Category: DVD/TV/screens

Movies

So, there are three movies I should mention which have wormed their way in front of me:  Jane Austen Book Club, La Vie en Rose, and Blast from the Past.

Jane Austen Book Club was goodhearted and fun, and there were definitely some good lines in it.  It could also have been entitled “Managing Multiple Fandoms in a Testosterone Reduced World” but that I guess is being too cynical.  I liked it because there was a character in it called Allegra, so every time her mother called for her or a character mentioned her name I’d sorta jerk reflexively.  And she’s a babydyke, just to add to the wonder…. Anyway, nautilus3 recommended it and I finally watched it with Jeff. He likes Emily Blunt (so do I) and there’s a scene where her character Prudie is being a ****ing pain in the ass, and I said, “I’ve been that woman, and Christ she’s annoying” and occasionally Jeff would pause it, waggle his eyebrows and go “That was a classic chickflick moment.”  Definitely a better script than you usually get with these kinds of outings, and the morals are delivered like the bill in a good restaurant, in a leisurely and tactful way.

La Vie en Rose I’m not going to talk about much.  If you like Edith Piaf, see the movie.  It’s great, and the lead performance is nothing short of mesmerizing – I can understand the Oscar nod. One of the best biopics ever, that I’ve seen anyway, possibly nosing out Ray as being the best I’ve ever seen.  And tasteful.  AND THE DUBBED SINGING IS AMAZING.  The lip synch was incredible.

Blast from the Past…. If you like Alicia Silverstone and Brendan Fraser, you’ve probably already seen it.  If you’re looking for a nice little comedy, undemanding, charming and steadily amusing, this will be a good companion.  I must mention the guest spot by Christopher Walken, who was just starting his streak of being in all movies in a supporting role.  I must own to liking Brendan Fraser – he was AWESOME in the first Mummy flick (I haven’t bothered with the others) and I really liked him in George of the Jungle.  He’s a goofy looking guy…  At one point in the movie I burst into tears and sobbed a couple of times.  After the movie I explained what was going on (Brendan did something for Alicia that somebody did for me once, and I lost it) and Jeff just said, “Oh, I just thought you’d gone crazy.”  Thanks, bud.

On another note, have you ever spent a fair amount of time with somebody, on a casual basis – like somebody you eat lunch with – and then one day he comes out and says something that everybody else at the table, including you, finds rather disturbing, and when somebody calls him on it he doesn’t notice?  I had one of those moments yesterday.  Rather than get into details, I’ve decided to turn the spotlight back on myself.  Mocking the afflicted IS NOT A NICE THING TO DO.  I should stop doing it.  I should recognize when I’m doing it.

William Petersen

Of course he’s well known as the ‘about to resign’ Gil Grissom in CSI, but he was also Will Graham in Michael Mann’s Manhunter long about 20 years ago.  Imagine Gil Grissom but young, thin and hawter than the hubs of Hades, folks.  I just saw the Director’s Cut of Manhunter. Re Mr. Petersen..

1. He’s bowlegged!  Who knew?  He certainly doesn’t get shot so you can see his bowlegs in CSI.

2. He’s had that steely intensity with the curiously wiggly smile and body jiggle forever.

3.  He comes across as cerebral and sensitive.  OOOOO.  Fangirl squawking inserted here.

4.  Joan Allen and Kim Griest are SO good.

5.  Brian Cox is TOTALLY AWESOME as Hannibal Lecter.

Guess I liked the movie.

Jeff and Keith are sidebysiding on Left 4 Dead. This makes me laugh my ass off, because the ad for Left 4 Dead was ALL over the Metro in Paris.

Kids were here

It was so lovely to have both of them here. We watched S2E1 of Deadwood (A Lie Agreed Upon) during which we giggled and cracked jokes and invented drinking games involving the swearing.  I bought us all Swiss Chalet. Katie did her homework.  For those of you out quietly worrying in TelevisionLand, Brandin (mentioned earlier) is a nice boy with not a great deal of education and a lot of crazy relatives, but he doesn’t smoke tobacco and he likes Katie fine.  And happy birthday, Katie, here’s a toast to you continuing to plug along when you really don’t feel like it.

Visit

Keith and Paul and Mike were over. We watched Coffee and Cigarettes. Somehow I’ve got to get off my duff and get this place looking like there weren’t drunken frat boys partying here last night. Supper was barbecued chicken breasts (with Paul taking the helm there), swiss chard of such exceptional wondrous tastiness that it bankrumpts my powers of description, garlic bread (of course), salad and European style cheesecake from the Austin Deli.

Paul has the daintiest snore of anybody I ever met. Coffee and Cigarettes, after he’s hauled a brace of midnights, was not enough to hold his attention, and he flaked out on the love seat. I like the Iggy Pop/Tom Waits and Steven Wright/Robert Benigni segments the best, although the ‘twins’ one is also pretty funny. Especially since those two men are actually cousins.

Sigh. Back to housework.

Lazy day

Friggin near cataplectic day, actually.  I cooked, did a microscopically small amount of cleaning, I did some laundry but it was hard to get inspired when the downstairs neighbours did laundry on a day which wasn’t ‘theirs’ and I had to move stuff of theirs around, which makes me kinda anxious in case I should do something wrong and they come upstairs and confront us about it.  Laundry is a touchy issue.  I mean, this guy yells about everything.  Spent more time communing with Meadow.  She got up in Gizmo’s face at one point.  I’ve never seen a cat use less energy to hiss, it was pretty funny.  It was more like an expression of scorn with a breath behind it.

Jeff’s apparently taking off to go fishing with a friend for his birthday. I am thinking it will be perfect, weather, location and company wise.

We’re working our way through Huff season 1 and Buffy season 2 and while there are definitely classic shows in S2 I guess I’m looking forward to later seasons.  We also watched some youtube videos last night; I wanted to see some Al Hirt and Jeff dialled up some Buddy Rich with the Boston Pops orchestra.  I love having that stuff on the big screen.  I know Jeff considers it a waste of a venue – taking blurry pictures and blowing them up real good – but I don’t mind the low-def aspect of it.

No videos yesterday but I practiced until my fingers were good and sore, and I think learning all those new chords is going to have a very ‘jazz hands’ effect on my songwriting over the next while.  I love Happy Feet but the chord changes are hideous.  I mean, really, really hideous.  The F9 to B7 is not the work of a Christian, believe you me.  Oh yeah, and I made Jeff watch the Happy Feet segment of King of Jazz. It’s so very wonderful…..

Off to Mission.

I won’t be posting until after I get home from Mission tomorrow; it’s time for the festival out there with my current and previous coworkers, including no fewer than two bosses, and which involves stringed instruments, alcohol and the World’s Best Campfireâ„¢. Continue reading Off to Mission.

ScaryClown was here

He had an interesting day at work so he went to our place early after I checked with Jeff, and when I got there he and Jeff were ensconced in the living room watching something. Then Jeff and I made dinner (he broiled the chicken breasts to perfection, I must say) and we consumed it on the back deck with attentive cats and much hilarity. The cats liked him… it was sweet watching ScaryClown leap to his feet to let one in when he scratched at the door. “You’ve set a precedent,” Jeff said drily, and ScaryClown said something to the effect that cats easily train him.

I have no beer left, but I’ve seen Robert Macnamara in Fog of War and I was amazed. It’s one of the best shot and most interesting and best scored documentaries I ever saw. I remember DrFilk raving about it when it first came out.

Partay, Mine is an Evil Laugh, Solaris

Jeff and I had a lovely time at Hackerfish Manor, but I’ll tell you one thing for true, I’m never drinking a bacon shot EVAR AGAIN.

Saw the Soderbergh version of Solaris.  It’s a hard movie to love, but I thought it was great.  AND it has hang drum orchestration, if my ears don’t deceive me.

Why is mine an evil laugh?  Because Lady Miss B just LOANED the FIRST THREE SEASONS of BUFFY to Jeff.  Squee!

Beautiful sky

The sky is pink, peach and lilac right now; a song sparrow is providing aural punctuation. I like this kitchen table. Oh, look; cat puke. I can’ t really complain, it’s outside on the deck.

Yesterday was a really good day for getting things done. I found my tax stuff, or at least most of it; I replaced my bank card, got new guitar strings, unpacked some boxes, did a small shop, made chocolate banana muffins, removed four pounds of fur (at least) from Eddie, who is visibly more svelte after his many grooming sessions, cleaned the bathroom fixtures, made club sandwiches for lunch (they were REALLY good), hung the Serenity and labyrinth quilts mOm made for me (as well as the heron plaque) and started clearing leftovers out of the fridge, & made an appointment to get my next set of hep shots (and then I’ll be a hepcat, w00t). Yeah, it’s all little stuff but it felt SO good to get some stuff off the list instead of onto it.

Jeff’s day was similarly productive, and included chaining down the barbecue, supervising the repairman who came to look at the stove, and putting up pegs at the back door, which will keep my coat from being draped over any chair I get close to.

Then, some BSGs3 and DeadwoodS3 – For the Deadwood episodes, this is my third time through the series and I’m STILL getting stuff I didn’t see the first & second time through. It’s a damned dense series. I am also seeing nuances in the acting I didn’t get the first time. Titus Welliver is CUTE. Sorry. I just think he is.

Later, Iron Man.  And maybe Mike will drop by after work.  And I definitely need to make some phone calls.  My girlfriends will be thinking I’ve forgotten all about them if I don’t touch base with them soon.

Jericho starts next week – Tuesday night.  I have to start practicing today as well and change guitar strings.

Barbecue & sundry

The new barbecue got baptized in animal fat last night; Jeff seared three very creditable porkchops and I hacked away at the rest of dinner.  I received a phone call which got me thinking further along the lines of spring, and included an adjuration for me to be ‘more fun’; I have prepared a response for that but unleashing it would involve buying mental bleach for everyone who ever reads this blog.  Jeff and I finished Deadwood season 2.  That’s the one where Al is actually smiling a genuine smile for the last frame.

I hope everybody is thinking about having a great day.   I know I am.  I am not thinking about my taxes; I have filed that under U for Unpleasant, at least for the time being.  It’s not as if the feds aren’t pulling money out of my pocket with every fracking breath I take.

I lost my bank card – again.  Good thing I have another bank account at another bank.

I walked to and from the bus loop at work with ScaryClown yesterday.  Virtually every conversation of his starts with the expression “I was watching a documentary yesterday” and yesterday was no exception.  He had his umbrella with him, so he demonstrated how the little pink cheeked, pigtailed girls of the Cultural Revolution in China were trained to yell “Shia!” and mime disembowelling roundeyes.  All the way down from the bus loop.  I love him dearly, but sometimes…..

I should plan the next falldown.  I need to get everything breakable up off the floor.  I need to unpack, and a hundred thousand other things.  But right now, I need another cup of coffee, and I’m going to go to work.  The 27 bus is working properly again; the stop at Rupert and 22nd is functioning, which makes transiting easier in the morning.  My clothes are all clean and put away; my bed is made.  Perhaps I’m running a temperature.

Migraine aura yesterday.  I have learned that when they come in midday, if I sit tight and don’t look at a computer screen for about half an hour, or go outside and get a breath of air, I don’t get a full bore headache.  Thinking happy thoughts assists.

Food and family

Keith and Paul were here. We ate leftovers, but there were loads in the fridge, and then I made lovely rice pudding for dessert. I bet it’s all gone by the time we get home tonight.

Then we watched The Big Lebowski which is one Powerfully Strange movie, but very funny, and I thank Joe the fanboy for loaning it to us.
I wrote a tune on the mando yesterday. No lyrics, it’s all picking. It’s called Willie’s Lament. I did laundry and admired the activities of the 59000 Sun Runners on the psychic plane. Between 420 and the Sun Run there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I was going downtown yesterday.
Tonight, off to Ikea for a kitchen table.

The thrice-blessèd Jeff silenced the toilet (the noise alternated between hissing and a tick tick tick noise that made one think of a limpet mine), installed smoke alarms (the one that came with the house was wired into the AC and kept going off hoarsely at odd intervals) and put up cup holders so now we have Places to Hang Things in the kitchen.  He also got the internet running on the big screen in the living room which means we can now play Youtube Bingo where everybody can see it.  Honestly, watching Youtube videos with friends is a truly fine experience and with the wireless keyboard, you just hand it to the next person and see what insanity comes up.  Of course THIS is what he played first (lyrics not safe for work, and yes I previously posted it).  I heard the first few bars, started giggling and ran out into the living room.

I had a great three days off.  But I’m happy to be going back to work.  Sick, hunh?

butterflies

I’m going to go perform in public so of course I have butterflies…  Peggy has decided to come as well (separate conveyances) and so I asked my folks if she could crash there rather than at Pondside and my folks said yes.  (Lots of room at Pondside, but I volunteered to crawl out of bed early to get her to the bus.)  Pondside, in case you need to know, is where Dr Filk and his madly filking&recording landpeers live.

Last night I went to Superstore and did a small shop.  Forgot bread and cheese.  Duh.  Jeff picked me up and then I cooked salmon steaks, corn and bok choi, with strawberries, bananas and cream for dessert.  Yeah, I got my cooking mojo back after a slack couple of days.  Jeff has acquired a barbeque (Paul has kindly agreed to help him fetch it as the MR2 is a tad parsimonious of cartage room) and we are now looking forward to seared meat on the back deck in the hottest days of the year when you don’t want to be cooking indoors anyway – and believe me Vancouver gets smoking hot in the summertime.

I have just finished the first bake and slice of the biscotti I have been requested to bring to Victoria.  The ones on the top rack are almost but not burnt – the bottom rack biscuits are pretty close to perfect. I guess I am still not one hundred percent with this stove.

Neglected to mention that Jeff and Mike were much amused, last Friday, that they both liked the MR2 and were making tentative plans for a car swap and drive up to Pemberton or some such place…. hope I can come for the ride!  It’s such beautiful country up there.

I was supposed to go with Katie and Suzanne to a comedy show last night in New West, but I was bagged from an emotionally draining day at work (good emotions are draining, too) and knew I had to do a shop and some cooking.  Alas that I canna be in three places at once – I wouldn’t have minded seeing Glenn, either.

Watched a good chunk of Movies 101 last night which is essentially a very long and extremely sympathetic interview with Martin Scorcese.  Jeff and I kept looking at each other and saying, “Scorcese directed that??” or mentioning the Scorcese movies we’d seen that the other hadn’t.  I LOVED the Last Temptation of Christ and Raging Bull.  Jeff hasn’t seen either of them, but he has seen New York New York and Gangs of New York.  I haven’t seen Taxi Driver.  Okay, I guess I have a lot of those movies in my future.  Boxcar Bertha is inbound from zip…..   Barbara Hershey and David Carradine???  mmmm’kay.

Then some Deadwood.  We got up to the part where Woolcott does his nasty deed and Cy bails him out.

Time to get biscotti out of the oven…

the house smells heavenly.

Time to pack…. and feed some butterflies.

Quiet evening

I sure am lucky about my workplace.  I had an interesting day yesterday; I made Francis stand on something to find out where a serial number was; I almost called a customer a racist (this in response to not trusting factory trained repair personnel in furrin parts); I almost sicced HR on my boss (it’s all good, and I merely wish I could cross post the email because I think it’s one of the funniest – and tersest – I ever sent); and LTGW one-upped me in the anecdote department.  I didn’t think anything could top looking after the disposal of a companion animal, but evidently I was wrong.  Any evening that involves ICBC and the cops must by necessity suck worse than mine…

Anyway, I was ready for a quiet evening when I got home, and I “cooked” weiners and we watched No Country for Old Men. Yes, there are nights when my cooking is not exactly meat and two veg, unless you count ketchup and relish.
I liked the movie, but I told my mother not to watch it.  Violence, you know.

Fun evening

I am up rather earlier than I want to be, but I suppose it’s better than sleeping til two and then cursing the absence of daylight in which to run errands…

The mighty Lunch Bunch was reconstituted – Mike, me, Tom and Jerome.  Happy happy sigh. We watched 3:10 to Yuma and otherwise ate and talked and drank beers.  Brian and Chari turned up and added their brand of conviviality and rude remarks to the mix.  Keith turned up as well.  Jeff and the gang seemed to get along – it’s really hard to imagine that they wouldn’t; it felt kinda strange that after all these years my work family hadn’t met my kin.
I have one other piece of happy news – daughter Katie has been to the VCC and picked out what course she wants to take in September.

I am some contented kitty-cat this morning.  I’m going to laze around for a while and then clean up after the party and then go to the Spit… and a Spit is a Dorothy Dunnett Readers Association meetup, usually including food, books and alcohol.  Then, practicing some more.

Plotting n planning

April 18th, so I learn, will be the date for the Willie P Memorial concert in Victoria.  I will consult with the folks and assemble a tune or two… more details as they firm up.  I am thinking about taking the day off.
This weekend a SPIT.  It’s been bally ages since we did that, and we’re meeting up Saturday in a bookstore, so all is good and beautiful.  Then church again on Sunday to set up chairs.  I will be faster this time as I know the drill.  It’s not particularly onerous, but I did feel it on Monday when I woke up; given that my set up partner is well old enough to be my dad further complaining shall be nixed.

This evening, if the fates are kind and the winds propitious, the Luddite will turn up for supper.  I’m thinking home made tortillas. Which reminds me, I should back away slowly from the computer and do some prep so I don’t have to when I get home.

I’m finding the commute okay.  I’m also thinking of finding alternate routes to shake things up a bit, like walking over to Rupert and taking the bus down to that station, to see if maybe I can’t work a little more exercise into the morning routine at least on mornings when it isn’t pouring rain.  The commute is improved by having an MP3 player.  Current set list is a bit eclectic… it’s everything from me singing Lifeline – (I usually skip over it, because as much as I love PD Wohl’s tasty backing I’m not liking my singing) to Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony, the Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again, John Hiatt’s Walk On, Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools… eclectic, yup.  Oh, and the Bastard Fairies We’re All Going to Hell; it’s impossible to sit on the train and listen to that and not smirk.

Further plotting includes maybe taking a songwriting class with the aforementioned PD Wohl; considering maybe taking a course at BCIT now I’m ten minutes away by bus; and figuring out which of Vancouver’s cultural events of the month of April Jeff and I might want to take in.  Also, planning dinner for Friday, the first inaugural fall down.  Honestly, I’m thinking takeout.  Hopefully this large blank where my cooking thoughts usually get scrawled will fill in between now and then.
I can more or less see the floor in my room.

We appear to have blown a fuse in the kitchen.  Sigh.

Jeff, saintly geek that he is, has run his hands over Suzanne’s laptop and restored it to health. (Don’t anybody else get any funny ideas).  Suzanne and Katie dropped by yesterday to collect it with thanks.  Katie got her stipend for helping me move and get my deposit back which was awesomely swift – I hadn’t expected to see it until mid month, but Ray at Cornerstone is the best of landpeers, and he does what he says.

The landpeers here have not responded to Jeff’s polite enquiries about which of the minor irritants he can attack next, which means that he’s going to ignore their ignoring him, and I’ll have my doors fixed shortly.

Somehow I ended up with an autographed Groo in my belongings.  Happy sigh.  I love Groo.

Yet more Deadwood last night after supper, which was spaghetti.

Time to chop veg.