Message 366

Yesterday I followed my usual Tuesday routine of picking Beech up at school, going to McDonalds (this time) for lunch, and then going to his gymnastics class. I tried to influence him to go to Burger King, because I prefer Whoppers to Big Macs, but he wanted Chicken McNuggets with ranch dressing. In fact, he ate all four nuggets, which is more than he usually manages.

In the evening I watched the Nova show on PBS called Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives. I was familiar with the science, but I was unaware of the physicist's son who is a musician. Anyway it was fun, and it reminded me of the phrase in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: "...the high country of the mind." These things turn me on.

After Nova I watched a DVD of the movie The Door in the Floor. It was an adaptation of part of John Irving's novel A Widow for a Year. I had read the book, like I have read all of John Irving's books, starting with The World According to Garp. Like all of his books this one combines funny and bizarre elements with good characters and a lot of discussion about how writing is done. Unlike previous Irving books that have been made into movies, this one is good. In some ways it is better than the book because it extends it to fit the new medium while remaining true to the original. It has a super cast and I am impressed with the young writer/director who conceived and executed the project. I give it four stars. It also had good special feature discussions on the DVD.

Message 365

You might think from the number of this message that I have now been doing this for one year. Actually, it has been a little more than a year because I have had to skip a few days like when I went to George's funeral. Anyway, it has been a lot of messages.

Yesterday we had our usual Monday routine in which Vanessa made lunches and I went with her and the kids to Nealon Park. As usual I was the only one who did any serious eating but everyone had a good time. Annie was pushed in the swing to her heart's content, with me, Vanessa, and Beech all taking turns at pushing her.

I continued reading The Economist during the afternoon, and in the evening Joshua brought in Mexican food from Una Mas and watched the two-hour conclusion of this season's 24 with me. It looks like Jack may survive because Kim made a last minute decision to go against his wishes and donate stem cells to try and experimental cure for him. It turns out Tony was not really bad after all. He was just getting revenge for the killing of his wife and kid in a series from a few years ago.

Message 364

Yesterday afternoon I went to Los Gatos. It was a hot day so the kids and some adults went swimming (but not Me). Julian and Vanessa and Annie were there, also Linda and Walt. Walt brought his ice cream making apparatus and made desert. Linda had made a quart of chocolate for topping off the ice cream. Jason grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and salmon, so we had a feast. Beech was still up in the mountains with Maureen and his cousin Vivian, so he missed out on our fun.

I got home in time to watch another episode of Wallender on Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. I was tired, so I turned in early at 11:30 PM.

Message 363

Helen and Jim are out of town this weekend, so I did not go to Starbucks. Also The Economist did not arrive in Friday's mail as usual,so instead I read a lot in my new book. By 3 PM Saturday's mail had brought The Economist, so I finally got started reading it.

In the late afternoon, I went out to dinner at a hamburger place in Burlingame with Julian, Vanessa, and Annie. Beech is up in the mountains with Maureen and his cousin Vivian.

Last night I watched the 1941 movie Suspicion with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine on PBS. I give it three stars. The ending was changed by Hollywood so that Cary Grant was not made to be a murderer. After the movie PBS had an interesting documentary of Cary Grant's life. It was excellent and had a lot of stuff I did not know about him. If it were a movie I would have given it 5 stars.

Message 362

Yesterday I went out to dinner with the Morrills and Ariagnos. The restaurant was in Palo Alto within walking distance of The Aquarius. The movie was Every Little Step. It was a documentary about auditions for a revival of Chorus Line. It was interesting, but I have never seen the stage production, which was OK, but by the end I was thinking I would like to see what all of this effort accomplished. I was left thinking that show people in general and dancers in particular have a hard life. Also, I would not like to be a producer, director, etc. who has to decide who gets the part and who gets rejected. Anyway, I give it three stars.

Message 361

Last night I watched a DVD of The Ballad of Jack and Rose. It had a very good cast, including Daniel Day Lewis. It was written and directed by his wife (who is also playwright Arthur Miller's daughter). It is an ambitious film. It dealt with several important subjects, but not in a successful or satisfying manner. I give it only three stars even though I appreciate the efforts of all involved.

Message 360

I just got back from my usual Thursday outing with Vanessa and Annie at Heidi's Pies and the library. Beech and Annie were both real good this morning. I took Beech with me to drop him off at school on our way to Heidi's Pies.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It was an extended version that had all the scenes that were cut out of the original U. S. release in the 1960s. I give it three stars. I have now seen all of the three spaghetti westerns that started Clint Eastwood's career. I think they are worth watching mostly because of their place in the history of movies. They are interesting, but do not rise to the level of intrinsic greatness.