"Singin'" in the Guidebook

A few months ago, I had to call Comcast (our cable and Internet provider) with a question about some new charges appearing on our monthly bill. I’m usually rather tough when dealing with sales people who try to sell me more than I need . . . remember me? “I like what I like”? So, I found myself discussing our bill with a very polite man, who (surprisingly) took care of all my concerns and adjusted our account accordingly. As we were completing our phone call, he presented me with a GREAT offer . . . to receive their monthly magazine and guidebook in mail for a low fee of $3.00 a month.

Hmmm . . . do I really need this monthly guide? Of course not. I mean, we have a guide that appears right on the television to tell me what is on at any given moment. I don’t need a magazine to tell me. So, I turned him down. Then he offered me 6 months for free . . . and the subscription will continue after that at the low $3.00 a month rate.

You know those old Tom & Jerry cartoons? When Spike, the dog, is chasing Tom, the cat, and Tom climbs up to the top of a tree and watches Spike as he continues to run around and around chasing nothing. Then Spike finally stops and looks up and turns into a sucker? Yep . . . that’s me . . . I’m a . . .

So, we now receive this handy dandy little Comcast experience in the mail every month. And each month, I look through it page by page, front to back, because I have every intention of getting every single penny out of it (wait . . . didn’t I say it was free for 6 months? Oh, I digress). What is funny, though, is that the moment it first arrived, I found myself slipping into an old habit of mine I had long forgotten.

And here is where our story takes us next . . .

This goes back, way back, to when I was a young child of probably seven or eight years old.

Have I ever told you of my love for “Singin’ in the Rain”? Oh, my friends, I love that movie. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Conner . . . the most talented individuals who ever walked (danced) on this earth. I don’t remember the very first time I saw it, but I do remember my eyes being glued to the television as Gene Kelly danced right to the center of Debbie Reynolds heart. I can close my eyes and pick up any point of the movie in my mind. And when I start to hear any music from the movie, I know exactly what dance move was being done at that very moment, and can pat my thighs to the exact tap of their dancing feet. “Moses Supposes”, “Good Morning”, “All I do is Dream of You” and “Make ‘em Laugh” . . . ah . . . brilliant.

When I was a child, I remember anxiously awaited for the Sunday newspaper to arrive at our home . . . for the TV Guide. Quickly I would thumb my way to the back of the guide, where the alphabetical listing of all movies being aired that week would appear. My heart would beat faster and faster as I my fingers found the “S’s” and line by line my little fingers would read each title as I looking for Singin' In the Rain. Some weeks . . . nothing. Yet for some reason, I remember finding it there more often than you might think (as our local WGN channel would broadcast a great line-up of old classic movies for their Sunday matinees). On those days, the small 19” black and white kitchen television was mine. Well . . . mine, and Gene Kelly’s. And even though I had to sometimes hold the wire hanger (which connected to the broken off antenna) just right, it was worth every arm cramp I may have suffered just to watch Gene Kelly sing and dance.

A couple of weeks ago, our June Comcast guidebook came in the mail. Before I even thought about what I was doing . . . I found myself flipping to the back of the book, looking under the “S’s” for Singin’ in the Rain. And just as I thought . . . it isn't airing this month. However, there is always the chance that next month, some channel will show it. And while I now own the DVD and can easily pop it in the player at any second of the day, there is still something so fantastic about turning the channel on the T.V. and finding a movie you just love right there, the way it used to so many years ago. I could watch it over and over. (Oh, and Moonstruck, When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, Little Women,  Staying Alive (yes, I said Staying Alive), Steel Magnolias, Beaches, The Way We Were, (there is a pattern of some really tear jerker movies there, huh?) and don't even get me started on Christmas Movies . . . the list would never end.

So . . . what about you? What movie would you look up in your guidebook? Leave me a comment . . . I'd love to know.