Where The Wild Things Are

I rarely like kids' movies, but if this one is anywhere near as good as this trailer I think I am going to love it. 

Spike, you bowl me over every time.

I love my iPhone

So, yes, I am a touchscreen kind of person after all.  

We made the big leap to ATT a week ago and so far I am pleased.

But I am more than pleased with my new iPhone, I love love love it.  

So many things so easy to do, but I want to learn more and better and so will be taking a free class at the local Apple store Saturday. 

In the meantime, I am looking forward to a few extra days off and a big fat book and maybe a couple of movies.

A stay at home weekend

We did nothing this weekend even though we had plans -- a literary festival, a play, a meditation class, dinner with friends.  All went by the wayside because Mark and I were both under the weather.  Colds, and feeling crappy.  So we exchanged our theater tickets and dropped out of everything else.  And did nothing.

Almost.

We did watch the debate Friday evening and we both thought Obama did us proud.

We did watch a movie Saturday evening, Lars and the Real Girl, which was sweet and strange, and enjoyable.

And we did get the fifth new door installed and most of the new hardware too.  There's the new front door handle.  It's really my third choice as the first two I selected seemed to be completely unavailable in any way.  But this is fine.

All the doors and the new frames need staining and painting but we'll hold off on that until after the driveway/retaining wall/front entrace step project is done.  If things go well that will be  a week from now.

We'll see.

But in the meantime, Dexter and Californication start new seasons tonight so, while my head still feels like it's in a vise, I'm kind of happy for a Sunday night.

Learning about foreign policy at the movies

Last weekend we watched In the Valley of Elah.

Last night we watched Rendition.

(photo from Rendition)

Such brave filmmakers.

I am shocked and appalled at the behavior of our country in the world.

We are in desperate need of a change.

The girls are back!

I had the biggest smile on my face when we walked out of the theater after seeing Sex and the City Saturday night. The girls are back and it was great! It doesn't matter to me at all what critics have said about this one. It lived up to the series, it lived up to my expectations, and I loved it completely.

We watched a few movies at home too this weekend.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was disturbing, quirky, interesting and anytime Philip Seymour Hoffman is acting it's worth watching.

Sketches of Frank Gehry was a fascinating documentary, this from someone who avoids nonfiction of all kinds as much as possible. But the man is an artistic genius, and it was poignant to see Sydney Pollack with him, it seemed more like a conversation between friends (which they were, loved the Pollack interview on the DVD) than a portrait of one architect. And it made me want to live in a Gehry building. So you'll know where to find me when I win the lottery....

I also watched a silly little movie on HBO, Music and Lyrics, just something to occupy myself while folding laundry, but I am smitten by Hugh Grant and I don't care if he makes a fool of himself, he still looks great.

5 movies; 1 book

We got a lot accomplished over this three day weekend.
Oh, I did some laundry and cooking and Mark did some work in the yard and the pool. We went into Dunedin for dinner and stopped by Starbucks more than once.
But mostly, we watched movies and we read.
I read Stephen White's new Alan Gregory mystery, Dead Time. I have given up on most of the mystery series I was once addicted to, but I can't let go of either of the Kellermans, nor of this series, which is very reminiscent of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. I couldn't tell you anything about the stories that are the focus of each book, but the ongoing stories of the friends and family surrounding Gregory are good ones, and I'm always glad to get back to these characters.
We watched three DVDs from the library.
Gray Matters was very light and silly, pretty much a waste of time except for the nice NY scenery.
Gone Baby Gone was very good, story and acting, and quite true to the book. I wonder if the rest of the series (I love the Angie and Patrick stories by Dennis Lehane) will turn up on film one of these days.
Elizabeth The Golden Age was another good Elizabeth story with Cate Blanchet, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush. I just love these fancy British historical stories, so full of melodrama and insanity.
We tried to watch Knocked Up on HBO. I don't quite get why anyone who's made it beyond middle school would watch this kind of thing, nor why A. O. Scott gave it a good review. We did not make it more than halfway through.
Best film of the weekend, no competition, was the new HBO movie, Recount. Superb acting and writing and quite a drama even though we know all this stuff. Still shocking, disturbing, amazing.
And here we go again....

It was a very good weekend

Pesto Festo is the big annual fundraiser for Sweetwater Organic Community Farm. Leigh and I (we now share a membership with Jen and Leigh, alternating weeks to pick up) went early to cook but found the cooking pretty much done when we got there. Here are some people finishing up the salad. The tables were ready and waiting.
And the people came and ate. There's Mark and Greg on the right, digesting.
The lines were long and the food was worth it. This year they made some vegan/wheat free pesto -- no cheese in the pesto and long skinny strands of zucchini instead of pasta. Everyone loved it!

There was great ice cream donated by The Old Meeting House for dessert, organic coffee donated by Whole Foods, a silent auction (someone won a trip with Mark on the sailboat he crews on Thursday nights) and live music by the Urban Gypsies.



The next day, Mother's Day, I awoke to a fabulous box of chocolates. I love when the box includes an identification guide.
Plus a gift card to the new chocolate place right near us.

Later we went to the Tampa Theatre to see a very moving film, The Visitor. Highly recommended. Thanks, Mom, for recommending it to us.

And finally, we totally stuffed ourselves at The Melting Pot. It's fun every five years or so.

Movies I saw this week.

We hardly go to see movies at all, much less two in one week, preferring our living room, our nice TV, the company of our dogs. Or live theater. Or a book.
But we had passes to an advance screening of Charlie Wilson's War last Thursday night and since it has Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts, seemed worth a few hours out during the week. And it was. So now I think I finally get what 9/11 was about....
And yet another movie in the same week!
We went to see I'm Not There at the Tampa Theatre yesterday. I thought it was an amazing movie, complex but engrossing, surprising, beautiful, and what a soundtrack. This is definitely one I need to watch more than once, and with commentary.

Interesting rating

Manohla Dargis gave an exceptionally good review to the new film The Savages in today's New York Times. But what I found most interesting is the followup line the paper always includes in film reviews about its rating. "The Savages is rated R (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The film has raw words and open wounds."

What I did Memorial Day Weekend

Read The New York Times where I keep finding more and more feature articles on Web 2.0. Friday, May 25th, for example, Facebook Goes Off Campus and Sunday, May 27th, The Many Tribes of YouTube.

Went to The Subdudes concert (tickets were a thank you gift from the last WMNF fundraiser) at the State Theater in St. Pete, great band, lousy acoustics. The vintage furniture dealers on Central Avenue stayed open late due to the unusually old age of the crowd at the State Theater and yes, we managed to find some comfy rattan chairs that once lived in the Polynesian resort at Disneyworld while we waited on line; now they live by our pool.

Read Black & White by Dani Shapiro, unique characters and thought provoking story about complex family relationships.

Watched Volver; don't get what all the great reviews were about.

Bought new Jimmy Lafave album, Cimarron Manifesto. There's a wonderful new song, This Land, that brings tears to my eyes every time I listen, and I can't stop listening.

Bought new Lucy Kaplansky album, Over the Hills, typical good Lucy, I like the covers better than the original songs this time around. You can listen to her somewhat lusty cover of the June Carter song Johnny Cash made famous, Ring of Fire.

Bought The Invention of Hugo Cabret because I want to read a graphic novel and this seems like one I might actually be able to make it through; love Brian Selznick's illustrations.

Watched A Good Year, light and enjoyable, nothing special, but Russell Crowe is very good to look at.
Read the new Jonathan Kellerman, Obsession, a good, quick, poolside read.

Finished up the long weekend with a great grilled veggies dinner and one final movie, An Unfinished Life, a good, if predictable, story and Morgan Freeman stands out as always.

Three days off is just so much better than two....