Amy's Blog

I frequently recommend movies that are little known or out of the mainstream.  Below are some favorites, placed in order as if I were forced to do so, but they really don't have an order.  Movies are such a "mood-thing."    I've included links to trailers (if available) or scenes so you can get an idea if a movie is up your alley.  

If you're looking for the movies that I would consider the greatest of all-time, this is not that list.  Just highly enjoyable, for one reason or another. 

10. The Flamingo Kid (1984).  Matt Dillon, Hector Elizondo, Richard Crenna.  Coming of age comedy.  Loved for the nostalgic feel, and the father-son relationship at it's core.

9.  Freeway (1996) Reese Witherspoon, Keiffer Sutherland.  Reese as America's anti-sweetheart.  Loved for the clever play on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, and the just deserts.

8.  Seems Like Old Times (1980) Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, Charles Grodin.  What can I say?  I'm a sucker for Charles Grodin.

7.  The Machinist (2004) Christian Bale.  Disturbing. Fascinating. Can't believe it's Christian Bale. After watching, I felt as exhausted as he was in the end.

6.  The Heiress (1949) Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift.  Loved for the strength of the main character, but even more so for the charisma of Clift.

5.  Indian Summer (1993) Alan Arkin, Diane Lane, Kevin Pollack.  This movie fell short of it's great potential, but I still love it because it takes me back to my own summer camp experiences.  Alan Arkin is flawless, as usual. 

4.  Little Darlings (1980) Kristy McNichol, Tatum O'Neal.  Don't let the name fool you. 

3.  The Man in the Moon (1991) Reese Witherspoon, Sam Waterston. A early-teen Witherspoon showing signs of future stardom.  Loved for the relationship with her parents, and the bond of sisterhood.

2.  Before Sunrise (1995) Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy--which must be followed by Before Sunset (2004).  The ultimate romance, with none of the "chick-flick" cliches. Takes my breath away.

1.  Dogfight (1991) River Phoenix, Lili Taylor.  Heartbreaking.  On multiple levels. 

Stay tuned next week for my all-time favorite "campy" movies.

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Although I still choose to blame weight gain on child birth (almost 4 years later), I realize it has way more to do with the constant barrage of goodies readily available in the marketing department.  There are some things I will not deny when confronted directly.  Must. Resist.

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I had a lot of fun taking photos at the pilgrimage this year, mainly because I got to try out several different lenses from the Keith-collection.  This one looked as though it would crush my little camera body, and was just too silly not to take a picture of.

I'm very anxious to purchase a new lens, but like most newbie photographers, have no idea which one to get.  There truly is such a thing as "too much information," courtesy of the internet, and one faulty purchase is not something I have the luxury of making at those price points.  So I will remain in stock-lens purgatory, until that all-wise, all-knowing zen-like expert appears to me with a light shining all around them and a choir singing in the background saying, "Here Amy, this is exactly the lens you need."  And then gives it to me for free. (And then she wakes up.)

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Meet our Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) Mill.   By inputing predefined tool paths, this scary looking device can cut materials into a 3-D shape with very limited human involvement.

But I'll be honest.  I took this picture soley for the neat looking stool.

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It's my third consecutive Monday off, and I promise, I will back away from the computer and go do something fun. But first I wanted to tell you about the Fishers Freedom Festival.  

For the past 20 years, this annual event has been held to celebrate Independence.  Face-painted kids throw water balloons at each other, local bands play under tents, Mom & Pop vendors scatter about selling their crafts, dogs compete in frisbee catching competitions, and a parade marches by with talents ranging from the local Taekwondo class to the High School Dance Club.  The weekend is topped off with Sunday fireworks, which, although nothing spectacular, are quite entertaining.  

The year I was born, the number of Fisher's residents barely surpassed 600.  Growing up, I knew it as the neighboring area of corn fields with a four-way stop sign and a McDonald's off the interstate.  20 years ago, the year the festival was founded, I graduated high school.  At that time, this entire town would not have filled up my high school of 2500 students. 

The population of Fishers is now approaching 70,000.  If you happened though here 20 years ago and returned today, it would be unrecognizable.  But the one constant is the festival-- the annual reminder that despite tremendous growth, there is still a bit of small town in all of us.

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One of the highlights of this year's Pilgrimage was the unexpected arrival of eight or so crate-sized boxes of vintage vinyl from Artto, a most generous forum member (thank you jamesV for delivery).  We had a blast going through the albums, pointing to ones we may have had in our younger days, or just giggling at the goofy cover art and long forgotten artists.

This could not have come at a better time for me, since my recent turntable acquisition had left me on a quest for vinyl.  Poke fun if you must, but I took home no less than five Olivia Newton-John albums, several in the Show Tune genre, a couple of '80s movie soundtracks, and the creme de la creme of campy cult classics:  Grease 2.  Yes, I admit back in the day I wanted nothing more than to be Michelle Pfeiffer, looking for a cool rider. But give me a break. I was 12.

Keith is shown here with possibly the most fascinating of the bunch, as far as artwork goes.  If you ever happen upon this classic Elton John album, I encourage you to take some time to study the...interesting...things happening on the cover.  Safe to say Dr. Freud would find it endlessly fascinating. 

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I'm not sure where the term "terrible twos'" came from.  Steven was an absolute angel right up until about mid-way into his threes.  Now that he's two months away from his fours, we are in a full-blown attitude meltdown.  Who is this kid?  I haven't received any concerning reports from daycare, or even grandma, so it appears he's found my buttons and mine alone.  And he pushes them often.  With glee.  He's discovered the power of saying the word "no," the adrenaline high of standing on chairs in restaurants, the pure joy of throwing (anything), and the freedom that is derived from pretending to be deaf.

Imagine my surprise, and envy, to spend time with four-year-old Mia, the adorable daughter of forum member Travis (travis-g) and Melody, who made the trek from Kentucky to join us at this year's Pilgrimage.  Mia was not only perfectly behaved, but perfectly behaved around 70 or so complete adult strangers with not another child in sight, discussing not Disney Princesses, nor Polly Pockets, nor Dora the Explorer, but AUDIO!  Compelling stuff for a preschooler, let me tell you.  Kudos to you, mom and dad.

Steven would've been crawling under tables trying to pull down linens after about 10 minutes. 

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For the past four years, part of my job duties has been helping to plan the what-has-become-annual Klipsch Pilgrimage for our forum members.  This year, however, was the first time I had a chance to spend the entire day with the Pilgrims. 

Now some of you may ask yourselves, "Why would a Klipsch employee voluntarily give up their Saturday to spend 13 hours talking about Klipsch products and fielding a endless stream of geeked-out audio questions?"  Well, I'll tell you: 

Because it's fun. 

When people find out I work at Klipsch, it elicits one of three responses:

1. Ooo, your speakers ROCK!!
2. I think my dad/grandpa/brother/uncle/husband has some of those.
3. Huh??

The pilgrims fall into the first category (except some of the wives/girlfriends/children who bravely tag along fall into category 2...but typically are converted to 1s by the end of the weekend).  Their enthusiasm for what we do is contagious, and the fact they travel from all over the country -- and some from out of the country -- to see us speaks volumes about their passion for our products.  It truly is the utmost form of flattery from a professional standpoint.

But the best part of the event is the camaraderie, and the easy way these kind folks laugh and make you instantly feel like you're a part of a family.  So my thanks goes out to you guys, for making the Pilgrimage a success year after year, for adding new converts to the fold, and for putting up with us through thunderstorms, lost name badges, and non-functioning microphones.  You ROCK!

Photo courtesy of Seadog and Colterphoto1

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Before I talk about Saturday's Pilgrimage, I want to take a moment for the Georges...   Not only did we lose one controversial funny-man over the weekend, but last Friday also marked the last day at Klipsch for another, as he embarks to pursue an exciting career opportunity.  As my cube-neighbor and long time friend, George (photo center) will be missed profoundly.  His creative talents will be hard to replace, but even more difficult will be replacing his humor.   I think the resume for his replacement should include: Propensity to contort face weirdly.

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I have another Monday off, so it seems appropriate that I share a picture from home.  If you'd like to see a gaggle of pics from the weekend's Klipsch event, you can find them here (with more to come).  I will blog-feature some of the more interesting ones, with perhaps a story or two, later in the week.

This was taken Friday when Steven got it into his mind to "help" me with the dishes.  If helping is defined as playing in the water for 15 minutes with one bowl, then he's got it down pat.

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This weekend is the annual Klipsch Pilgrimage.  I won't ramble on about what this event is all about because you can read the excellent summary article in our newscenter, but I will say the weekend is a great opportunity to not only learn about this company, but also to meet some very interesting folks who can easily be counted on as life-long friends.

Hanging in the engineering lab is this huge map, with push-pins indicating the home towns of our Pilgrims.  We are looking forward to seeing you all.

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This whimsical umbrella is tucked away next to our receiving dock down in the engineering center.  It makes me smile because I assume it would be used by Charlie, our facilities coordinator, who is widely regarded to be the grumpiest man in the building.  Self-proclaimed.  I think this umbrella proves otherwise, and his carefully-crafted image has been shattered.

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A few weeks ago, I showed you the wrath of mother nature in the form of a downed tree.  The tree is now gone and will be put to good use next winter as quality firewood, but left behind is this lovely wrought iron sculpture.  I think we should auction it off at this year's Pilgrimage.

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This monstrous insect is clinging to our over-hang ceiling outside.  I'd guess it at about 4 inches long with a 6 inch wing span.  It's been there for hours. 

What do you suppose they do all that time, think about where to take their next vacation?  Worry about the kids?  Plot revenge against grasshoppers?  Maybe he's just enjoying the music from our CA-800Ts.

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Well, it's that time of year again.  June at Klipsch is "you-better-use-your-remaining-vacation-days-or-you-will-lose-them" month...being the thrifty person I am, I'll be taking the next few Mondays off.  I consider it a reward for never actually going anywhere.

As I sit at home updating my recently recovered computer, I've found myself browsing through some old photos.  This one of a 6-month-old Steven was scanned from a print photo taken with a camera that you load film into.  You know.  The cylinder thing with the tab sticking out from it that you pull.  Then when you can't click the camera anymore, you take it somewhere to get developed.  And you won't know what your pictures look like until you get them back.  You know.  F-I-L-M.

Looking at this picture makes me almost want to do the whole baby-thing all over again.  But then I recall the sleepless nights, constant spit up, arc of pee at every diaper change, sore back, sore feet, swollen joints...oh, and that pesky labor thing, and the appeal of this sweet picture just isn't enough. 

My utmost respect goes out to all women who brave it more than once.  And the men who endure them.