Weblog 289
August 28, 2011~ 12:00 am
It happened again. The movie I'd chosen to watch on Saturday evening played halfway through, then stuck-- would not advance beyond a certain glued spot. It's become so annoying with these films on DVD from the library, too many hands passing these along, I suppose. Wayne and I had really gotten into the story, a tale I was familiar with from listening to it as an audio book several years ago, and I'd enjoyed it immensely.
From what we did see, it's a visually stunning film. The beginning with the geisha-to-be as a young girl plays like 'Jane Eyre': an orphan girl who finds herself in inescapable harsh surroundings. She tugs at the heart --misery swimming in her strange, light liquid eyes like minnows.
But the rare moments of joy in her young life are thrilling to see.
The colors are vibrant throughout the film, which is a true joy to watch: deep deep reds and icy blues, saffron yellows, the Japanese countryside drooping in rain, blanketed by snow....
...alas, the rest of the story, from the young girl's 'debut' as a geisha, on... stopped dead in its tracks, my DVD player making a clicking sound. LOL!!! This is par for the course for me recently. I have no luck with these rented or borrowed discs. (When I'm through typing here, I'm gonna give 'Mrs. Harris' a shot. A 2005 HBO production starring Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley. Maybe that one will be fine.)
Everywhere else today, up and down the eastern coastline, Irene is playing havoc. I haven't turned on the tube to watch, but I've read plenty online. Even though Pittsburgh is spared, I'm jittery for the rest of the folks. (Just knowing this stuff is going on-- that a huge evacuation and hardship is playing out for so many of my fellow citizens brings a kind of 'survivor's guilt', so I'm making my own escape) hopefully into another story that will play on my machine, that I can get lost in. What a strange week! With the eastern earthquake (which I DID feel) and the flash floods last week, I have a feeling that if I looked into a crystal ball
I'd see a scary person in there warning everyone to RUN! (From what, TO what, I don't know) but things have been 'hairy' recently. I feel so isolated in the midst of world events that are threatening and killing others
it feels like I'm the only living person in a VAST cemetery. (I suppose my flagging mood persists. Gee, how'd you guess?) I'm definitely plopping the next disc into the machine, hoping to drift into some other story for a time. Then sleep.
(I've been sleeping A LOT, recently. LOL!!) Some nights when I get home from work, it's off to bed I go by 5:30pm, with book in hand, my own version of 'Calgon, take me away.' It's always best to just ride these things out; to give into the mixture of sloth and despair and let it have its way with you. It plays itself out in time. The seesaw comes down on the other side eventually. It always does.
And anyone from the 'wind, rain, tornado-blasted' eastern states...... I pray you'll be safe. This world and its climate has become a bucking bronco ride. NO WONDER I want to escape into a place like 'Geisha Land'. It's prettier. "Person as art"... each movement part of the dance. Practice and precision leading to grace (of which I have none... thus, the fascination.) Stay safe out there.
Well, I just finished watching 'Mrs. Harris'. It played straight through (and the acting was so wonderful, it more than made up for my 'filmus interruptus' from earlier in the evening.) Annette Bening is eerily perfect as the nearly psychotic, perfectionistic, jilted lover of the Scarsdale Diet doctor
played with relish by actor Ben Kingsley, complete with Bronx accent, insufferable hedonism, he was a man with no class whatsoever. Dr. Tarnower -with his gauche tastes, was a womanizer to the bone and probably the last person on earth you'd ever expect to hook up with the likes of a prim, private girl's school headmistress. Bening and Kingsley were completely engaging to watch
as was Cloris Leachman, who plays the 'good doctor's' doting, grieving sister. Much of the film is told through the eyes of the doomed couple's friends and family, with all lesser roles equally enjoyable in a movie filmed like a documentary --but with enough flashback scenes to make it present and real.
I'm so glad I got to watch something straight through for once! Every happy, unstuck minute of it, I was praying my luck would hold, and it did. And it was a humdinger of a movie.
August 29, 2011~ 5:15 pm
Still glorious autumn-like weather today. I have Monday under my belt, and got an email from my buddy Annette that the package she'd sent for my birthday was delivered today to my back porch --(so I had some lovely anticipation during my drive home.) I just LOVE to get packages in the mail, don't you?
When I pulled into the carport, there it was, sitting brown and mysterious, propped against the screen door. When I opened it, I was so DELIGHTED!
An oriental poster on stiffened board, with glittery touches and the sweet sentiment, "You Are A Rare Bird" written across the lower border. (My photo doesn't do it justice... not at all. It's the softest, tulip-y pink, and the wings GLITTER.) I'll hang it up here shortly, to remind myself that no matter how droopy my own wings feel, someone sees me as a glittery pastel, magical thing! LOL!!! Thank you, Netto! Your wonderful gift cheered me greatly.... and that's the best way to top off a Monday. With a grin and a warmed heart.
August 31, 2011~ 6:30 pm
Havin' a bad day? May I recommend a HEALTHY PORTION OF......
Cool Hand Luke?
It was just at the ass-end of a looooooong day at work and I'd about reached the edges of my endurance after dealing with a royal clusterF*CK (that now entails a mandatory 'all-day work day' on Saturday as well) and I went outside for a last smoke before wrapping things up. A co-worker came out too. Out of the blue, he started rattling off lines from 'Cool Hand Luke' and made me howl. (It's one of my favorite movies.)
LOL!!! Dan had the southern accent down and everything perfect. (I had to look those lines up, but he had 'em down.) I said, "What'd you do? Memorize that movie?" I just laughed and went back inside but it was just the boost I needed.
On the drive home I kept my eyes peeled for some parking meters, but found nary a one. (I'd have taken them out, too!)
It's absolutely TRUE..... laughter IS the best medicine. (And.....thank you, Dan.)
***
(Return To Weekly Archives)
It happened again. The movie I'd chosen to watch on Saturday evening played halfway through, then stuck-- would not advance beyond a certain glued spot. It's become so annoying with these films on DVD from the library, too many hands passing these along, I suppose. Wayne and I had really gotten into the story, a tale I was familiar with from listening to it as an audio book several years ago, and I'd enjoyed it immensely.
From what we did see, it's a visually stunning film. The beginning with the geisha-to-be as a young girl plays like 'Jane Eyre': an orphan girl who finds herself in inescapable harsh surroundings. She tugs at the heart --misery swimming in her strange, light liquid eyes like minnows.
But the rare moments of joy in her young life are thrilling to see.
The colors are vibrant throughout the film, which is a true joy to watch: deep deep reds and icy blues, saffron yellows, the Japanese countryside drooping in rain, blanketed by snow....
...alas, the rest of the story, from the young girl's 'debut' as a geisha, on... stopped dead in its tracks, my DVD player making a clicking sound. LOL!!! This is par for the course for me recently. I have no luck with these rented or borrowed discs. (When I'm through typing here, I'm gonna give 'Mrs. Harris' a shot. A 2005 HBO production starring Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley. Maybe that one will be fine.)
Everywhere else today, up and down the eastern coastline, Irene is playing havoc. I haven't turned on the tube to watch, but I've read plenty online. Even though Pittsburgh is spared, I'm jittery for the rest of the folks. (Just knowing this stuff is going on-- that a huge evacuation and hardship is playing out for so many of my fellow citizens brings a kind of 'survivor's guilt', so I'm making my own escape) hopefully into another story that will play on my machine, that I can get lost in. What a strange week! With the eastern earthquake (which I DID feel) and the flash floods last week, I have a feeling that if I looked into a crystal ball
I'd see a scary person in there warning everyone to RUN! (From what, TO what, I don't know) but things have been 'hairy' recently. I feel so isolated in the midst of world events that are threatening and killing others
it feels like I'm the only living person in a VAST cemetery. (I suppose my flagging mood persists. Gee, how'd you guess?) I'm definitely plopping the next disc into the machine, hoping to drift into some other story for a time. Then sleep.
(I've been sleeping A LOT, recently. LOL!!) Some nights when I get home from work, it's off to bed I go by 5:30pm, with book in hand, my own version of 'Calgon, take me away.' It's always best to just ride these things out; to give into the mixture of sloth and despair and let it have its way with you. It plays itself out in time. The seesaw comes down on the other side eventually. It always does.
And anyone from the 'wind, rain, tornado-blasted' eastern states...... I pray you'll be safe. This world and its climate has become a bucking bronco ride. NO WONDER I want to escape into a place like 'Geisha Land'. It's prettier. "Person as art"... each movement part of the dance. Practice and precision leading to grace (of which I have none... thus, the fascination.) Stay safe out there.
Well, I just finished watching 'Mrs. Harris'. It played straight through (and the acting was so wonderful, it more than made up for my 'filmus interruptus' from earlier in the evening.) Annette Bening is eerily perfect as the nearly psychotic, perfectionistic, jilted lover of the Scarsdale Diet doctor
played with relish by actor Ben Kingsley, complete with Bronx accent, insufferable hedonism, he was a man with no class whatsoever. Dr. Tarnower -with his gauche tastes, was a womanizer to the bone and probably the last person on earth you'd ever expect to hook up with the likes of a prim, private girl's school headmistress. Bening and Kingsley were completely engaging to watch
as was Cloris Leachman, who plays the 'good doctor's' doting, grieving sister. Much of the film is told through the eyes of the doomed couple's friends and family, with all lesser roles equally enjoyable in a movie filmed like a documentary --but with enough flashback scenes to make it present and real.
I'm so glad I got to watch something straight through for once! Every happy, unstuck minute of it, I was praying my luck would hold, and it did. And it was a humdinger of a movie.
August 29, 2011~ 5:15 pm
Still glorious autumn-like weather today. I have Monday under my belt, and got an email from my buddy Annette that the package she'd sent for my birthday was delivered today to my back porch --(so I had some lovely anticipation during my drive home.) I just LOVE to get packages in the mail, don't you?
When I pulled into the carport, there it was, sitting brown and mysterious, propped against the screen door. When I opened it, I was so DELIGHTED!
An oriental poster on stiffened board, with glittery touches and the sweet sentiment, "You Are A Rare Bird" written across the lower border. (My photo doesn't do it justice... not at all. It's the softest, tulip-y pink, and the wings GLITTER.) I'll hang it up here shortly, to remind myself that no matter how droopy my own wings feel, someone sees me as a glittery pastel, magical thing! LOL!!! Thank you, Netto! Your wonderful gift cheered me greatly.... and that's the best way to top off a Monday. With a grin and a warmed heart.
August 31, 2011~ 6:30 pm
Havin' a bad day? May I recommend a HEALTHY PORTION OF......
It was just at the ass-end of a looooooong day at work and I'd about reached the edges of my endurance after dealing with a royal clusterF*CK (that now entails a mandatory 'all-day work day' on Saturday as well) and I went outside for a last smoke before wrapping things up. A co-worker came out too. Out of the blue, he started rattling off lines from 'Cool Hand Luke' and made me howl. (It's one of my favorite movies.)
Captain, Road Prison 36: Now, I can be a good guy, or I can be one real mean sum-bitch.
Boss: That ditch is Boss Kean's ditch. And I told him that dirt in it's your dirt. What's your dirt doin' in his ditch?
Luke: I don't know, Boss.
Boss: You better get in there and get it out, boy.
Boss: I'm just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.
Luke: Nah - calling it your job don't make it right, Boss.
Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Dragline: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
Society Red: You just said he could eat anything.
Dragline: Did you ever eat fifty eggs?
Luke: Nobody ever eat fifty eggs.
Prisoner: Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
Loudmouth Steve: Yeah, but in how long?
Luke: A hour.
Society Red: Well, I believe I'll take part of that wager.
LOL!!! Dan had the southern accent down and everything perfect. (I had to look those lines up, but he had 'em down.) I said, "What'd you do? Memorize that movie?" I just laughed and went back inside but it was just the boost I needed.
On the drive home I kept my eyes peeled for some parking meters, but found nary a one. (I'd have taken them out, too!)
It's absolutely TRUE..... laughter IS the best medicine. (And.....thank you, Dan.)
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