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Thursday, December 13, 2012
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout
If Death Ever Slept is another Nero Wolfe mystery by the masterful Rex Stout. Archie is sent undercover into the home of a millionaire who suspects his daughter-in-law of being a ‘snake’, and before too long there’s a body or two laying around to get the plot rolling. Few complaints here, as Stout is rarely off the mark as a writer and his prose zings as expected, and the plot was sharp, *but * I do think they wrapped this one up at warp speed and without making a convincing case for guilt. Grade: B+
Smiley's 1st Reconciliation
Tuesday December 11th was a big day for Smiley,
as he had his First Reconciliation (Confession), the immediate precursor to
receiving his First Holy Communion.
The ceremony was held at 6 pm in church, so first it was a
full day of school followed by dinner. As a treat I did allow him unfettered
access to the computer, keeping his sisters at bay until it was time to leave.
Smiley decked himself out in his nice white shirt (the same one he wore on
Thanksgiving) and a pair of dark pants, and off we went.
On the way into the church we were greeted by his religious
ed teacher, who also taught YaYa and Lulu. “Round Three!” Lisa said, getting a
warm smile in return.
Fourteen other kids had their First Reconciliation that day.
There was a small ceremony, with a gospel reading (Luke 15:7, if memory serves) a
short homily and some responsorial questions. Then, one by one, parents walked
their kid to the confessional, introduced him to Fr. Spitz (I did the honors,
calling Smiley by his first and middle name) and then stepping outside into the
hall.
Lisa jokingly tried to listen at the door, but it was no
dice.
Smiley had been nervous in the ten minutes before it was his
turn, growing anxious and even a little short at the end (he’s a little me),
but it went quickly and he emerged quite happy. Really, how could you screw up?
Not sin?
We took a photo in the hall, and he was given a button, a
certificate, and a candle that we then lit and placed in front of the altar.
Less than half an hour later everyone was done, and after chatting briefly with
Father Spitz and reclaiming the candle, we headed down to the church hall for
cake and punch.
After that we stepped over to Walmart where we bought Smiley
a much needed pair of shoes (two, actually, for $15 total) and a pair of
pajama’s for him to wear to Pajama Day at school next week. We buy the kid pj’s
twice a year, once for Christmas and once for Pajama Day. The rest of the year
he sleeps in shorts and a t-shirt, so to my mind it’s a dang fine waste of $10,
but such is the price of keeping up with societal expectations.
Congratulations BuddyBuddy! Mom and I are sooooooo proud of
you!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Movie News and Reviews
Don’t get too worked up, because it doesn’t involve a
birth/marriage/raise/Grammy nomination, but awesome news all the same! Thirty
plus years ago my Grandpa and I sat down and watched a wicked action flick
called “Dark of the Sun” starring Rod
Taylor. Once Grandpa passed, I spent twenty plus years trying to track down the
title of the movie, then found it wasn’t on DVD and was out of print on tape. I
found a VHS copy in the library system, only to rent it and find out the video
was damaged and unwatchable. End of story. Until . . . last night at work a
supervisor hands me a copy of Entertainment Weekly and on page 59 is an unmistakable
picture from the film – Taylor fighting a chainsaw wielding opponent! The
remastered film (which counts Quentin Tarantino as a fan) is now available on
DVD solely through Warner Archive on its direct order website
warnerarchive.com. You can bet that
after the holidays I’ll be buying a copy of this, and hopefully watching it
with my Smiley (if it isn’t as violent as I remember; Grandpa had rather poor judgment on what was
age-appropriate to watch)
Also out on DVD – Doctor
Detroit, a cheesy Dan Aykroyd comedy about a college professor who
moonlights as a pimp with a metal hand. I loved this as a kid (again, it wasn’t
age appropriate). What I remember most is a scene where Aykroyd turns down the
services of a drunk, down on his luck lawyer.
The scene tore me apart, and I cried and told my Grandparent’s that I
wish we could go buy the lawyer some groceries, because he looked like he
needed someone’s help. What can I say – I was a sappy, Smiley-like kid.
Men in Black 3 was
pretty darn good. The plot is pretty simple, but unique enough to justify
returning to what I’d consider a dead in the water franchise. Agent J travels
back in time to 1969 to stop another time-traveler from killing Agent K and
triggering an interstellar invasion. Kudos to Josh Brolin on a masterful job
channeling Tommy Lee Jones, and while I saw the “emotional” plot point at the
end from a mile away, the film as a whole was entertaining and great popcorn
viewing. Grade: B+
What are the the best magazines in the world? I can’t answer
that, by can tell you which ones are my favorites: Smithsonian, Entertainment Weekly, Archeology, and (a distant
fourth) Biblical Archeology.
A Bad Day
So far today: my car battery died after work but the repair shop doesn't have the size in stock and won't until early afternoon. My watch stopped too, and my cell phone is acting up. YaYa came home sick from school in what I am certain is a deliberate attempt by the universe to scratch any attempt to enjoy what little remains of the day with my wife. Oh, and then when I had YaYa carry out a bag of garbage it broke all over the sidewalk and she refused to pick it up until I threatened all manner of terror. I have also not slept in close to 20 hours, and won't have the chance to for another four or five hours. Miserable, miserable day. Happy 12/12/12!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
A Princess in Peril, a World about to End, and a guy in a rubber suit. Star Wars? Nope just three reviews (and Vader wore leather, not rubber. Pay attention.)
A few nights ago a friend sat me down to watch The Princess Bride, a movie I’d never
seen in its entirety. I knew the basic premise, and I knew it was written by
screenwriting legend William Goldman (Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and The
Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men), but the rest of it was new to me.
So what did I think? I liked it, but only in a ho-hum, “that
was a pleasant way to pass the time” manner.
There were a lot of pluses, to be sure. Top to bottom it was a great
cast, with Robin Wright’s pure beauty and Mandy Patinkin’s awesome talent
headlining the list for me. I thought the story itself was good, although
certainly nothing original. I like that the special effects were pretty
non-existent, which is refreshing to eyes that are sick of CGI. The interaction
between the grandpa and his grandson was sweet.
The bad? Well there was no ‘bad’, just ‘less good’. As I said, the story wasn’t original in the
least, and I’m in the distinct minority in saying that the humor largely
distracted me from what little story
there was on screen. And while I raved
about the cast a paragraph ago, in truth I found Cary Elwes’ portrayal of
Wesley to be too over the top for my liking.
I’m fully aware that I come off as a joykill, but I rate
this a B-
Seeking a Friend for
the End of the World is a bittersweet little dramedy starring Steve Carell
and Keira Knightley as two neighbors who spend the last few days of mankind on
a quest to fulfill their last wishes: his to confess his feelings for his true
love and Knightley to find a plane to carry her home to her parents one last
time. Whether they reach their goals is
beside the point, as the experience changes them in ways neither could have foreseen.
A friend asked me if this was like Melancholia, and other than the impending doom of planet Earth, I
told her no, it isn’t ; Melancholia
was a festering heap of hopelessness, not just for the future but for the
present and the past – nothing mattered, and nothing ever would. It dang near drove me into waking off a short
pier. This is in many ways the opposite. The future is non-existent, but that
fact is almost secondary to, well, everything.
What’s important is that the few days they have left are spent making the
whole of their lives accumulate some value beyond just ‘being’, and so, even as
disaster looms, I think this film resonates with the wonder of life.
I enjoyed it, and despite some noticeable flaws, I’d rate it
an A-
Finally, Lisa and I finished watching Season 1 of American Horror Story on Netflix. I don’t think it quite lived up to the hype
my friends piled on it, or the critical acclaim it racked up, but given the
mountains of each saying it wasn’t tip-top still means it was grand.
At first I was put out by how often the show plagiarized
real-life tragedies – Columbine, Richard Speck, the Lindbergh kidnapping – but
then Lisa, in her wisdom, pointed out they were key tragedies of American life
and thus part of the mosaic of an American
horror story. Smart girl that one,
but I will argue that the appearance of the Black Dahlia herself was too much,
no matter the scholastic interpretation.
Still, bit by bit as the storyline evolved I was drawn in,
and had the series ended after episode 11 (the birth), I’d have walked away
saying “wow”. The final episode, which seems written just to force a “happy
ending”, felt contrived to me and watered
down the whole. In fact, I think if you trimmed the fat this 12 episode
(mini)series would have been tighter and cleaner at 8 or 9 hours of TV, but
that’s splitting hairs. There were plenty of great twists and turns (Violet’s
status, for instance) to keep us all from grabbing the remote.
[Special kudos to Evan Peters, who played Tate. He’s a
wonderful actor, and I expect we’ll see more of him in the future]
Grade: B+
The Empire Strikes Back
The three youngest kids and I sat down and watched "The Empire Strikes Back" this evening. Because the prequel story-lines are what are pushed on Smiley's generation, the "I am your father" line wasn't as impactful as I thought it would be; he was still visibly upset, but only because it was the first time he had concrete evidence that the hero he roots for in "Clone Wars" turns evil.
What was great to see was his reaction to Vader cutting off Luke's hand - Smiley gasped and covered his mouth with both hands in stunned disbelief. :)
Sunday, December 9, 2012
I Think It Is, Come to Think of It
I know this is slightly insane, but I think the highlight of my life to date - yes, possibly THE highlight - might just be meeting Jimmy Page in 2000.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
A New WNBA Star In the Making!
Just after returning from a three day vacation with a friend at Christmas Mountain, LuLu played in her first basketball game for the Cudahy Girls Basketball Club. She did well - much better than I expected based on my own time in grade school basketball.
She led the team in rebounding and twice stole the ball, once running it all the way across the court to her own basket. There were better players on the court, but not by leaps and bounds, and none were nearly as beautiful.
Well done LuLu!
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