d_trektone_w

More relaxed now (though I haven't tasted the absinthe ... yet). Work was not fun last week. I'm taking time off and won't be back to work until January 2.

In looking back on intermittent recent posts, I noticed I hadn't mentioned movies I'd seen. Haven't been to that many since 30 Days of Night (that I saw again and with rabbijeffty.

For The Bible Tells Me So. A documentary that looked at homosexuality and Christianity/the Bible, with the stories of five families told in a somewhat interwoven fashion. The scholarly interviews were more interesting to me than the family interviews, though I'd previously heard or read some of the arguments by and responses to what often seemed to me to be anti-gay bias using Bible scripture.

Enchanted. Saw this w/bf2007. What a fun movie! I really enjoyed it and would see it again. It was a kick that Edina Menzel and Tonya Pinkins were in the movie, and a bummer that neither sang in the movie, at least that I recall. Susan Sarandon seemed to be reveling her over-the-top part.

Lust, Caution. The latest movie by Ang Lee, the director of The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman (and a few others), made me hope for great food scenes. Nope. I keep thinking about the movie anyway. I wouldn't call it a fun show, but what I did like was the acting, especially by Tang Wei and Tony Leung (who was so good in In the Mood for Love and 2046) and the gorgeous cinematography. The sex scenes were very intense, graphic (almost porno-) and sometimes sad and creepy. The mah-jongg scenes were also intense, but rather more enjoyable to watch. My awareness of Japanese occupation of China in the WW II timeframe was vague at best and this film added to my growing list of historical events to catch up on.

All in this Tea. This documentary by local film maker Les Blank is about a tea importer, David Lee Hoffman, whom Blank saw at an arts and crafts fair and got to know. I went to a screening of the movie where Blank was in attendance to speak and do a Q & A. The focus was on Hoffman's efforts to discover tea farmers in China and to get the teas to the U.S. without the interference of the big business importers who have a vested interest in the commercial product and not the hand-crafted, artisanal teas Hoffman was looking for. I bought the DVD and look forward to watching it with my sister, who's even more into the Chinese greens and oolongs than I am. Hey, I'm sipping on a Lu'an Gua Pian right now.

I thought I saw at least one more, but can't remember.

So far, this Labor Day weekend has gotten off to a good start. Last night, despite feeling a bit tired, I saw "The Bourne Ultimatum" before I left San Francisco for home. It was fun, but for some reason I kept getting pulled out of the movie, thinking "Joan Allen is such a good actress -- is she really invested that scene?" or "David Strathairn is usually excellent -- why is this such a shallow character? Was it written this way?" and so on.

[One thing I've found: w/the iPhone I'm spending less time managing personal e-mail at home since I'm able to catch up while waiting for public transportation and such. Yay! I'm also using the camera function more than with my other cell because it's so easy to sync up and use (the Verizon service I have on the other phone only allows pics to be e-mailed). In the end I guess I'm paying for the downloadability anyway, but it's simple and convenient. Anyway ...]

When I got home I finished up the bottle of Himmelswein from Montelle Winery (white wine grape, sweet, easy to drink -- thanks pezazul!) I opened earlier this week. While watching U.S. Open tennis I videotaped, I pulled out my mountain dulcimer and started playing around with it. I'd been thinking about it earlier this year, around the same time I got hit with a bit of bouzouki lust again, and remembered it again while cleaning a couple of weeks ago. Went to bed thinking about chord inversions.

It was great to be able to read in bed after waking up this morning. Usually it's get up, take a shower and get to work or other tasks. It's been feeling like "go go go" in recent weeks so being lazy was nice. After finishing the book, I watched more U.S. Open tennis.

Went to the farmer's market in the lovely warm (not too hot) weather. Didn't get ice cream. Figs! Three kinds! Peaches and nectarines still looked yum, too. When I stopped by the goat cheese stall, the guy asked about mom -- that was so nice of him!



Then more watching tennis and dulcimer-ing (a separate post about the latter will happen).

I'll need to do some work this weekend, but I think I'll get into it tomorrow. Maybe a movie tonight.

Glad to get to the end of the week. Hasn't been much fun. Working too much because I've been feeling guilty about not accomplishing much for a new project. Sore throat on Wednesday, sniffling-turned-to-head-cold yesterday. Bleah.

A friend at work, JD, whom I've known for at least a decade, has been having a tough several months. An only child, she's been taking care of her parents who've been having more and more health issues. They all live in San Francisco, but she has her own apartment. Her mom was diagnosed with lung (?) cancer in July and went downhill very quickly. JD had gone on a family leave just before Thanksgiving. She called me on Tuesday to let me know her mom passed that morning. I hope JD is able to take her time for herself now, since she'd been trying to do so much herself, despite her circle of friends volunteering to help.

For me, last weekend was very enjoyable. Took mom up to spend several days with sis at her place in the Sierra Foothills. All things considered, the drive up and back was okay (despite traffic in both directions and icky rain on the return). We mostly just hung out and ate and talked. Mom is definitely slowing down, sleeping more, and forgetting recent events, which I mentioned before.

We were in good spirits the entire time and, in a surprise us kids, agreed to see not one, but two movies in theaters! She had not wanted to go with us the last few years. Her assisted care group was taken to "March of the Penguins" last year and she grumped about being forced to go even as she said she ended up liking the movie but remembering the sad parts more than the happy ones. We gave mom a couple of choices and she opted for another penguin extravaganza, "Happy Feet." Afterward she said she it was too loud in parts so she covered her ears, but it was still fun. Yay! And mentioned she'd go to the other one we suggested, so we Bond-ed the next night! (Yes, debmats, I saw it again, but this time without the alcohol beforehand and still really liked it, though the slow parts felt slower. Daniel Craig, though, definitely works for me. Hee!)

I look forward to seeing more movies with mom (& sis) in the future!

(And speaking of booze, mom surprised sis & me again by happily partaking of a flight of red wines we shared one dinner out. It used to be that mom would take one or two sips of a regular red and then ask for something sweeter. Not sure what to make of this development. She was pleased with an ice wine I brought as well. I'm sure we'll deal.)

Anyway, back to bed to get well.

Ethan Green movie

The LGBT film festival showing had been sold out, so I'm glad it will be playing somewhere in San Francisco, even if it is the Lumiere.

Date movie? Hmmm, maybe not.

With mom's health situation stabilized for now (and at least somewhat known, I hope), I've been trying to catch up with folks and stuff in general. So here's some lj catch-up:
( Dating? And ketch-up? )

http://www.oscar.com/nominees/list.html


Later this week I'll post my favorite movies of last year.

Saw "The Brothers Grimm" last night, courtesy of Chris F, my long-time movie-going bud (since ... wow, '77). I liked it a lot. Funny, silly, creepy. Was most impressed with Heath Ledger, who was awkward, sincere, and wacky. The last movie I saw him in was "The Order," a bad, dumb, waste-of-time for me. Looking forward to "Brokeback Mountain." Matt Damon, who wore too much clothing for my taste, had some accent-wander but also my favorite line (paraphrased): "It's not magic, it's just shiny!"

This write-up reminded me I hadn't posted about the few movies I've seen the last couple of months.

A couple of weeks ago I saw the new Bill Murray flick, "Broken Flowers." I admit it's because I missed the "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" showing by a few minutes and wanted to see something. Glad I saw it, but after thinking about it for a while, I realized despite the humor and oddness, it was a fairly sad, poignant film. Murray, Jeffrey Wright (love him!), Sharon Stone, Jessica Lange and Tilda Swinton all left strong impressions. I know more than a couple people who would not like the ending; it is neither happy nor "sad."

Before that I saw "Fantastic Four" and enjoyed it. The changes from the comic book were acceptable to me. There were some minor continuity annoyances and places where it looked really cheesy, but I liked the interactions of Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis, who felt like the "Ben Grimm" I remembered. Wasn't crazy about either Jessica Alba or Julian McMahon.

Must get to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" soon. Others I'm interested in: "2046" (yay for Wong Kar-Wai), "Mad Hot Ballroom," "The Aristocrats," "The Cave," and maybe "Murderball." "Eternal" and "Matando Cabos" on the way. "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" trailer was shown last night and looked promising.

Hmm, there's a fundraiser on 8/31 at The Metreon where someone or another will be showing "Harold and Maude" for $5/seat. Need to look into this.