Message 346

Yesterday Vanessa made lunch for everyone and I went with her and Annie and their neighbor Daniella(a neighbor who has a weekly play exchange with Annie) to Fremont Park (at the end of Claire Place). Afterward I came home and watched a DVD of The Bride of Frankenstein. It turns out there were only two movies on the Frankenstein disk. I rate both Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein as four stars. These movies were made before I was born, but I was familiar with the derivitave movies like Abot and Costello meet Frankenstein which I saw when I was in grade school. I was especially interested to see Elsa Lanchester who I had always heard about.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie For a Few Dollers More. It is the second of the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western trio. I give it three stars. I still have not seen the third of the trio.

Message 345

Yesterday I picked Beech up at home and took him to McDonalds for lunch and to his gymnastics class. I usually pick him up at school, but he is showing some signs of psychic trauma since his teeth were pulled, and he had refused to go to school. He just wants to hang around the house with Annie and his mother. I had to drive down to Mountain View and pick up my catheter and related supplies and asked if he would like to come along for the ride with me, but he said he would rather go back home.

Last night I started watching a Netflix disk with all the Frankenstein movies on it. I have not finished it yet, so I will wait until I do before I rate it.

Charlie Rose last night spent the hour talking to Bill Gates and his dad, who has just published a book. It was a good show.

Message 344

Yesterday Vanessa made sandwiches and I went with her and the kids to Nealon Park for lunch. Unfortunately, it was cold and windy, so very few kids were there. Annie loves to swing, so the kids had fun anyway until Beech had an attack of diarrhea. Vanessa had planned to take him to school for the afternoon, as is his usual schedule for Mondays, but she was afraid he might be sick and did not want to expose the other kids.

I finished The Economist in the afternoon. In the evening Joshua brought in Mexican food to eat while we watched the Sharks game. They scored the first goal, but by the end of the second period they were behind 1-3, and they ended up losing 1-4. They were just outplayed, and their goalie was very very good, even though he is a rookie. If they continue to play like this, I expect the Ducks will end up winning the Stanley Cup. It was just the Sharks bad luck that they got their new goalie late in the season and came on strong at the end of the season and barely made the playoffs. Because they were the lowest seed, they were matched against the Sharks in the opening round because the Sharks were the top seed.

I did not watch the third period because 24 started at 9 PM and I switched to that and watched in the bedroom while Josh watched the rest of the game. He was very down after they lost. I taped 24 so he took it home with him to watch it. He called near midnight and said the tape was not playing right, but I told him to keep trying and it should be OK. I never heard whether or not he ever got it to work.

Message 343

In yesterday's message I forgot to mention that I went to Los Gatos at noon and had a nice lunch with Jason and Susan and their four girls at the Live Oak Kitchen. I was finally able to give Caroline her birthday envelope.

Yesterday afternoon I joined Helen and Jim at Joan and Dave's apartment to watch The wrestler on pay TV and eat pizza. The movie is a pretty heavy subject, but it was very well made, so I give it four stars.

Last night I watched the fifth (and last) part of Little Dorrit on PBS.

Message 342

Yesterday I started reading The Economist. In the evening I went to the couples club dinner at the Roland's. Even thought we are not all couples anymore because so many of us have died, I still use that name. I took my regular cherry pie and ice cream, which was one of two desserts. Everyone had some of each. Because the Sharks were playing last night too, I was able to watch the first two periods before we sat down for dinner. The Sharks were ahead 2-0 at the end of the second period, but they blew it in the third and had to win in overtime 3-2. They now go back to Anaheim to play another win or die game. If they win that they will return to San Jose for game 7. Jason and Joshua were at the game. I am sure they enjoyed it.

Message 341

I just got back from having coffee with the gang at Starbucks. Yesterday I stayed home all day and read Science and watched PBS shows on TV. In the evening I watched Slumdog Millionaire. I give it four stars, primarily because It was interesting to see the scenes of life in the Mumbai ghetto.

Message 340

Yesterday I went to help Vanessa and Beech with Beech's oral surgery, for which he had to be totally sedated. This was a rough experience for him, but he got through it. I assume he is fully recovered today and is back in school as usual.

When Vanessa dropped me off at home on her way home with Beech, I watched a DVD of the movie Out of the Past, which is a film noir classic made in the late 1940s staring Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas very early in their careers. I give it four stars. Even though it is limited by the Hollywood code of those years, it is quite well done.

In the evening, Joshua brought in fish and chips and watched the hockey game with me. The Sharks disgraced themselves losing to the Ducks 0-4. They are now behind in the series 1-3. Jason and Joshua have tickets for the game here Saturday night. If they lose again