Day: April 28, 2018

Highlights from the Avenue of the Roses Parade

Friends Mark & Amanda live at the end of the Avenue of Roses Parade route and host a party. I love a good parade, especially a good small parade, so I went. Here are some highlights.

While 82nd Avenue does have problems with prostitution and I certainly support this group’s efforts, I kept imagining the questions posed along the parade route, “Mommy, why don’t real men buy sex?”

Who doesn’t love a good scary dragon?

I was intrigued by these characters, and unfortunately, missed capturing the group’s name.

Gotta love returned Peace Corps volunteers.

I also loved this cool holder for the saint carried by this Catholic church. It allowed for smooth carrying and left room for waving.

These puffy air-filled dinosaurs were delightful. I’d never seen puffy characters before.

Some cool parade goers make some noise and wave the flag.

It became apparent that the classic cars were turning right off of 82nd, and we were to the left, so we missed them, but we did get to see a lot of the parade. Thanks to Mark & Amanda for hosting.

Song of the month April 2018

“Bill Murry” Matt Nathanson

This is another from KINK Sunday Brunch. Which, now that we’ve started working in the yard on the backyard project, I don’t get to listen to.

This is the kind of song I really love.  Weird theme, the kind that makes me look up from my cooking and wonder what in the hell I’m listening to.  I think I made Google tell me. There’s a Portland reference.  The video is also wacky.

The chorus is a good one:  I won’t only love you when you’re winning/Other fools pretend to understand/Come on take my hand, we’ll go down swinging/Let me be your man, let me be your man.

YouTube and Wikipedia also inform me that this artist also covered James’s “Laid” for the American Pie movies.  He’s aged a little since that song was recorded.  And haven’t we all?

My second song was the song from the end of Outside In.  I liked it.  The Internet is not telling me who sang it.

Three sentence movie reviews: Witness for the Prosecution

First of all, this is one of those movies where the male main character is insufferable through most of the film,* however, it should not stop you from watching, because this movie is brilliant. The acting**/plot/setting/everything is great and you will do best if you follow the advice on the poster, written before they had the handy word, “spoiler”: “It’s climaxed by the 10 breath-stopping minutes you’ve ever lived! Don’t reveal the ending–please!”

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*I will throw him a small bone in that medical practices in the 1950s infantilized the patient in a way I would have found insufferable.
**Una O’Connor as the housekeeper! Marlene Dietrich as the wife! Tyrone Power as the husband and murder suspect! Even Elsa Lanchester as the insufferable Nurse Plimsoll was great.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1957/witness_for_the_prosecution.html

SKS Postcard: DC. Plus another from Florida

I’ve always liked this stamp, and also this postcard of this stamp. Sara reports that there is a lot going on as she creeps ever closer to the end of the semester. She also used a Mister Rogers stamp for postage, which isn’t even a postcard stamp!  They had just gotten them and she couldn’t resist. I loved it, so it was well spent.

Maureen sent me this great map postcard of the Orange State. She and her son went there “NOT during Spring Break” she says in an aside, to meet up with her Mom and her sister’s family. Not only was it sunny (it was not sunny here) but they also got to hold a baby alligator.

Once again, two postcards in one day. Where do they hang out together before making their way to my mailbox? Maybe I should post a reward for evidence?