Winning Words 12/1/09
“Twilight again. Another ending. No matter how perfect the day is, it always has to end.” (Stephanie Meyer) The movie, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” sold $150 M in tickets the first week. It is the 4th in a series of vampire based romance stories. For me, I like Twilight Time, the song by The Platters. I also like that part of the day that is called, twilight. It reminds me of when we used to play, Kick the Can! ;-) Jack

MORE FROM JACK: I forgot to add that my all-time favorite TV series is The Twilight Zone, and my favorite episode from the series is, "Kick the Can." You might be able to Google it.

FROM MF IN MICHIGAN: Never cared much for vampire movies, always had a blast playing kick the can.
I always liked when the Tigers played twighlight double headers, one ticket got you both games. FROM JACK: Now, they manage to separate doubleheaders by enough time that you have to buy two tickets. I remember the famour Erni Banks quote: "It's a beautiful day. Let's play two." How many of today's players would say that?

FROM PRJS IN MICHIGAN: "Kick the Can" was my all time favorite game. We used to play it out in Hampton in the summertime. People would be hiding in outhouses, etc. It was pretty rare when the can didn't get kicked..... FROM JACK: That's a first for me....Hiding in the can while playing kick the can.

FROM PO IN MICHIGAN: Omigosh --- Kick the Can! We played that every evening in Ahmeek. We had to be in the house when the street lights went on. FROM JACK: Now that I think about it, I can't remember the last time I saw any kids playing out under the street light. We used to do it all the time. MORE FROM PO: Even sadder, I hardly ever see kids 'playing' anymore --- they're all in structured activities of ever imaginable sort.

FROM RI IN BOSTON: "Twilight" is a favorite word of mine, and I also like that period of time at the end of a summer day. I'm reminded of Lord Tennyson's lines in Crossing the Bar..."Twilight and evening bell, and after that the dark..." the gradually dying light and the tolling of a bell peacefully ending a day. FROM JACK: In life, reference is sometimes made to the twilight years. When might those be?

FROM L IN ILLINOIS: We used to play Kick the Can, too. I knew it was time to run home when the bats started swirling around our big oak tree. FROM JACK: Did you ever worry that a bat might be caught in your hair... or that one might be a vampire bat? No wonder you ran home. MORE FROM L: No, I knew they had radar. My mom thought one was a leaf in the garden one time and picked it up. Needless to say, she dropped it, screamed and ran.

FROM JMC IN MICHIGAN: Oops, New Moon is actually the 2nd book in the series of 4... not that it really matters, but thought you'd like to know. And it probably made so much because of people like me who saw it 3 times in opening week... haha. FROM JACK: So, that's why the movie made so much money...people like you seeing it multiple times.

FROM PRFM IN WISCONSIN: And twilight was beautiful last night with a full moon! Hope you had the clear skies, like we had, to enjoy it!

FROM PRPH IN MINNESOTA: i love V8 Juice. does that mean i have vampire tendencies?? FROM JACK: That depends on whether you're getting it from somebody's neck.

FROM SG IN TAMPA: Wasn't kick the can fun? We used to play in the alley, too. Continuing to be nostalgic, I have just returned from a musical salute to Irving Berlin called I Love a Piano. FROM JACK: It's hard to be nostalgic, when you're a teenager.

FROM GUSTIE MN: I’m with you on that one! Ha! FROM JACK: Ask your grandchildren (or even your children) if they ever played Kick the Can.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: We played Kick the Can too but we mostly played SPUD. Does anyone remember SPUD??? Not into vampires at all....but I loved Twilight Zone! And the Outer Limits! FROM JACK: To begin, one player is designated as the 'number-giver', and gives a number from 1 to however many players there are to each participant. Sometimes additional numbers are included that are not assigned to any player; these are known as 'ghost numbers'. A variation of this game involves using colors as opposed to numbers. One player is determined to be 'it'. The other players form a circle around 'it.' The 'it' throws the ball straight up into the air. When the ball reaches the apex of flight, the 'it' calls out the number of one of the other players. If there is an owner for that number, they must catch the ball, either in flight or on the rebound. If there is no owner for the number (it was a 'ghost number' or 'ghost color'), it receives a letter and must throw the ball again. MORE FROM OJ: The neighborhood joke was....my number was ALWAYS 4. That tells you that they all had my number...and it was always up. We played mainly in Hazel Park at my Aunt Jean's house. My cousin Ron was my age and his whole baseball team lived on the two streets on either side of him. So all of us kids, mainly boys, would play...and I was always 4. I was young and cute then and had a great time. Our summers were so full of fun, weren't they? Kimberly's two boys love being outside. They are praying for snow...lots of snow. The table grace, said by Noah, 5, was..."Dear God in Heaven, thank you for our food and our family. Please let it snow a lot." In Jesus' name, Amen."

FROM MOLINER CROC: You know Jack, I`m at the age when I`m getting to like everything about a day . Morning , , noon , twilight, & nite time. The fact that I`m able to get up in the morning makes me happy. Not that I`m in bad shape , or anything like that , it`s just that I`m still vertical & able to be up & around.
When you`re in your 80`s & still coherent, able to take care of yourself, etc. makes for a good day.

FROM MO IN ILLINOIS: Ah, yes! The old Kick The Can days...what fun we had playing that! I took Jan out for a twilight tour of Christmas lights tonight, which we thoroughly enjoyed. There are some really elaborate displays in our area!