Valkyre

Big Fish

Me, and my daughters, Amanda and Teresa, went and saw this yesterday. We all really, really liked it. Loved it, in fact! We were all crying by the end. I am hoping that it will get nominated for some Oscars. But, there will be some heavy competition this year. And, I haven't seen some of the other contenders to compare it to. I've heard that, Lost in Translation, is really good. And, Bill Murray got the Golden Globe for that, yesterday. And, Lord of the Rings won quite a few Golden Globes too. Whether is does that well at the Academy Awards will have to be seen. I've also heard that House of Sand and Fog is really good to. They will announce the nominations tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

The Yearling

"Mom!? If you know that this movie is going to make you cry; Why do you watch it?" Teresa, our youngest, asked me that last night as I watched this movie again. I love this movie! Even though, when it's over, I am reduced to a big crybaby. It was made in 1946, and stars Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman Jr. as Jody. This movie came out before Old Yeller, but the ending is pretty much the same. A young boy has to kill his beloved pet. Every time it comes on TV, I watch it. It came on our local Public Television station last night, so I got to watch it commercial free. I need to get this one on DVD. Then, I can cry more often.

Who Needs Keys!? I Have Channel Locks!

We are supposed to have two sets of keys for all the cars. But, Mike misplaced a set to the Camaro a few months ago, and has yet to go down to the locksmith to get copies made. I drove the car on Sunday, with the remaining set. Come Monday, though, and Mike couldn't find them. I had neglected to hang them up. He didn't mention it to me until last night. I swore I had hung them back up on their hook after I drove up on Sunday. But, they weren't there. They weren't on the floor underneath. I checked my purse and the usual places where I usually absentmindedly drop the keys. Like, the end table on the couch and my computer desk. No keys. "Hmmmm..... I could have left them in the car...." I said to Mike. But, I didn't go out and check last night. On the way out this morning, I peeked in the passenger side window and see them sitting on the passenger seat where I had left them since Sunday. I took Teresa to school and come back home, instead of going to work. Now that I knew that they were there, I didn't want to leave them sitting there all day. I called Mike on his cell, but hit his voice mail. I told him where the keys were. Since I couldn't get ahold of him, I would have to figure out a way to get the keys out myself. Unfortunately, for me, I had put different door lock knobs on the car a long time ago. The long, straight, narrow kind that you cannot slip a coat hanger or wire around. Fortunately, for me, the driver's side window was cracked open about 3/4". Too narrow for me to put my arm down. I tried to pull the glass out a little to see if I could force my arm down. No go. Hmmmmm.... I thought about it for awhile. I wonder if I could channel locks down there? I go look in Mike's tool box, hoping that there is a pair of channel locks in there. There should be about 3 pairs, but they always seem to be missing. But, this morning, the gods were smiling on me. There was a pair of channel locks in the top of the tool box. I grabbed them and brought them out to the car. I pulled the glass out as far as it would go, and lowered the channel locks carefully onto the end of the door lock. Clamped down and pulled. Viola! The lock popped up! Woo hoo! I was so proud of myself. I called Mike on the cell and told him that I was able to break into the car without him having to come down. Now, the keys are hanging on the hook, where I should have originally put them on Sunday.

Billy Elliot

I loved this movie!!! We watched it last night. It was on my rental queue over at Netflix. If you want an idea what it is about, I will paste the review from Amazon's site here. They describe it better than I could:

Amazon.com video review: Foursquare in the gritty-but-heartwarming tradition of Brassed Off and The Full Monty comes Billy Elliot, the first film from noted British theatrical director Stephen Daldry. The setting is County Durham in 1984, and things "up north" are even grimmer than usual: the miners' strike is in full rancorous swing, and 11-year-old Billy's dad and older brother, miners both, are on the picket lines. Billy's got problems of his own. His dad has scraped together the fees to send him to boxing lessons, but Billy has discovered a different aptitude: a genius for ballet dancing. Since admitting to such an activity is tantamount, in this fiercely macho culture, to holding up a sign reading "I Am Gay," Billy keeps it quiet. But his teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters, wearily undaunted), thinks he should audition for ballet school in London. Family ructions are inevitable.

Daldry's film sidesteps some of the politics, both sexual and otherwise, but scores with its laconic dialogue (credit to screenwriter Lee Hall) and a cracking performance from newcomer Jamie Bell as Billy. His powerhouse dance routines, more Gene Kelly than Nureyev, carry an irresistible sense of exhilaration and self-discovery. Among a flawless supporting cast, Stuart Wells stands out as Billy's sweet gay friend Michael. And if the miners' strike serves largely as background color, the brief episode when visored and truncheon-wielding cops rampage through neat little terraced houses captures one of the most spiteful episodes in recent British history. --Philip Kemp, Amazon.co.uk

Monday, January 19, 2004

How A Dishwasher Really Works!

My sister sent this to me in my e-mail today. I thought it was cute.

Geez! I'm Dangerous!

I was thinking of titling this, "A Bloody Weekend". But, I thought that sounded more like a Monday newspaper headline describing the weekends gang shootings. Anyway, I managed to cut myself pretty bad, on both Saturday and Sunday:

The first image is a shot of a cut I got on the back of my right hand, just below the middle finger. I managed to bang into the edge of a piece of aluminum, while I was a work, and it cut the back of my hand like a very sharp knife. It started to bleed pretty bad. I washed it out, and clamped a paper towel on it to staunch the bleeding. The owner's daughter suggested I try styptic powder, which is what they put on the dog's claws, if they trim too far down and they start bleeding. She read the package and it didn't state that it was for humans, but there were no warnings against it. So, she poured some on my wound, and I used a clean part of the paper towel to push it into the cut. It worked!

The second wound is from yesterday (Sunday). I was washing dishes (still haven't got the dishwasher). I shoved the rag down inside the glass to the bottom and started turning the glass. This is how I've always done it, to clean the bottom of the glass. Suddenly, I heard a plink and realized too late, that there must have been some sort of flaw in the glass and the pressure from my hand made a triangular piece go flying off, while I was still turning the glass. So, the glass cut into my finger. This one bled as bad as the one yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn't have any styptic powder around. So, I used a band-aid, put on tightly, to stem the flow. That worked okay. Now, you can see the ugly wound I got on my left ring finger.

Mike happened to be out when I was washing the dishes. So, I called him on the cell and asked him to stop at the grocery store and get a nice scrubbing brush specifically for scrubbing glasses. He found one, bought it, and brought it home. So, at least until I get a dishwasher, I shouldn't sustain any more cuts along those lines.

Funny Cartoon

I thought this was rather amusing. Someone accidentally sent it to me via e-mail. I told them that they had got the wrong Wendy, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Trainspotting

Let me start out by saying that I like twisted dark movies. This one was billed as a comedy, but, it is a black comedy. I liked it, though it made me uncomfortable in a way. I had this one on my rental queue over at Netflix, and I finally received it and got around to watching it last night. It's about a group of friends who live in Scotland. Not all of them are addicted to heroin. Some of them have other, addictions (one, to starting bar fights....) Anyone who says that it "glorifies" drug use is wrong, at least as far as I'm concerned. It shows just how far a hard core addict will go to get their next fix. Coincidentally, the next movie on my queue is one called Requiem For a Dream, which is along the same theme.

Scotch and a Sore Throat

So, Mike and I were talking about his love of Scotch. He likes straight malt scotches, no blends, the older, the better. I once went to Costco, once, years ago, and spent half an hour poring over their stock of scotch brands to pick one out for him. I wrote off Chivas Regal immediately and was looking at all the other brands. They had some blends that were older, but I knew he didn't like blends. The only straight malt scotch I figured met his criteria was a brand called Oban. The Oban was a a 14 year old scotch. He liked the Oban, said it was quite nice. Well, later on, his brother went to Scotland and brought home the bottle in the image above. You can see when he brought it home. 2002. You can also see the year it was distilled, 1959. (The age is barrel time. Mike thinks it's about a 30 year old) And, you can see how little Mike has consumed over the years. Anyway, Mike and I were talking, and he was going on and on about how great it was. He said it's like tasting a "walk in the fog". I had had a sore throat all day. It wasn't the usual, dry weather, type scratchy throat. More, like the "I am going to get a nasty cold" type sore throat. The kids where your throat feels all hot, sore and swollen, deep down. "I bet a drink of that scotch might make my throat feel better!", I said. I'm not a scotch drinker, but the way Mike was describing how it goes down, made it sound good. He poured a small amount into a glass. He told me to sip it, let it sit on my tongue and roll back. I did exactly what he said. It felt real good on my sore throat. It made me feel a little better. It wasn't enough to get me drunk, so that wasn't the reason I felt better. It was just real soothing on my sore throat. It's not a cure that I recommend though.

1 down 59 to go

I sent off the first car payment a few days ago and the check cleared today. I'm paying a little more than required with each installment. There is no pre-payment penalty. So, hopefully, I can get it paid off sooner than 5 years.

New Years Day 2004

Well, Mike and I watched just enough of the rebroadcast of, Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, to see the ball drop in Times Square at midnight. Then, we crawled off to bed. Today, I will start taking down the Christmas decorations around the house, which has always been a tradition here. I have the Pasadena, Tournament of Roses parade going on the TV in the background. I glance up occasionally to look at some of the nicer floats. Other than that, I will be taking it easy.