going to be hard to put into words. How do you properly talk about something you are completely obsessed with in a concise manner that doesn't make you look like a raging lunatic?

Duck Dynasty.

I'm actually shocked I haven't talked about this fantastic piece of television greatness yet.
There are movies you can watch over and over again. They're timeless and classic and all of those wonderful descriptive words we associate awesome cinematic gems with. But never with a TV show.

I actually never understood why people bought full DVD collections of tv shows, are you really going to watch every episode, or even single episodes over and over again to the point in which you would actually need your own personal copies? I never believed it was possible. Until the day my life changed forever.

I don't hunt. Never eaten deer or duck meat. I'd make a gag face if you told me squirrels, frogs and crawfish, affectionately nicknamed "mud bugs", were delicious.

But then Duck Dynasty comes along and my world has been expanded.

You can't even see John Luke in the back corner-brilliant!

This is the only show ever to be put on television with the exception of Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers and Keeping Up Appearances (yes, all British but none in the reality genre) that I can watch, over and over and over again and still be thoroughly entertained. Sure, I was obsessed with certain shows, but would I ever have a desire to watch them all over again on more than one occasion? Nope, not really.

Duck Dynasty. I wish I could really and truly explain it. It just makes me Happy, Happy, Happy. I always tell people who haven't seen an episode that I worry I might be overselling the show, but I genuinely don't believe it's possible to oversell something this spectacular. My mother is a Vegetarian, you could even say hippie, who has real issues with people spending a lot of money on outlandish "toys" and even she enjoys watching the show with me and the rest of our family.

I may not feel the same way they do about certain things, but I appreciate their general philosophy on life, love, education and the pursuit of happiness.

That was Phil, the patriarch and creator of the Duck Call. He started the business over 40 years ago and his sons took over the company, Duck Commander/Buck Commander and made it the Worldwide success that it is. He used to be a teacher and also played football for Louisiana Tech alongside Terry Bradshaw. This is a small compilation of his views on life but the show is way more than that. 

There's one clip in which he compares his plump wife to the marble statues and nude portraits of the Renaissance Era that I wish I could find. It is truly a wonderful clip that says a lot about his love for his wife. It also sums up exactly how I felt, being a big girl, sitting in Art History class and looking at all of these models that I share a similar body type with. Just makes a girl feel good.

The show follows the entire family, including three of Phil's four sons, their families, his wife Miss Kay, his brother Si and some of the companies employees. I could give you a history on all of them but that would be a little much. 

Si has come out as one of the shows biggest and most popular stars. He's over 70 years old and as the saying goes, says the darndest things:

My personal favorite is Jase. He designs the duck calls and runs the shop where they get assembled. Willie is the CEO and tries to keep everyone in line while taking care of promoting everything they do-the man loves making money and how American is that?

There's much more I could say, but you really need to see the show for yourself. I have yet to meet anyone who has watched an episode and not laughed or better yet, become immediately hooked. So if you haven't checked it out yet, go on YouTube and A&E.com for clips and episodes. A&E replays the show constantly too so you'll be able to DVR most of the last two seasons. 

As I said, I neither hunt nor fish, nor do I eat duck or deer. But I do own two of their Duck Calls and a Duck Commander sweatshirt. It's pretty great. 

And Happy Days have come our way....This was my 100th post!!!

Thanks for reading these guys! And if you haven't subscribed yet, please do so and you'll have direct access to my next 100 posts!

My Date with Anderson

Last week I was fortunate enough to get to go to a taping of the Anderson Live show!

I had wanted to go since the show first aired last year but couldn't fit it into my schedule until recently. Then when I was doing my research on the tickets I learned that the show was actually ending this summer! Now I was determined to get my hands on some tickets! 

Thankfully I was able to get tickets to one of the tapings at the end of March and took my dear friend Hannah with me to NYC. 

We were instructed to arrive at the studio at 10:30am and that filming would begin at 12:30pm. We also found out that the guests that day would include Stephanie Meyer and the cast from her recent film The Host!

Stephanie is on the far right and the blonde on the left wasn't at the show.

Oh thank goodness! Some people Hannah knows! I was so worried we'd be at a taping with someone she could care less about like Mike Tyson or Richard Simmons. (I don't think Anderson would have Tyson but Simmons is a definite possibility)

The co-host for the day was Kathy Griffin and while I don't think Hannah really cared about her, she was at least entertained enough to make the experience worth while. 

I've wanted to go to the Anderson Live show for awhile because it seems like he has a great connection with his audience, sometimes going right into the stands to meet and greet with those there to see him. He even has this photo booth set up on the side of his sound stage for him and his guests and he'll occasionally take pictures with audience members too.  

While that didn't happen for our taping (the schedule was extremely tight), I was fortunate enough to get to meet Anderson's executive producer Terence Noonan. 

Now, if you're not someone who watches the show regularly, you won't consider this a big deal. But Terence is a huge part of the show, often times being seen bantering back and forth with Anderson about silly things. I just love Terence! 

When I tried to get my picture with him, my cell phone had died. I asked Hannah if she could take a picture of us with her phone and before she could even get the thing in her hand, Terence said "Oh your battery dead? That's okay, just use my phone and I'll send you the pic"

Excuse me, what?!? This guy who's super powerful and on TV is actually okay with sending his fans something with his personal cell number attached?!? Holy crap! 

So we take the picture, he sends it to me and we leave. I was so blown away! As we were leaving I quickly texted him saying "thank you!" and confessing my love for him (I found out later I spelled his name wrong-so embarrassing ) then saved the picture and deleted his text and with it his phone number. We left and I thought nothing more of it. 

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, stopping at the Central Park Zoo randomly, picking up boxes of Sprinkles cupcakes and then making out way to Grand Central for the train ride home. 

As we're getting on the train, my phone buzzes. It's a text from Terence saying "Great seeing you at the show"!!!! What a flippin' sweetheart! I mean honestly, how many times do you hear about a "celebrity" doing something so simple and thoughtful for a fan? I mean this man sees over 200 different faces each day in that studio yet he still thinks nothing of taking a moment to send a text back to one of them. It really left me feeling like the luckiest person in the whole world. 

I can't wait to see the show again and hopefully get another picture with Terence and maybe even this time, Anderson! I'll make sure my cell phone is completely charged though! Don't want to get a reputation as "that fan that never has a working camera phone"!

Here's a shot of me in the audience! I made the TV mom!

Sorry, it's a bad picture taken of my tv but you can clearly see me (I look tired) in the bottom left hand corner!

If you've never seen the show before, definitely check it out! It airs Monday through Friday at noon (check your local listings). The man has two other shows on CNN as well so I can't be mad at him for cancelling his daytime show-when does he sleep?!

Relatives

Mine are amazing.

My cousin is never on Facebook. She's hates it actually, refused to join. Her friends made a page for her and she still hadn't touched it for years.

Today she posted the following:

Don't go on FB much, but today I'm on a soapbox! Don't get me MAD!


Our United States Constitution says that everyone is created equal. Jesus hung out with prostitutes and lepers and ALWAYS treated them with the utmost respect - read your Bible - he washed their feet. Would you? Our new Pope Francis HAS. Mary let her Son "consort" with them - "those people". 

If married Catholics can have a divorce rate of 54% (and only have an 18% annulment rate - go to the Catholic register), what is the problem? Mike and I have been together for 30 years. We've been married for 24. I see couples break up their marriages before that, while "those other couples" surpass that. Seriously? My religious beliefs shouldn't be above what Jesus dictated in the New Testament - read it. It's not about any of my narrow beliefs - it's about Jesus' big picture of "can't we all just get along?" Our Bible says we're all made in God's image. So YOU'RE saying GOD was wrong? You really think you're that almighty????

To all of my gay friends in happy relationships - welcome to our fresh relationship hell! (Y'all know what I mean!) We all know the Bible says marriage is for procreation - that's always the big talking point they use to prove that being gay is wrong; But, if you are married and decided not to have children or can't, then you are wrong in the eyes of the Church, right? You shouldn't be married if you can't have a child, right? Again, seriously? If you use artificial insemination are your children then an abomination?  Really? NO! Each life is a blessing. And every child that has a parent to love them is truly blessed. That is what I have learned from reading my Bible. 

I will now get off my liberal Jesus (just read about Him, He was the FIRST Liberal) soap box and deal with all of my "friends" who will quote me inane passages telling me how wrong I am. How I need to reevaluate... Haters will always be around to "help" us. Just ask the slaves.... oh wait... that Liberal Abe Lincoln stopped that. Huh... 


This is who I'm related to. These are the type of people who made me who I am. I have never been more proud. Go Kris, go-you are the best!

Sidenote: I spell-checked this for you, love you baby!

Give a little bit

We all know about the tragedy in Sandy Hook, CT, about 20 minutes from where I live; and the damage the events of that day did to the community of that small town. We've heard about the various charities and groups formed to assist those who lost loved ones, and organizations set up to handle the memorial and restructuring or rebuilding of the school. But what most people don't know, is that in addition to those families, there were other victims that day, the surviving students who witnessed first hand, the attack on their  classmates and members of staff.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I never thought about the bystanders, the "casualties" if you will. Maybe it's due to the fact that the media focuses solely on the victims, meaning those who had either been killed or wounded and their families; but again, there are other victims in all tragedies like this.

I won't single out any of these children or their families as they've asked to be kept out of the spotlight, but thankfully The Sandy Hook Healing Fund was created to assist these folks in anyway they need. Providing child advocates, connecting families with therapists should they need any one on one care, and even helping with the small, day to day tasks like providing groceries or arranging activities for the kids. Again, I won't go into specifics, but these families could really use our support.

The group has already received some donations, but they just went public and could use some extra help. 

If you would like to donate, or are interested in picking up one of the charity's wristbands, please check them out on Facebook or visit their page on the EverRibbon website. 

(just click the links to be connected directly to their pages)

Don't Call it a Crush

It's love. Pure, absolute, gushy love!

Ya'll know about "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore; at least, you should know about it. Well, I'm obsessed with this silly song and recently Joe sent me a text that read "Go on YouTube and check out "Same Love" by Macklemore, have your tissues ready", the dude gets me, what can I say.

Sure enough, I'm curled up with my iPad a few minutes later and crying my eyes out.

Later on in the week Joe played the rest of the album for me and I just cannot help myself, the man is a God to me now. He's handsome, can rap-and raps about stuff that MATTERS, believes in the same stuff I believe in, and has a sense of humor. How can I not be in love?

Here's "Thrift Shop" for those of you living under a rock:

So fun!

Here's the song Joe told me about that lead me to fall head over heels, "Same Love":

"I might not be the same, but that's not important. No freedom til we're equal, damn right I support it"

I wish more rappers would put this kind of stuff on wax. Yes, there are plenty of important issues that rappers wave the banner for, but those songs usually get overshadowed by the hits about bitches, hoes and rims. I wish songs like "Same Love" could get the same kind of radio play that songs like "Back That Ass Up" gets. Just sayin'.

I like that he collaborates with different people and again, while he raps about important issues, also takes the time to have a little fun. 

Here's a song I found while creepin' Macklemore's YouTube videos. It's not his, but it's funny, smart and obviously supported by my man Ben (that's Macklemore's name ya'll). "Pot Shop":

Now, I'm not saying he's the greatest rapper of all time or anything like that, but he makes me smile. I hope he blows up in a big way so he can get his positive messages out there. I know Lady Gaga is all about equality, but I personally feel like the more support certain issues receive from a diverse group of people, the easier it is to spread that message to every corner of the Earth. 

Check out his album, The Heist, he has some other really nice songs about childhood memories, and also some silly "typical" rap songs like one where he talks about everything being gold or the one about his castle.  

Oh my goodness, how I like him!

And he's my age! Ben, call me!! <3

No shoes or nothing'

It really is insane how happy this makes me. Just can't stop!

PS-Going to the Die Hard Marathon tomorrow! Five movies!! #BruceWillisAllDay!

It's Only Paper....

This past year has brought a lot of stress but also a truck load of awesome. I've traveled, spent more time with friends, spent more time doing stuff I'm interested in and slowly started getting my financials on track.

Part of this new found awesome has been hitting up the movies as often as possible. I'm going to be starting a new blog in which to focus solely on movie reviews and once that baby is up and running I'll post the link here so ya'll can check that out. I currently write movie reviews for the newsletter at work but it only gets published once every four months, as you might recall me mentioning a few posts back. So I thought it might be nice to have little more room to write up these reviews and the blog will make it much easier to post on a more regular, "real time" basis so people might actually be able to look to my reviews before heading out to the box office. I average about two movies per week so you can also look forward to some actual-consistent postings on that blog (cough, sorry this one sucks, cough).

But this past year has also made it possible for me to "dream big" or at least "have more realistic hopes". I can now afford to pay bills, save a little cash and occasionally treat myself to some material goodies. Nothing crazy, a few $20 items here and there, but enough to make me feel a little less like a pauper and more like a princess. While this is completely shallow, I know, I also think it's important to treat yourself every once in awhile because frankly, there's nothing wrong wit looking yourself in the mirror and saying "Hey you, nice job kicking life in the ass, here's a little something to acknowledge how well you're doing".

Back at Christmas time, I posted a picture of a gift I received and mentioned that it was something I had wanted for quite some time. A friend commented and asked why I simply didn't buy it for myself at this point. Here's the deal, I'm poor and live paycheck to paycheck. From 2006, after I graduated college to the present, I was laid off twice and for a number of years could only get part time work. The bills kept coming and I could do nothing to get myself out of the mountain of debt that had amassed. I understand a lot of people don't have the same problems, but I was so annoyed by my friends post. Buy it for myself? I'm sorry, I don't have the luxury of dropping nearly $100 bucks on myself "just because".

But thankfully, my new job has made it a little easier to breathe. So I'm managing my budget, working on getting my life back on track and can now "dream" a little bigger. So, since this blog is called "Lizz Likes It", here's the list of "gifts" I'd like to give myself sometime in the near future. Every year for Christmas people ask me what I want and I always say "Oh don't worry about me" or "Oh you know I like anything" well darnit not true, here people, here's what Lizz actually, seriously wants.

I've joined the "Pandora" band wagon in a major way and found this little beauty for 40 bucks. Yeah, what nerdy girl wouldn't want this one their bracelet?

Tickets to the Newsies on Broadway. It's my favorite musical of all time (not a fan of musicals at all really) and when I heard they were finally turning the movie into a real live production, I seriously cried buckets of fanfilled tears. 

A super kick ass laptop. As I don't know which laptop I'll eventually be getting, I simply typed in "Super Kick Ass Laptop" in Google and came across this sweet baby. All I really require in my personal robot is that it allows me to play Minecraft and can hold all of my pictures (girlfriend has a lot) and can finally get me every song I've ever desired. Ever. 

More Diamond Candles. Yes. I'm still obsessed and they have too many damned scents that I just MUST discover!

Fossil handbags. This Christmas I discovered the amazingness that is Fossil accessories (they make way more then watches people) and for the first time, I find myself drooling over handbags that cost a stupid amount of money. I'm not going to go nuts though, Ebay will still be my go-to for these babies, girlfriend may like to shop but she doesn't like to spend unnecessary amounts of money.

Toms. I don't care that they're "trendy" or "hipster" fashion or whatever. They are super cute and work for an incredible cause. So call me a yuppie, but also make a point to compliment my super cute shoes.

A boat-load of XBox games. Seriously, I'd play and possibly get better if these babies weren't stupidly expensive. I mean I'm seriously interested in playing but just cannot justify the cost!

Here's another item I've wanted for years and am still pining away for. Tiffany & Co.'s Silver Interlocking Ring. It's $200 bucks and there's certainly no way I'm spending that on myself. Also checking EBay every so often for this one.

A new car. Yes, it's a Chrysler 300 and yes, I have been told time and time again from my lovely mechanic Mike, that I must not buy American. But dammit I freakin' love this baby and he comes in 4WD! I wanna be the female Jay-Z of New England!

Big Pimpin' baby!