Hello Meadberry,

The restaurant is open! I started with the spinach dip, had a Caesar salad, a half rack of ribs, french fries, and some kind of chocolate dessert. I then sat back in my chair, nursed the rest of my Dogfish I.P.A. and smiled. Meadberry, the Chop House is the best thing that has happened to me since the Little Projectionist was born.

My son is really an amazing human. We played basketball today. If you call basketball running around the Linesville High School gym rolling, kicking, and throwing the ball. Every time I screamed “pass”, he grabbed the ball and ran in the opposite direction. The little man doesn’t like to give up the ball at critical moments of the game. I respect that.

This week we see into the future with 2012. I love when I read about the plot. Does anyone really care about plot? We want to see the cool special effects and the close calls. Seeing Los Angeles fall into the ocean isn’t bad either. I am telling you there may be something to the Lex Luther real estate plan in the first Superman movie.

Now your moment of zen:

“Everything west of this line is the richest, most expensive real estate in the world: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Everything on THIS side of the line is just hundreds and hundreds of miles of worthless desert land, which just so happens to be owned by…”
Lex Luther in Superman the Movie

Hello Meadberry,

I haven’t seen Twilight, so I don’t get this craziness. In four years in the theater business, I have never seen more tickets sold so quickly. My wife and I made a date to buy it on Blu-Ray and watch sometime this week. We watched Adventureland (also with Kristen Stewart) last week which we loved. The Pittsburgh setting and Conneaut Park atmosphere just really was awesome.

The Little Projectionist is on a quest to have 100% control over his world. I may start to call him Napoleon. He is our home’s version of a little dictator.

The holiday movie season begins this week with A Christmas Carol. Roger Zemeckis is a genius and the story is timeless. Don’t even think about it — you will absolutely see this film sometime before December 25th. The Men Who Stare At Goats stars George Clooney and Jeff Bridges. Jeffrey Lebowski and Danny Ocean in the same movie together – like a dream come true. The only thing missing is Lloyd Dobler. He’s coming next week in 2012.

The Rib and Chop House opens Monday November 9th. When are you going to eat there? I’ll be in line early and often!

Hello Meadberry,

I can’t stop singing Michael Jackson songs. It’s strange considering I am a balding, middle- aged man, but This Is It opens this week. At first, when I saw the title I thought to myself…really? you promise? However, now I think I am excited to see this movie. Kind of like how I felt to see Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight last summer. If you think about it, Michael and The Joker had some things in common.

The Little Projectionist is going to be Spiderman for Halloween. Since Halloween lasts over a week for kids these days, I got to see him in full costume today. He looks very strong, but I still think I could take him in a fight.

The Chop House is so close to opening I can taste it. By the way, if you like spinach dip, I highly recommend the Chop House version. I have tasted it, and it is delectable.

Hello Meadberry,

I couldn’t wait to write the newsletter this week. Last Saturday night, the girl and I went to see Where The Wild Things Are. We like to do the 5:00 movie and then go to dinner afterward. It really is the most brilliant movie-going strategy. Everybody does dinner and a movie. We prefer movie and then dinner. It doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily, but it is far superior. The other phrase is just a ploy for movie theaters to charge you a higher evening price. I am all about the truth, so please try the movie first.

Where The Wild Things Are is the best movie of the year. Yep, I said it! I said it about a film where the main characters are muppets. This movie will make you cry. Remember the first time you saw E.T? Same kind of thing. Some people are saying that this is not a kids movie so the girl and I debated if we could bring our 5-year old. I think I saw Old Yeller when I was 5? That certainly wasn’t cheery. Can someone e-mail me who took a child under 10? I would like to know what happened.

Yes, we are getting Paranormal Activity in Meadville. No, we did not wait. We had this movie tagged a month ago, but Paramount and their brilliant marketing department was “building buzz”. All buzz does is make people think we don’t know what we are doing. This is a horror movie that I might actually see. No blood, just neat Hitchcock tricks to scare the pants off you. However, if you like gruesome violence we also are opening Saw number twenty something. You know who you people are….and I am not sure I approve. Lastly, a movie that I know is for kids, Astro Boy opens.

Do you smell the ribs and steak yet? The Chop House opens on November 9th. Good times.

Hello Meadberry,

In exactly four weeks The Montana Rib and Chop House will open its doors. “Dinner and a movie” will take on a whole new meaning now in Crawford County. And I find out tomorrow if we will have the new sign ready to go too!

I love the Christmas season and this year is starting to feel extra special. To the few of you who are acting like Bill Murray in Scrooged….bah humbug to you!

So I survived this past weekend by myself with the Little Projectionist and his sister. I drove up to the water park in Erie and had a blast. It is amazing how happy a kid can be if you feed them McDonald’s and take them on water slides. As for me, the McDonald’s made me feel as bad as I look in a bathing suit.

I am very excited about Where the Wild Things Are. Have you seen the preview? While this may be a “kids” movie, I think I would see it without my kids. Kind of reminds me of The Princess Bride without the humor. If you think about it Andre The Giant was kind of like a wild thing. Right? The director is the same guy that did Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. Two of the most original films I have ever seen. My guess is that this will be an instant classic.

Now, your moment of zen:

Hello Meadberry,

I got together with my college roommates last weekend. There is nothing funnier than 12 almost 40 guys trying to behave like they are 20. My doctor friend brought a pirated DVD of The Hangover. It amazes me that educated people, like a physician, don’t realize that buying pirated movies is stealing. I am still trying to gather if by watching the movie, I was party to the crime?

In return for my weekend, the girl I call sweetie is leaving me this weekend to go on a trip with her friends. My guess is the conversations will not be as funny. I will be spending some good time with the little projectionist and his sister. I figure as long as I give them everything they want, the entire weekend will be a breeze. If my wife is reading this, that was a joke.

One new movie this weekend called Couples Retreat. Vince Vaughn is very funny and people enjoy laughing. My guess is that people will put these things together and see this film. My second guess is that this film will be up for zero academy awards.

Now your momet of zen:

“Gambling? Who said anything about gambling? It’s not gambling when you know you’re gonna win. Counting cards is a foolproof system.”
The funny guy with a beard in The Hangover

Hello Meadberry,

There was an article in the Tribune last week about the Chop House. It is always so great to see the comments about the articles on the Tribune website. From the tone of things, you would think we were building a garbage dump right in the middle of the parking lot. I am sorry that we are not in the manufacturing business. If I knew how to make tools and felt there was a market, my guess is I would build a tool shop. My problem is I have never liked manufacturing since the opening scene in Joe vs. The Volcano. Yes, I just referenced Joe vs. The Volcano. Now, that is something to get upset about.

The Little Projectionist has reached def-con 5 in driving his parents crazy. He now refuses to eat anything except candy and chocolate milk. I try to say no, but he just wears me down. I am thinking of sending him to Iran as my guess is he could have that country de-nuked in a few short days.

I would tell you what is opening this weekend but, this week, I just want you to trust me. Just show up on Saturday and I promise you will see something good. Really, I mean it. No thinking. Just show up. I dare you.

Now your moment of zen:

Hello Meadberry,

The Little Projectionist’s sister started kindergarten this week. We have spent the last five years keeping her away from strangers and strapping her down in every car we have ever been in together. All of the sudden, a bus comes and we hand her right over to a stranger. At least the bus driver was not like Chris Farley in Billy Madison. She then proceeds to sit down with no seat belt at all. Life is strange.

Steelers begin their defense of the championship tonight. I drafted the Steelers D for my fantasy team. I feel good about it. The Black and Gold Club is back and this year there has been an upgrade in equipment. We now have the game on our fancy digital projector in Hi-Def. It is like sitting in front of a Jumbo-Tron. It lets you watch the game like you are in a stadium…only better. $10 gets you all-you-can-eat popcorn, soda, and a hot dog at the half.

Movies this week are Tyler Perry and some horror flicks. Tyler Perry movies are very good. Still, I am more excited about next week.

Now your moment of zen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dncx6O5J4U

Hello Meadberry,

This is the only week of the year I don’t really care about movies. Football season begins and the weather is perfect. I know this is a poor excuse for not wanting to write a long newsletter this week. You can just consider this the “Twitter” version – just a bit longer as I think Twitter is stupid.

The Little Projectionist is getting toilet trained. I wish I could get as excited about anything as that kid gets when he makes a “poopy on the potty”.

The only movie I will see that is coming out this weekend is Extract. Directed by Mike Judge of Office Space fame, it probably is worth your Saturday night if you don’t like college football. Also, Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper star in All About Steve. Could be cute if you like silly romantic comedies. I do sometimes, but not this weekend.

Now your moment of zen:

Hello Meadberry,

I promised the family I would not work while I’m on vacation. I don’t really consider this little note to you work, so I guess I’m ok. Just to be sure the wife doesn’t disagree, I smuggled my computer to the local coffee shop to write you.

In tribute to John Hughes, I brought Ferris Bueller and Sixteen Candles to the beach. The best part is that they are on VCR. This is one of those beach places that has not updated the technology in fifteen years and luckily, I still have my movie collection from the 1980’s. John Hughes really defined movies for my generation. He will be remembered fondly.

The Little Projectionist says “hi”. He built three sandcastles today.

This week we get a nice family movie called Shorts. If it rains here we are going to take the kids. More interesting is Inglourious Basterds with Brad Pitt. This is a Quentin Tarantino movie in all its repulsive glory. My guess is that there will be a lot of foul language, blood, and violence. Plan accordingly.

Now your moment of zen:

“I do have a test today. It’s on European socialism. I mean, really, what’s the point? I’m not European. I don’t plan on being European. So who gives a crap if they’re socialists? They could be fascist anarchists, it still doesn’t change the fact that I don’t own a car.”
- Matthew Broderick in John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off