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.

Message 359

I forgot to mention earlier that I got a call from PAMF that all three of my skin biopsies came out negative, in other words none were cancer. That is nice. Now I will not have to go back for the surgery. The doctor did ask that I come back in May so she can freeze the one below my lip.

Yester I did my usual Tuesday routine with Beech. We had lunch at Burger King. He saw the Star Trek movie and knew that they are giving out toys based on that movie. Afterward I took him to his gymnastics class. When I took him home he said I did not need to walk him to the door. He thinks he is big enough now to do it by himself. Vanessa had a couple of Mexicans there working on her lawn and garden.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie Sex Drive. It is a teenage road comedy. As a new twist it had a funny encounter with an Amish community. I give it three stars.

Today I am getting the house ready for Orlindo's cleaning crew to come in at 2 PM

Message 358

Yesterday I finished reading The Economist. Before noon I went to Nealon Park with Vanessa and the kids. She had mad sandwiches and other stuff for lunch. Annie loves to swing. After pushing her for a while, I ask her if she would not like to go play with Beech or go down the slide, but she always says MORE SWING. Sometimes Beech helps with the pushing. I am the only one who does much eating. The kids and Vanessa mostly nibble small amounts, but I always eat and drink all of mine. Vanessa always stops at Starbucks and gets coffee for us and chocolate milk boxes for the kids.

Last night Joshua came over to watch 24 with me. Next week is a two-hour last show of the season. Because jack is being set up to die from inhaling a lethal gas that takes a day to work, this may be the end of the program too.

Charlie Rose was good last night again. He had two women that I had never heard of on different segments that were impressive, especially the Harvard law professor that is monitoring the banks' compliance with the TARP contracts.