Chicken Butt

Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?

It must be time to watch Holy Grail again. The phrase “unladen swallow” has been buzzing in my head since last night. I think the DVD is in my possession. On my birthday I got a box full of movies I loaned out three years ago. All very good movies I recommended to a friend for a solo trip to Hawaii. They were stolen during a flight between islands. I was thrilled to have them back and have watched all except Crash, Elf and The Ref since their return*. I had lamented their absence on many occasions. I was especially happy to rewatch The Station Agent, Four Feathers and The Fifth Element. Should I admit something? (We’re all friends here right?) I now have two copies of XXX (with Vin Diesel)**. It was on sale and I needed it. Would someone like my extra copy?

In other news, a co-worker has discovered the joy that is xkcd. I saw him walking down the hall with a printout and he was itching to share. There is something joyful in xkcd, even at it’s most cynical.

* I still feel a bit of a twat for agreeing to replacements, but it was ~ 13 movies. Only one they could not locate and I said not to bother was History of Violence. Of course I saw it at B&N last week and now have an itch to see it again. I’ll have to Netflix it. (Possible future post: Why is it that LoTR actors are stunning in LoTR and never quite so good in other films? Is it the story? The cinematography? The director? Viggo is lovely as Aragorn and okay in everything else. I do adore Karl Urban in Star Trek though. He is such a good Bones.)

** How can I love a movie with such horrid dialog? Memorable Quotes page on Monty Python movie makes me chuckle and want to watch again right now. The Memorable Quotes on XXX makes me uncomfortable and ashamed of how much I enjoy it.

I'm not a Trekie, but...

Man I love the new Star Trek movie! It delighted me. I clapped with joy when McCoy showed up bitching about space. Oh crap! I'm not writing a review or anything, but may spoil a bit. Stop reading if you haven't seen it yet!

Okay. Love it. Not going to get into plot points or bad science or anything here. There is plenty 'o that elsewhere. If you have affection for the ST universe, especially the original series, this movie is lovely. I saw the IMAX version at 1pm Friday afternoon. I took a comp day off to balance out some major unpaid overtime I've done this spring. The theater wasn't full, but all the good center seating was full. I think I was the only woman there unaccompanied by a man. There was a full age spread weighted heavily toward men in their 60s. I was also a racially diverse crowd.

When the movie was over I seriously considered buying a ticket to the next showing. (One advantage of being single. I don't often react that strongly. I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog twice in a row when I belatedly watched it. I saw at least one LotR movie twice in the theater, but I can't think of any others. I was so tempted to see it again Friday night but not a fan of very full theaters.

I took Nephew the Third to see it Saturday afternoon. He knew nothing of ST. I gave him some very basic info about the main characters beforehand (i.e., Vulcans have pointed ears, green blood and are stoic). When the first vulcan salute is given he tried to make the V with his fingers. It was so cute. He'd never seen it before and really could not do it. At home he showed sis and she could totally do it, but she said, "Na-nu na-nu." I asked why she could do it so well, she said she practiced and taped her fingers together to learn it. But she honestly thought it was only from Mork and Mindy.

So N3 liked it but was confused by the plot. Which when I tried to answer his questions I realized that I was too if I really thought about it. But who watches ST for the plots? The casting was perfect. Simon Pegg is a lovely Scotty, Bones is my favorite, Kirk was charming. Spock kept freaking me out though. Even with the Vulcan makeup I mostly saw Sylar and evilness. (Run away! RUn away!)

I watched the original series with my dad as a kid. I watched most of ST:TNG. I liked Voyager and loved Enterprise. I had not seen all the movies, but I watched 1-6 recently. I'll probably see ST again in the theater. I just really enjoyed the ride and would love it if more movies were made with this cast.

Still kickin'

I got sick the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I've been out of it since then. I've still got a cough, but my brain is mostly unfogged. I'm tired and watching a lot of TV on DVDs. Finished the seven seasons of Buffy that I started while making Halloween costumes. I wasn't quite ready to leave Joss Whedon land so I'm currently on season two of Angel. Since I never bought past two of Angel, I'm not sure if I'll be going on. I'm quite enjoying it. And yes, I started this Whedonfest with Firefly and Serenity, so Angel is all I've got left.

Yes, life is thrilling here at CB. Um, yeah. That's all I got.

If JKR kills any Weasley I'll be so pissed*

I'm re-reading book six right now. I've re-read HP1-5 already. I'm planning to pick up HP7 with my college roommate ksl and her boys. Part of me thinks I should just go on my own locally or just pick it up Saturday morning, but I'm sure it will be fun even with the hour+ drive home. I plan to self-isolate until I've finished HP7. I will not tolerate spoilers.

I saw HP5 the movie on Saturday. It was okay. Probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't just finished the book on Friday morning. I could not let go of the differences. I was distracted by the stilted dialog and lack of motivation left in the plot. They hit most of the action from the book, but left out stunning amounts of backstory. I think I pissed off the noisy group of young women sitting in front of us when I booed at the end.

*Percy wouldn't bother me much, but the rest are off limits! I have a bad feeling about Ron and Ginny.

I enjoy being a girl

Now I remember why I’m not a sports fan. It’s heart-breaking. I didn’t see the good bits. I didn’t get home from my meeting until the second quarter. So I missed the opening touchdown, but got to watch the Colts score again and again. I stopped watching at half-time and then watched most of the fourth quarter. I know the basics of the game and hardly ever watch, but even I could see the Colts were tight in both offense and defense while the Bears couldn’t pull it together. I imagine my brother-in-law walked away from the TV before the game ended. I haven’t talked to sis yet, but I’ve seen him turn off the game in disgust before.

The commercials I saw were lame even for regular spots. I watched Flower Drum Song during half-time, third quarter and post game. I kept clicking back to catch Criminal Minds, but finally set my VCR to catch it. I know all the songs from Flower Drum Song by heart. I listened to my mom’s record of the film soundtrack for years. It was nice to finally see the story behind it. It was also nice to see the Asian characters played by Asian actors, not at all common in 1961. I knew some of the actors were Japanese not Chinese, but it’s still better than Yul Brynner or Katherine Hepburn.

During the dance number in Love Look Away the dancer performed a series of athletic gymnastic stunts instead of a fluid dance. I find this boring and it reminded me of the extended ballets in Gene Kelly movies. It turns out Gene Kelly was the choreographer. I once heard that the difference between Kelly and Astaire was the Kelly made dancing look difficult and Astaire made it look effortless. I much prefer effortless dancing. I know it’s difficult, I don’t need to see the effort involved. I love musicals, but I am bored by most ballads and ballet numbers. 

I would like to get Flower Drum Song on CD. I’d forgotten all about Don’t Marry Me. What a fun song. It was weird to see Det. Sgt. Nick Yemana singing it though.

I'll stick with Netflixing; it is much more satisfying than being a Bears fan.

Twenty years of waiting

Last night I picked up the newly released Pretty in Pink (Everything’s Duckie Edition) from Target. I’ve been waiting for this for 20 years. The DVD was supposed to have the original ending where Duckie (Jon Cryer) gets the girl. Instead it was a feature explaining how and why they change the ending in favor of rich stupid Blane (Andrew “Blinky” McCarthy*). Apparently if Robert Downey Jr. had been cast for the role Duckie would have gotten the girl, but since Molly Ringwald didn’t think Cryer was cute there was no chemistry. Apparently acting as if there was chemistry was too much of a stretch. They didn’t show the completed scene, just showed some behind-the-scenes footage while filming and talked about it a lot. If you ever wondered why McCarthy’s hair looked so bad in the final scenes, it was a wig. He had shaved his head for a play when they shot the revised ending.

It was cool to hear the cast and crew perspectives of how and why. I still feel a little gypped. I wanted to see the scene. But I’m attempting to take the disappointment with calm. I don’t want to be one of the rabid fans who still accost Cryer and share their indignant rage that he was cast aside. After all, it was twenty years ago and truly, Duckie didn’t win Andie, but he won this misfit’s heart.

* I've always described McCarthy as blinky when trying to define why he bugs the crap out of me. Watching some of the special features last night it occurred to me that he doesn't blink so much as unblink. He opens both eyes bigger, like nostril flaring two inches too high.

Happy Birthday to me!

I’ve had bad abdominal cramps for two days now. I’m usually not cramp-prone and when they do happen Pamprin usually take care of it. Yesterday morning I took my yogi Sarah’s advice and did some ab work to ease the cramps. It didn’t seem to work and now my ab muscles are sort from exercise in addition to the cramping. I didn’t count  how many elbow-to-knee and straddle-lifting-through reps I did, but it was fewer than half what I do in yoga practice. Did I do too many? Not enough? Do I need to keep doing them? It feels a bit like hitting my thumb with a hammer to distract me from a cut on my pointer finger. Also, it could be related to an increase in one of my meds, so if I’m still cramping tomorrow I’ll call my shrink, Dr. L.

Anyone still reading? My birthday was nice this year. Soon after I woke up I got a call from my sister and listened to a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. Then Monkey got on the line and said, “happy.” It was sweet. It was a mellow day. I hung three paintings, read, tidied up my office a bit and washed some dishes. At some point Sasha and her kids serenaded me over the phone. I then went shopping for perfume, attended an OA meeting, had dinner at my sister’s house and then went shopping again.

At Von Maur, I couldn’t decide between four scents. I splurged and bought two of them, Calvin Klein’s Euphoria and Lolita Lempicka. I’m not sure I really like Lolita Lempicka on me, I was swayed by the bottle, it’s really lovely. The stem is the sprayer. I also picked up samples of Chanel’s Allure and Allure Sensuelle to try at home. I haven’t worn perfume for a while; I think the last bottle I bought and actually wore was Poison. Yeah, it was that long ago. I wore a custom blend of essential oils from The Soap Opera in Madison, WI for a few years. It was light amber and light musk blend. I quite like the Euphoria. It seems to last but not precede me into rooms. I feel self-conscience if I think a scent is extending beyond my aura.

After my OA meeting I went to my sister’s house for dinner. My dad provided filet mignon, which he had marinated for 24 hours in Italian dressing, and my sister baked sweet potatoes. There was also salad and home-made salsa. It was all very good. No cake.

I got cash from dad and Barnes & Noble gift certificate from sis and family. So I went directly from her house to B&N Sunday night. I bought a stack of DVDs. This is what I got:

• The Best of the Electric Company
• Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
• The Station Agent
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Like Water for Chocolate

I came very close to spending the cash from dad on the latest DVD version of Lord of the Rings – Limited Edition, until I realized I’d be spending $80 for about five hours of behind-the -scenes footage. I already have both theatrical and extended versions. I can Netflix it to watch the new stuff.

On Monday I spent my dad’s gift (with a little bit extra from me) on an All-Clad Stainless Steel 4 quart sauté pan with lid and splatter guard at William-Sonoma. It’s pretty, sparkly and heavy. It was also cheaper than the 3 quart because it was on sale. Now you may be thinking, “But Dodi, you don’t even cook!” and you are correct. I’m more of a re-heater than cook. But I adore William-Sonoma. Read the catalogs from cover to cover (Except now I skip the seasonal candy pages).

Related to non-cooking, I haven’t used my grill at all this summer because I’m afraid it will blow up. The user manual said spiders like to build nests in the gas lines if not used regularly. Now I’m paranoid, but I don’t want to take it all apart to make sure all the lines are clear. I’m also pretty sure wasps have taken up residence. I do intend to cook more in the future and now I have a lovely pan, hopefully the last sauté pan I’ll ever buy. It is a frivolous, but it was mostly a birthday gift and I adore it.

Thirty-seven doesn’t seem to be a significant birthday for me. Last year I freaked a bit because at 36 I found myself scarily close to forty. This year I feel pretty neutral. It feels good.

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'

Atch-ee-wowow! I just got up from my desk after sitting here for a while and my quads are burning. Twenty-three hours ago Sarah left us in bridge pose for what felt like decades in class last night. She was helping students get aligned properly, it's only the third time this class has met, so it felt like she forgot about us up there. Of course it probably was the same time spent in dolphin, but I'm much stronger in dolphin than bridge. Time is relative times 100 in yoga.

I shopped with a Borders gift certificate at lunch today. It was a gift from a friend for a favor I did. I didn't expect anything in return and was really surprised to get it. But gift horses should not be poo-pooed so I graciously spent it. I bought "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" on DVD. I hope I like it. I like Tommy Lee Jones, cowboy movies and Ebert liked it, so I have my fingers crossed.

For once I didn't  over spend with a gift certificate. I typically spend at least the same amount as the gift card because I can't make up my mind. I'm proud of my discipline today. I was walking around with three movies at one point, but I put them all back when I decided on Three Burials.

My dad is off at a hippy-dippy wheatgrass retreat for two weeks. He left early Father's Day so I didn't see him Sunday. I did buy steaks and veggies on Saturday and my sister cooked. So we did celebrate in a low-key fashion. I'm a tad irked at my father right now, so I was kind of glad not to see him. Hope he finds what he's looking for. He wants to "jump-start [his] weight loss." He called my sis the first night and said he was reading under one of two working light-bulbs in the place and said that the accommodations were "primitive." Good luck with that dad.

Curious George

I took Friday off to watch my nephews. Part of my birthday gift to my sister was giving her some time to herself. During Monkey's nap I took BugBoy to see Curious George. It was cute and sweet, but a tad boring.

I think BugBoy summed it up nicely when he said he liked it, but that he didn't have any favorite parts. Usually we discuss all his favorite scenes on the drive home. Plus, the volume in the theater was almost painfully loud.

I bought the soundtrack because the tunes are catchy and sort of hammered into your brain by the end. I haven't listened to it yet, so I don't know if it was a silly impulse purchase or a future favorite.

Summary: Curious George is cute, gently funny and a tad long.

You'll shoot your eye out!

The folks at Angry Aliens are at it again. Go watch The Christmas Story in 30 seconds and reenacted by bunnies. Although, when it comes to holiday movies, I still prefer the Bun-o-vision version of It's a Wonderful Life.

My favorite is still the Jaws reenactment. Here is the Angry Aliens website to go view most of them.