What I Watched -- The Hunting Party

This movie was not at all what I expected. I judged the movie by its title. Let that be a lesson to you.

What I expected was some Victorian drama which included a gaggle of basset hounds. No dice. Instead, I got a trio of in-over-their-heads journalists out for some vigilante justice in the wake of the Serbian genocide. Not a bad trade actually, once you make the adjustment to the totally different genre.

Richard Gere and Terrence Howard are former partners (reporter and cameraman, respectively), who reunite - joined by an intern played by Jesse Eisenberg - with the hare-brained idea of bringing one of the world's most hated and elusive war criminals to justice in the years following the breakup of Yugoslavia. Nothing, needless to say, goes as planned. It's sort of a modern day comedy of errors.

Eisenberg and Gere actually do a great job in their respective roles. Richard Gere is just crazy enough to make you think he might really be crazy - until you learn the back story. Eisenberg plays his character with a Michael Cera-like innocence, except with slightly less boyish dopiness and slightly more adult wit. It works.

What did not work in the movie was the weird combination of humor and horror and politics. This movie addresses the atrocities of a genocide, for Pete's sake. (Who's Pete?) For example:

Boris (UN official): "It took me months to gain the trust of certain people who normally would be protecting the Fox. That's how I know you didn't just stumble on the fact he's up in Celibici."
Duck (Cameraman): "Well, it's been printed in the press."
Boris: "So are the horoscopes. Do you believe them?"
Duck: "You're not making any sense now."
Boris: "I know. I'm the United Nations."

So, it totally doesn't fit together. The whole thing seems very discordant. Except you know what the weird thing about it is? It's true. It's a true story - or based on one, anyway. I guess sometimes life doesn't fit together, and seems all discordant. Sometimes we have to laugh, or else we would just cry.

Anyway, the real experience happened to a group of journalists, one of whom wrote about the experience for Variety in an essay entitled "What I Did on My Summer Vacation." The article is available online in full, and is worth a read.

Bottom line: entertaining if you think it's fiction. Even more interesting if you know it's mostly fact. A decent film which, however oddly, takes a semi-serious look at an oft-overlooked political disaster.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Girl Who Played With Fire

Finally! I'm on to the second book in the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Played With Fire. It's about time, since I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (book #1) over six months ago, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (book #3) has already been published! Although in fairness, they did rush the publication because the first two were such huge hits. At least it's not out in paperback yet (except in large print), so I don't feel quite so bad.

As of the writing of this post, I haven't actually started reading yet, so I'll keep you posted on my thoughts later on.

Quote of the Day

"When you love, you see what you want to see. Everybody knows that."
- Ira Glass, This American Life, "Reunited"

Wanted: Rowing Coach -- Take 2

Another book it took me way too long to read, not because it wasn't entertaining, but because I was doing other things. Like watching movies. (Anyone noticed that I've watched a ton of movies lately?) And other things which I'm sure were very important, but don't really excuse my taking so long to read someone else's book.

For anybody who's starting out as a rowing coach, this is a must-read. For anyone who ever rowed, it's an interesting read because it allows you to see things from the other side. And for those of you who never rowed, a lot of it probably won't make any sense at all; he might as well have written half the book in Japanese. Unless you speak Japanese, in which case, he might as well have written it in some other language you don't speak.

The book is an interesting mish-mash of rowing drills, coaching tips, life lessons, and general observations, such as the following:

"As I drove home I thought about how everyone acts about the same when things are rolling along well. The human animal becomes quite interesting when a monkey wrench is thrown into the works, or a buoy pops out of nowhere, or you're suddenly presented with some crisis that jars your sense of normalcy. That's when a person's character is tested. You get a peek into their soul. Quite revealing. Sometimes scary, as in this case. Other times refreshingly reassuring."

The best quote about rowing which I found comes when Coach Lewis is talking to potential rowers at a recruiting meeting, and gives them this little lecture:

"Rowing can offer many things. You gain awesome physical and spiritual strength. You learn the secrets of focus and discipline, which are critical for success in any arena. You make friends that will last a lifetime. All good reasons. All worthy reasons. I'll end with a quote by one of my favorite authors, William Glass. 'If you are a fully realized person---whatever the heck that is---you wouldn't fool around writing books.' Nor would you fool around rowing. To spend copious amounts of time going backward on a self-propelled craft at 6:00 a.m. is not for everyone. We row to fill in some missing piece of ourselves. If you stay with it long enough, take enough hard strokes, win and lose enough races, you will find what you're looking for."

The Song I'm Loving Today

The Book of Love (Peter Gabriel)

This is another one from a movie I watched, this time it's from Shall We Dance. I guess that's a good thing about movies; other than the entertainment you get from watching the movie, sometimes you also find cool new songs. I was watching Shall We Dance while I was working out, so I had subtitles on to make it easier to understand what was happening. The subtitles said "Book of Love - Peter Gabriel" right on the screen - how handy is that? Then you don't even have to watch the tiny-print credits at the end and try to pause it in the right spot to see what the song is!

The song was written by a band called The Magnetic Fields and released on their album 69 Love Songs. Their version is linked to the song title, above. But I like the Peter Gabriel remake better, so a still-photo mash-up of his version is below.

The song itself is actually sort of odd if you listen to the lyrics, but I love its slow, melancholy yet satisfied sort of quality.



The book of love is long and boring,
No one can lift the damn thing.
It's full of charts and facts and figures,
And instructions for dancing.

But I, I love it when you read to me.
And you, you can read me anything.

The book of love is full of music,
In fact that's where music comes from.
Some of it's just transcendental,
Most of it is just really dumb.

But I, I love it when you sing to me.
And you, you can sing me anything.

The book of love is long and boring,
And written very long ago.
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes,
And things we're all too young to know.

But I, I love it when you give me things,
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings.
And I, I love it when you give me things,
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings.
You ought to give me wedding rings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all get to eat some delicious food today!

What I Watched -- Carrie

Carrie is one of those movies that you always hear about but have never seen. I have a bunch of those: The Godfather, North by Northwest, The Graduate, and The Bridge on the River Kwai, to name a few. I decided, for whatever reason, that it would be a good idea to watch Carrie. My goal was to watch it the weekend T was out of town so I could be good and freaked out while I was all by myself, but (a) I couldn't squeeze it in (I was busy going to Arrow Rock), and (b) it's actually not scary. So I failed on both counts. Story of my life.

Anyway, for those other people out there who haven't seen it, here's the rundown: Carrie is a poor, nerdy, sheltered girl who is tormented by her high school classmates to no end. What the classmates don't know is that Carrie, when she gets angry, can make stuff happen just with her mind. And Carrie gets her revenge when it all hits the fan at prom. Actually, the scariest part of the movie are the crazy eyes Carrie has for about the last 20 minutes. Creepy! Actually, as a general statement, Sissy Spacek is pretty awesome at being super creepy. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

There are a lot of things going on in Carrie, though. There's the issue of teen bullying, there's Carrie's super-Christian mother, there's the idea of revenge. And then there's the character of Sue Snell (played by Amy Irving), who together with Sue's boyfriend Tommy and the gym teacher are the only characters who show any compassion for Carrie - not that it works out terribly well for any of them, in the end. Somebody at LSU (with too much free time) took it upon themselves to write quite a summary of the underlying ideas.

Bottom line: see it so you know what happens. And so you can be freaked out by the creepy eyes.

Arrow Rock

What did you do on Sunday? Anything interesting? I went to Arrow Rock.

Never heard of it? I hadn't either. But it's a cute place. The town is tiny (population 80, or thereabouts), plus the 14 of us. The activity planner at G&G's place mapped out a trip to Arrow Rock for the day, which was actually quite lovely. We started out with lunch at J. Huston's Tavern, which was delicious. The servers were these two super-cute high school girls, who were dressed in period frocks! And check out the super-fancy menu:

I got the smoked BBQ chicken, and it was juicy and tender, the green beans had just a touch of sweetness, and the potatoes with gravy were perfect for sopping everything up. We also got warm bread rolls with delicious country style butter and - best of all - apple butter!

After lunch I poked my head into some of the shops in the "historic shopping district" - there are probably 8 shops total. Lots of antiques and the like, but very cute. And of course they have a little coffee shop! I didn't get to stop in the ice cream shop, which was quite a disappointment, but after that huge lunch, I didn't have much room. They also have their own very cute little post office in downtown Arrow Rock, which is open from 8:00 - 9:45 a.m. on Saturdays. Charming. The weather was lovely - warm and breezy. Perfect for wandering around outside.

We finished off the day with a trip to the Lyceum Theater to see Nuncrackers, the Christmas production of the Nunsense series of plays.

The Lyceum, it turns out, is a fairly famous theater. It's Missouri's oldest regional theater (50 years), and draws actors from all over the country. The biographies of the company in the back of the brochure reveal that people come to Arrow Rock from as far away as San Diego and LA, and there are lots of actors from NYC, including one Rockette! There's even a girl who has performed at the Globe Theater in London! Who knew all of that talent was in little Arrow Rock?

Anyway, the show was actually really funny - lots of laughing out loud! It was a small cast: 5 nuns, a priest, and 4 school kids, as best as I can remember. They all did a great job!

I managed to sneak in a little nap on the bus on the way home, and got lots of reading done. And K had dinner waiting for me when I arrived back at the house! All in all, quite a lovely day.

What I Watched -- The Debt

K and I went with her friend M to another one of the SLIFF movies on Saturday night. This time, we saw one called The Debt, starring Dame Helen Mirren, the oh-so-eye-pleasing Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson, and the beautiful newcomer to the silver screen Jessica Chastain. (And for you LOTR nerds out there, Marton Csokas also stars, but you may know him better as Celeborn.) Wow, that was a linkalicious paragraph.

I shouldn't joke, though, because this movie is deadly serious. It's the story of three Israeli Mossad agents sent to Berlin in the 1960s. Their mission is to capture and bring to Israel for trial the man known as the Surgeon of Birkenau, who is famous for the brutal manipulations he inflicted on Jews in the camp during WWII. They find him, sure enough. But not everything is smooth sailing.

The first thing I noticed about this movie is how well the actors used their faces to express their emotions. At the beginning, for instance, Rachel's (Helen Mirren's) daughter is presenting a book she has written about her mother's adventure in Berlin. When she says how proud she is of her mom, you can tell Rachel is uncomfortable with the praise, but you don't know why. That's what the rest of the movie is for. There are many other similar examples, but I'll stop there to avoid giving away the secrets.

It's pretty clear in this movie who the bad guy is, what he did, and why the Mossad agents are after him. And you totally support them in their mission. They are the good guys. Aren't they? Maybe just one of them is. But which one? Even now that the movie's over and I've had a couple of days to stew about it, I'm still not sure.

Bottom line: awesome movie, but why are film festival movies always depressing? I guess it's that artsy thing.

P.S. I like Sam better with short, dark hair. And firearms.

What I Watched -- What's Cooking?

Here come the holiday movies! Thanks to E for reminding me about this super-insane Turkey Day flick.

This is a movie about four culturally-diverse LA families - stereotypically Vietnamese, Mexican, African-American, and Jewish - all celebrating Thanksgiving in their own way and dealing with their issues. And all the families are friggin' crazy in their own way (just like their dinners), which is great for making you feel like your family is actually kinda normal and not so bad to be around!

This movie is reminiscent of Tortilla Soup, although with slightly less emphasis on the food - probably because, when you're trying to tell the stories of four families, there are only so many food shots you can save from the cutting room floor.

Bottom line: a fun story of a crazy holiday. Something good to watch after dinner this Thursday when you're too full to do anything else.

What I Watched -- Shall We Dance

Why are movies about dancing so terribly disappointing, but also frustratingly on point, as it were?

The plot here is totally (mostly) predictable. Once you figure out the kind of guy that John Clark (Richard Gere) is, you know where the movie is going. But there are a couple of really interesting scenes along the way.

Beverly Clark, explaining why people get married: "Because we need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet, I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything - the good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things. All of it, all the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed, because I will be your witness.'"

Later in the movie, John apologizes to Beverly for not telling her he was dancing. Beverly: "You could've told me about it though, couldn't you? You j-just completely left me out! Why didn't you tell me John? You've gotta answer that."
John: "I was ashamed."
Beverly: Ashamed of what? Of dancing?"
John: "No, no."
Beverly: "Then of what?!"
John: "Of wanting to be happier. When we have so much. ... The one thing I am proudest of in my whole life is that you were happy with me. If I couldn't-- If I couldn't tell you that I wasn't happy sometimes it's because I didn't want to risk hurting the one person I treasure most. I'm so sorry."

Now that is an apology. Sweet and sappy and well thought out - everything an apology should be. Another thing I can say for Shall We Dance? is that at least it has more actual dancing than Save the Last Dance. In fact, it has quite a bit of it, some of which is rather steamy. Bear witness to this:

And last, of course, there's Richard Gere. He's dashing, funny in a self-deprecating way, very much the Pretty Woman knight-in-shining-armor. How can you not like that?

Bottom line: totally boring and predictable story, but a feel-good movie if there ever was one.

What I Watched -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Holy cow, that's the longest movie title ever. Except maybe The Mysterious Yearning Secretive Sad Lonely Troubled Confused Loving Musical Gifted Intelligent Beautiful Tender Sensitive Haunted Passionate Talented Mr. Ripley. But other than that, longest movie title ever.

Good movie though. I mean, how can you not love Harry Potter? Even if you don't subscribe to the craze in the way the people do who came in costumes last night (yes, they did), the movies are entertaining.

Hermione is fantastic, Ron actually has feelings, and Harry is his usual selfless but sometimes daft self. And that's all I'm going to say about that, because I don't want to spoil it. (That's why it's no fun to write about movies that are brand new!)

Special thanks to P for tickets to the midnight showing!

Bottom line: if you have any interest at all in the HP books or the previous movies, see it.

Facebook Rant

I have to go off on Facebook every now and then. I mostly refrained from doing it in yesterday's post, because I didn't want to dilute my point. But I can't hold back any longer, so here goes....

I am not, as many people know, on Facebook. I've pondered it briefly on numerous occasions, most recently and most seriously after returning from my high school reunion. I didn't want to lose touch with all the amazing people I had just reconnected with! But I also thought about (a) how much less interesting the reunion would have been if I had known what everyone had been up to for all those intervening years, and (b) how I'm still very unwilling to publicize all the details of my life to anyone who cares to investigate.

I know all you Facebook fans will say "but you can set it to super-private!" True. But once you start friending people, it's all over. Your network inevitably expands; it's like there was a Facebook Big Bang, and it just keeps getting bigger. People post pictures and tag you in them. People comment on your wall. People will say "how does it feel to be 30?" on your birthday, even though you deliberately did not put the year of your birth under the "birthday" section, because you didn't want that information broadcast. Once you have friends (and who doesn't want to reconnect with 1,372 of their closest friends?), it's impossible to police your own information. There's just too much of it. And what's more, if you're logged into Facebook and start cruising other sites on the internet, Facebook tracks that. It knows what you buy. It mines your address book for contacts. It suggests people it thinks you should be friends with. It knows where you live!

And this, people, is just Facebook. It's probably the most badly behaved of all the social media/networking sites, but it is by far not the only one digging for dirt about you. Even the beloved Google reads your e-mail to provide targeted advertising.

But here's the thing about Facebook taking over your life. Pretty soon, despite my best efforts to avoid it, it's going to take over mine, too. It will find my e-mail address in your address books. It will know who my friends are. It will triangulate. It will create a Facebook page for me, whether I like it or not. It's coming. Just you wait.

We are who we are

I have been pondering a post for some time which I think has found its moment, mostly because T and I were talking about it the other night. Oh, and because Facebook is making yet another bid to take over the worl-- er, your life.

Last year at about this time, I wrote a post about an episode of Mad Men, pondering our ability to reinvent ourselves. Lately I have been thinking about the same thing, but with a different twist, compliments of the all-knowing interwebs. That Mad Men post asks the following questions: if you spend a good portion of your life pretending to be someone else, at what point do you cease being the person you once were? When do you become the person you're pretending to be?

Think about Don Draper. He came back from Korea and, until his wife started digging around in his desk drawer, was able to completely reinvent himself. He didn't like what he had been, so he changed it. He became someone else.

Today, in the world of offsite data storage, undeletable profile information, and digital interconnectedness, I don't think that's something we can do anymore. We can never reinvent ourselves, not totally. Maybe we can change who we are, but we'll always have to defend who we were. We'll never be able to hide the past; all that information about us that's online - e-mails, address books, Facebook pages, photos, shopping habits, vacation plans, all of it - will always be out there somewhere.

Maybe no one - not even Don Draper - can be free of their past completely, because it's what got you to where you are. But Don was able to keep that past to himself. Like cocktail hour and business dress at work, that's not a luxury we have anymore.

What I Watched -- Winter's Bone

Last night, K and I were lucky enough to snag seats at the St. Louis International Film Festival's showing of Winter's Bone at Washington University.

About this movie: the acting is amazing, and the story is horrifying. Relative newcomer Jennifer Lawrence stuns as Ree Dolly, a 17-year-old abandoned by her dad and trying to rear her two younger siblings while also caring for her mentally ill mother. The sheriff comes to see Ree, and gives her some bad news: Jessup (her dad) put up their house and land for his bond, and he's disappeared. If he doesn't show up for his next court date, Ree and her family will be kicked off the only thing they own - a small piece of land in Missouri's Ozark Mountains.

In an effort to save her house, Ree goes looking for Jessup, who's in trouble with the law for cooking meth. She seeks out members of her extended family - her "kin," as she repeatedly calls them, in a none-too-subtle effort to get them to help her - only to discover that none of them are any too eager to do so. After a little more digging does she discover why: they're all tied up in Jessup's mess, and Ree's questions might land them all in a whole heap of trouble.

The cover photo makes Jennifer Lawrence looks a little bit like Cate Blanchett, but her real face in the movie is much younger, and much more knowing. While being endlessly frustrated by her kin's unwillingness to help her, and despite understanding why they don't, she never stops hoping that they will. And she manages to find compassion in some of them, although usually in small doses and in unexpected ways. But sometimes she finds just the opposite, and that doesn't work out well for her.

The cast is almost all total or relative newcomers, including the kids who play Ree's younger brother and sister. There are four exceptions - people you might know - and only one of those has a major role in the movie: John Hawkes, who plays Teardrop, Jessup's older brother; Dale Dickey, who plays the cruel but understanding Merab Milton, and whom you'll recognize but probably won't know why; Garret Dillahunt, who plays Sheriff Baskin; and Sheryl Lee, the most famous of the bunch, who has a bit part as as Jessup's one-time lover.

Marideth Sisco, who does vocals on the soundtrack and appears in one scene in the film, was present at the screening last night. She shared a few insights, including this: the girl who plays Ree's sister actually lives in the house that they use as the Dolly home in the movie. That's her house! The filmmakers tried to make the movie real, to capture what life is like when you're just trying to survive in a forgotten part of the country. They did a great job, but they couldn't have done it without Jennifer Lawrence.

Bottom line: see it, but be prepared.

Marathon Row

Today I rowed 26.2 miles with my former doubles parter, C! That is a long, long, looooong way. But at least I got a t-shirt to show for it :-)

What I Watched -- Save the Last Dance

This is not a particularly good movie. And it hurts me to say that, because Julia Stiles is just so darn cute. I love her, whether I like it or not. In fairness, though, Save the Last Dance is a tad better than a lot of the movies of its genre. This one tackles a big issue and gets into some character development. It's just that this isn't typically a great style of movie to begin with. We're working within very confining boundaries here.

The movie goes like this: white ballet dancer Sara has to move, for reasons both unfortunate and beyond her control, to live with her long lost father in the Chicago ghetto. She falls in love with Derek (Sean Patrick Thomas), the only black guy in her high school who's going anywhere with his life, and nobody is happy about that - not even Derek's sister Chenille (played by a young but talented Kerry Washington), who's Sara's only friend. Things look bad, but it's not over yet.

However, there is one aspect of the movie that K might appreciate, so I will post about it. (T, now is the time to stop reading, if you haven't already.) Sara's new school is pretty much all black, but for whatever reason, her appearance there does not seem to surprise the student body. Which is kind of cool, and also kind of odd, because I think in real life her appearance would raise some eyebrows. But the serious issue comes out when Sara gets the straight dope, as it were, from Chenille about why everyone has a problem with Sara's relationship with Derek.

Chenille: "You and Derek act like it don't bother people to see you two together. Like it don't hurt people to see."
Sara: "Well we like each other. What is the big damn deal? It's me and him, not us and other people."

Chenille: "Black people Sara. Black women. Derek's about somethin'. He's smart, he's motivated, he's for real. He's not just gonna make some babies and not take care of them, or run the streets messin' up his life. He's gonna make somethin' of himself, and here you come, white so you gotta be right, and you take one of the few decent men we have left after jail, drugs, and drive-bys. That is what Nikki meant about you up in our world.
Sara: "There's only one world, Chenille."
Chenille: "That is what they teach you. We know different."

Now, regardless of your feelings about the statements made, you have to grant that they are pretty thought-provoking, especially for a teen movie. Not the kind of thing you'd expect. Immediately preceding that is a scene with Chenille and her baby daddy, which reveals her life struggles on the other side of that coin.

Kenny: "What's wrong with him?" [Baby screaming in Kenny's arms.]

Chenille: "He don't know you Kenny."
Kenny: "I'm his father, he knows me. What should I do?"
Chenille: "Come around more often."
Kenny: "See, I can't talk to you!"
Chenille: "And I can't depend on you. What do you think I use to raise this baby? Oxygen? He has needs, Kenny, and his needs require money."
Kenny: "Here we go."
Chenille: "And we're gonna keep going until I get what I need from you to raise your son."
Kenny: "I'm doing the best that I can. But do you think that your mouth helps the situation? I'm just tryin' to deal with this shit! I didn't ask for this!"
Chenille: "What? And I did? I climbed on top of myself and got pregnant?"
Kenny: "You know what? I don't have time for this. You want me to take him to my mother's? I'll take him. Now get his shit ready. Get his shit. Get him ready!!"
Chenille: "Oh, no. You not goin' nowhere with my son tonight. Not on that temper, and not with that attitude."
Kenny: "You know what? Fine. Then I won't take him. I'm outta here."
Chenille: "Go ahead, leave. That's what you're good at. Your son ain't seen nothing but your back since he was born!" [Door slams.]

In the special features, there's a similar but deleted scene, which was perhaps replaced by the above fight between Chenille and Kenny. It's less angry, more emotional.

Chenille: "So what, I'm supposed to be happy because you decided to swing through and put a dollar on the table?"

Kenny: "Look, it's more than a dollar, and it's all I got." [Chenille drops the money on the table.] "They cut back on my hours at work Chenille. Money's tight. That's why I ain't been comin' around."
Chenille: "No, money ain't got nothin' to do with it. You don't come around 'cause you don't feel like comin' around. As long as I'm here, you know your son is being taken care of."
Kenny: "That's not true."
Chenille: "We got well baby clinic on Wednesday. You said you would come. You comin'?"
Kenny: "Wednesday? You said Wednesday? Look, the boy ain't sick or dyin' Chenille. It's a check-up!"
Chenille: "Like I said. You do what you gotta do. You ain't got no worries when it comes to him."
Kenny: "And you ain't got no feelings when it comes to me. Yeah, all you do is bitch and complain about what I don't do. And I get tired of that!"
Chenille: "Be tired of it! You ain't gotta see me to see your son."
Kenny: "Yeah, well that'd be a hell of a lot easier."
Chenille: "Then don't see me!"

The conversation continues, and you realize that Chenille is still in love with Kenny, but she knows that he's never going to be there for her and their baby. Tragic.

(Aside: I was googling the movie title to find a picture of the cover to post for you all to see, and I found this San Francisco Chronicle film review. The reviewer has a point that Derek's story is undoubtedly an interesting one which gets overlooked in favor of Sara's, but I especially enjoy how he goes on and on about the racist undertones of the movie, but he can't spell the black dude's name right. It's D-e-r-e-k. It's like he assumes because Derrick Rose and Derrick Thomas are black, that all black people with that name spell it D-e-r-r-i-c-k. Bad journalism. And kind of funny.)

Bottom line: interesting questions asked, but not a good movie. And for a flick called Save the Last Dance, I sure wish there had been more dancing. Although there are about 3 solid minutes of Sara's dance routine at the end - that was the best part!

Dinner at Atlas

Last night we went to Atlas for Dad's birthday dinner, and I have to say that it was an all-around lovely experience. The food was good, the room was cozy, the drinks were tasty. Actually, the place was pretty crowded, considering it was Wednesday. Maybe Wednesday is the new Saturday. Or maybe everyone was just celebrating T's birthday!

For dinner I had the soup of the day, which was a pureed sweet potato soup, followed by the pork medallions with caramelized apples. Turns out red cabbage is pretty darn good! Who knew? And for dessert, K and I split the chocolate cake. How predictable!

Special thanks to K for delivering my gift, as well as her own, with the utmost style. And yes, I'm talking about the frozen peas. All gifts received were consumables, which I strongly support. There was wine, cheese, coffee, and fruit!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Hope you enjoyed your birthday bike ride. See you tonight!

What I Watched -- Moulin Rouge!

This movie is a little bit hard to watch. The cinematography is all over the place - cameras zooming around, lots of flashing lights, camera cuts, bright colors, and fantasy. On the other hand, the sound is great, and there is a fascinating combination of snippets from historical and pop culture. All mixed up into the script of the movie are lines from songs and quotes from plays that you're guaranteed to recognize. It's fun to see if you can name their source - from Madonna to Sting and the Police to Fatboy Slim - as they come whizzing at you, one after another.

As for the plot, it's a love story, and a musical. There's the guy she loves, and the guy who commands her attention, and those are two different guys. Problems ensue. In typical dramatic love story fashion and given that this is a movie musical about actors/singers/writers putting on a play, you can imagine that there is a lot of, as K says, "crying and dying." Drama, drama, everywhere.

It's pretty clear from the beginning how this movie is going to end, so you don't have to pay a whole lot of attention to it. (I didn't.) But it's nonetheless a visually and auditorily engaging experience, if you're into that sort of thing.

Bottom line: if you're looking to engage your brain, do not watch. If you're looking to engage your eyes and ears, go ahead.

What I Watched -- Invictus

I've been wanting to see Invictus since it came out. It's a rugby movie, and I played rugby, so how could I not? They don't make many rugby movies! (Although, in the interest of full disclosure, it took me about three years after Murderball came out to see it, and it's a rugby movie also.)

So I guess how long it took me get around to watching Invictus, is not really the point. The point is that eventually, I did. And it's one of those classicly inspiring sports stories, except that this one has racial and political overtones. Race has been done before: The Hurricane, Remember the Titans (interestingly, both starring Denzel Washington). Heck, even Bring it On was about race. Race is always political, but there are few movies which tie national politics and sports together so closely - at least not that I can come up with off the top of my head. (I'm sure some of you have ideas though! Please comment!)

Which brings us to the plot, in case you don't know it. Picture this: it's the mid 1990s in South Africa. Nelson Mandela has recently been elected president. Apartheid is a not-so-distant memory. Rugby is, for all intents and purposes, a white man's game - and the team is terrible. The nation is not united; deep racial distrust still permeates political offices and stadium bleachers. Amid these divisions, Mandela sees an opportunity. The 1995 World Cup would be in South Africa, the President seizes on rugby as the one thing which everyone can rally around. Thanks to the good sense of team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and the dedication of the entire Springbok team, Mandela and the South African rugby fans cheer their team to success which astonished the world.

So. Great story. Acting? Not so great. Everyone knows I have a crush on Matt Damon, and even I have to say that this is not his best movie. In fairness, though, I watched some of the special features, and he actually does a good job portraying Pienaar as he really is. It's just that how Pienaar really is is awkward and somewhat halting of speech, which does not make for a great movie. And it seems as though Freeman did a good job portraying the actual Mandela (based on videos I've seen), although his slow, soft-spoken nature isn't great for film either. But, it is what it is. Can't change the real people, and kudos to Clint Eastwood for sticking to his guns in the form of an accurate portrayal.

Bottom line: Matt Damon fans should watch. Rugby fans should definitely watch. Actually, sports fans should definitely watch. If you're indifferent as a general statement, let your mood be your guide. If you don't like sports, um, why are you still reading?

My very sad car

Today I was in a car accident. I was pancaked as the third car in a five-car sandwich :-( Three cars were towed to the same tow lot, which happened to be somewhat convenient to my location, so I stopped by to retrieve the contents of my trunk.

Witness the carnage:

My New Dress

I recently bought a dress that looks like this:

Why did I buy this dress? Because it's beautiful. Do I have someplace to wear it? Not yet. But when you have a dress that beautiful, you will find a place to wear it. (Anyone want to take me out?)

Now, to the point of today's post. (Wait, you mean the dress wasn't the point? Okay, fine. Now to the second point of today's post.) I was talking to one of my co-workers, and we were lamenting the lack of formality in society generally. Why is it that no one feels they need to dress up for anything anymore? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy jeans and a t-shirt as much as the next girl, but to the symphony? Really?

I feel that a dress code brings an element of civility and decorum to match the level of attire. A formal dress code will elicit the most restrained and proper behavior, while flip flops and a baseball cap bring with them something entirely different. Either is okay, in the proper setting, but as The Byrds famously paraphrased the Book of Ecclesiastes, 3:1, "to everything there is a season." To every event there is a proper outfit.

My public service announcement/dictate for the day: if you're going to Powell Hall, or The Fox, or a nice dinner, jeans are not acceptable. Give the buildings and/or your company the respect they deserve.

Quote of the Day

"Going to court is almost enough to make you quit the practice of law."
- Me

Did I really do it?

You bet I did! About a week and a half ago, actually. Sorry for the delay.

What do I look like now? If you haven't seen me yet, you'll just have to wait until I go somewhere else and have pictures to post!

Happy Election Day!

I voted. (Yo voté.) Did you?

Reality Check

I found this poem somewhere recently, and determined that it was depressing and hilariously funny at the same time.

"If No-one Ever Marries Me"
by Laurence Alma-Tadema (daughter of artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema)
Written 1897

If no-one ever marries me--
And I don't see why they should,
For nurse says I am not pretty
And I'm seldom very good--

If no one ever marries me
I shan't mind very much;
I shall buy a squirrel in a cage,
And a little rabbit-hutch;

I shall have a cottage near a wood,
And a pony all my own,
And a little lamb, quite clean and tame,
That I can take to town;

And when I'm getting really old,
At twenty-eight or nine--
I shall buy a little orphan girl
And bring her up as mine.

I am 28. I turn 29 soon. Ouch.