Message 879

The Giants won the World Series! It is amazing. After all these years of them disappointing me, when I quit paying attention to them, they come out of nowhere and do it decisively. I did not even pay attention to the playoffs until the last game against Philadelphia. I then watched all of the games against Texas, and by the end of the Series I had gotten to know the players pretty well. After the game Mimi and I watched a DVD of the German movie called Ghosts (in English). It was terrible. It was mostly about two teenaged girls, but the main adult female role was played by a French actress with the last name Basler. Anyway it was mostly incomprehensible, and Mimi was disappointed because it had nothing to do with ghosts. I give it one star.

Message 878

Yesterday was a good day for Bay Area sports. The 49ers beat Denver in London; the Raiders beat Seattle, although the game was blacked out here because some tickets were unsold; and the Giants beat Texas to go ahead 3-1 in the World Series. After the baseball game was over, I watched a Nature show on PBS about the thousands of pythons that are taking over Florida. It was amazing to see a python eat a ten-foot long alligator, and also to see an even bigger gator eat a python. I then watched the new Sherlock Holms episode on Masterpiece Mystery, and finally I read some more of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I am in the middle of Chapter 2 now.

Message 877

I was sorry to see the Giants lose yesterday, but I guess it is not realistic for them to win then all. I hope it goes better today. I am watching the 49ers play Denver in London as I write this. The 49ers lead 3-0 in the second quarter. Last night Mimi and I watched Rain Man on PBS. I had seen it when it was in the theater years ago. I know a lot more about autism now, and I think Dustin Hoffman did a good job of acting, but I did not think it was a movie that was much fun to watch. I give it three stars.

Message 874

Helen and Jim could not make it for coffee this morning, so Mimi and I did our weekly Safeway shopping and then had breakfast at El Cerrito. After the Friday PBS shows, we watched a DVD of the French movie The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. It came out in 1964, but I had never seen it. I did not realize that it was an opera. The colors in the sets were very vivid, everyone in the cast was beautiful, and the story was very good. I give it five stars.

Message 874

I just got back from attending the Halloween Party at Beech's school. Vanessa and Beech made me a costume so I could be Dumbledore. A lot of the kids thought I was a real wizard. Yesterday I worked some more on my memoirs, and read the new Science, which came on Thursday this week instead of Friday or Saturday as usual. In the late afternoon I watched the Giants shut out the Texas Rangers to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series. In the evening Mimi and I watched a DVD of the French movie Indochine. The scenery and Catherine Deneuve were beautiful, and it was an epic representation of the French experience in Vietnam, but it was a sad and tragic story, in accordance with the reality. I give it 3.4 stars.

Message 874

I just got back from attending the Halloween Party at Beech's school. Vanessa and Beech made me a costume so I could be Dumbledore. A lot of the kids thought I was a real wizard. Yesterday I worked some more on my memoirs, and read the new Science, which came on Thursday this week instead of Friday or Saturday as usual. In the late afternoon I watched the Giants shut out the Texas Rangers to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series. In the evening Mimi and I watched a DVD of the French movie Indochine. The scenery and Catherine Deneuve were beautiful, and it was an epic representation of the French experience in Vietnam, but it was a sad and tragic story, in accordance with the reality. I give it 3.4 stars.

Message 873

Yesterday I did some more work on my memoirs. Vanessa called and told me that Annie now has an imaginary playmate named Alex, and she wondered if this was normal. I told her it was completely normal, that she was just practicing to be an adult. I told her that I had an imaginary playmate when I was young named Charles Barr. I do not remember it, but my mother told me about him. Vanessa wondered where the name came from. Maybe it is significant that her father's best friends is named Alex, or that she has a cousin named Alex. I have no idea where the name Charles Barr came from either, so it is not really important.

I watched the Giants beat Texas in the first game of the world series, and was delighted with how it turned out. II finished reading this week's Science too. In the evening Mimi and I watched a DVD of the Argentine movie The Secret in Their Eyes. I had seen it before in the theater. At the time I gave it only three stars, but on second viewing I think it deserves more like 3.8 stars. It is a complex story about writing and it is confusing at first what is real and what is imaginary.