Message 473

Yesterday I met Helen and Jim at Starbucks as usual on Saturdays. In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Brick. As I watched it, I realized I had seen it before, but I had completely forgotten it. Now that I have seen it again, I can see why I forgot it. It is very hard to make any sense of it. After watching the special features discussions, I realize it is an imitation Dashiel-Hammet-film-noir-detective story set in a high school. The language is largely invented, but clever. It takes a while to tune in to the way people talk, and it is often incomprehensible. I give it 3.2 stars.

Message 472

Yesterday I went out to an early dinner with Larry, Judi, and Rita, Larry's sister from Denver. After dinner we went to Flint center at De Anza College to hear the talk by Tom Friedman about his new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded. I had seen him on Charlie Rose talk for an hour about this book, so I did not hear any new ideas, but it was a pleasure to see him in person after watching and admiring him on TV for so many years. The only thing that surprised me was that he is so short. Always on TV I have seen him sitting down, so I did not know how tall he was. I suppose I projected on him that he must be tall because I hold him in such high regard. I did not watch a DVD last night, but I read a lot in my book about NSA.

Message 471

Yesterday I had breakfast with Vanessa at Heidi's Pies. We took Annie to her daycare place. Now that she is two years she is getting too hard to control. I had to literally hold her down to get her dressed. As soon as she was dressed she settled down like nothing had happened, but she struggled like a wildcat trying to stop me from putting her clothes on. In the afternoon I took Beech to his Kung Fu class. He had a good day. He seems very dedicated to it. Afterward we went to Round Table next door and had pizza. He is getting very good at the game that picks up the stuffed animals and drops them in the bin that leads to the player. He won two of them to take home yesterday. Of course, he now owes me nine dollars for the extra money I have given them over the weeks to let him keep playing on this machine, even though I tell him it is a gyp. He says he will do chores for his mother to earn the money to pay me.

In the evening I tried to watch a DVD, but I could not make it work in either of my players. I have previously had broken or cracked disks that would not play, but this is the first one that seemed visibly OK but would not work. Netfilx will send me another copy. Instead I watched the DVD that Tim Ferris sent me of Eric Burden and the New Animals. It has been years since I first saw it at his house with Ginny and Jason. I also read some more of the NSA history book. It is about people and things that I know something about.

Message 470

Yesterday I took my van in for its 90, 000 mile servicing. It took all day, so I had to take a loaner car home and drive back at 6 PM to pick it up. I saw the first part of Obama's speech on TV, then listened to most of the rest of it on the radio. I thought it was a good speech. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Last night I watched a DVD of the movie The Lookout. It was an unusual movie about a bank heist, where the main character was brain damaged so he had trouble remembering things and was marginally functional. The only actor I was familiar with was Jeff Daniels, but he was a supporting character. I give it 3.6 stars.

Message 469

Yesterday I took Larry and Judi and Larry's sister Rita and their two grandchildren, Brad and Tannis to San Mateo for a play date with Beech and Annie. Vanessa fixed a wonderful dinner and the kids had a ball. I got home in time to see the second half of The News Hour and Nightly Business Report.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Trans-Siberia. It was a thriller/mystery with Ben Kingsley and Woody Haralson the only actors I was familiar with. Its main attraction was that it was filmed in China and Russia on the trans-Siberian railroad, which was interesting for me to see. I give it 3.6 stars.

Message 468

Yesterday I had coffee with Helen and Jim because it was a holiday. In the late afternoon I went to the usual Sunday family dinner at Julian and Vanessa's that was held on Monday this week because of Memorial Day. In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Iron Man. I was amazed at what a good cast it had. Also, I am not much of a fan of comic book movies, but I thought this one was much better than usual. I give it 3.5 stars.

Message 477

Yesterday was Annie's birthday, and Vanessa and Julian had coffee and bagels and fruit and orange juice and cupcakes at Nealon Park as a family celebration. It was very nice, and convenient for me too. Afterwards I came back to my condo and finished reading The Economist. In the evening I watched Masterpiece Mystery on PBS. I just got a call from Helen so I am leaving now to walk up to Starbucks to join her and Jim.