Message 544

Yesterday Julian and Beech came up to watch football with me. The 49er lost again, but the Raiders won a game! By replacing their number one draft pick quarterback with an unknown, they beat the Bengals, a pretty good team. In the evening I went to San Mateo for our regular Sunday family dinner. In the evening I watched the Sunday shows on PBS.

Message 543

Yesterday I read The Economist and watched the Big Game, which was very good, except that I wanted Stanford to win because they have been doing so well lately, but Cal outplayed them. Stanford was on the verge of scoring the winning touchdown in the closing seconds when Cal intercepted a pass and ran out the clock. In the evening I watched the Sharks beat Anaheim 3-2, which was good. They again this year have the best record in the NHL, and maybe this year they will not blow it in the playoffs.

Message 542

I just got back from doing my weekly Safeway shopping. I am meeting Helen and Jim at Starbucks tomorrow instead of today this week. Last night I watched the Sharks beat Philadelphia 6-3. After the game I watched a DVD of the movie Cherie. It is a period piece about the life of courtesans. The production was very well done, the sets were all beautiful, and the acting was too, but the story was just not that interesting to me. I give it three stars.

Message 541

Yesterday Vanessa and I had breakfast at Heidi's Pies as usual on Thursday. In the afternoon I picked Beech up after school and took him to Kung Fu. Afterward we went next door to Round Table Pizza. He won another stuffed animal from the machine. This one he gave to Annie when we picked her up at her day care on the way home.

In the evening I watched a DVD of the movie Black Narcissus. This is a famous movie made at the end of World War 2, but I had never seen it. It is quite beautiful and well done, but it is mostly of technical interest because it was shot entirely in a studio but gives the powerful illusion that it was shot in Nepal. I give it 3.9 stars.

Message 540

Yesterday I finished reading Science and also finished reading my book about The National Security Agency (NSA), titled Body of Secrets by James Bamford. In the evening I watched a DVD of the Czech movie Beauty in Trouble. So far as I can remember it is the first Czech movie I ever watched. The picture it paints of the people and the lives they live there is not very attractive, but I give it three stars.

Message 539

Yesterday I finished reading The Economist and started reading Science. In the evening I watched human evolution Part 3, Nova, and Frontline on PBS. Joshua was planning to come over and watch the Sharks game with me, but it turned out not to be on TV, so we cancelled. It is just as well I suppose because I heard on the News that they lost to Nashville 3-4.

Message 538

Yesterday Vanessa fixed a lunch for everyone, so I went with Annie and her 3-year old neighbor to Nealon Park. It was a beautiful day and a good time was had by all. In the evening I watched a DVD of the Japanese movie The Pillow Book. It was a strange movie, but I suppose was an example of how different the oriental culture is about how people behave. It is really hardly worth watching, but I give it three stars.