Month: January 2017

Almost like we don’t live in Portland

This winter thing is no joke this year.  We got a lot of snow.  So much snow, that had it not happened overnight, we would have broken records.

So much snow that the people on the corner could make this larger-than-people-size snowman.

And then, after they make this massive snowman, it snows another six inches.

Here’s what it looked like when I shoveled at 6am.  And it kept snowing.

The trees in the neighboring backyard were heavy with snow.

The backyard was covered.

Antares watched the snow fall.
And then that snow?  It stayed.

Three sentence movie reviews: Spotlight

Snow Day Cancellations Day II meant there was time to catch Matt up with this film, which is all of the things listed on the poster.  I have trouble getting people to watch this, because everyone thinks they don’t want to watch a movie about the investigation of pedophile priests, but I’m telling those people that they do.  Because this is a movie about people working hard to do what’s right and it’s hopeful and moving in a way that no one would think a movie about the investigation of pedophile priests would be.

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home with Matt

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/spotlight_ver3.html

Three sentence movie reviews: Keanu

Both Matt and I had disappointing days, plus my tap dance class was cancelled due to the start of the snowstorm. Luckily, I had grabbed this from the library, knowing that Matt would enjoy it.  We laughed a lot–even me, my second viewing–and Matt’s favorite part was “your actions have consequences”

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home, with Matt

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/keanu_ver3.html
(There were so many to choose from! I went with this Revenant-inspired one.)

New silverware

“Do we want my grandmother’s silverware?” Matt asked me via email query.
“Sure” was my reply.

The silverware has arrived.  Using only this picture, guess the year in which it was bought.  (Don’t read further until you have guessed.)

Look at this nice label in the box, announcing its Solid Stainless status.

And on the back of the informational card, Matt’s grandmother had written the date of purchase.

Did you guess 1965?  You are correct!

I’m pretty excited about this silverware.

One Story “In the Neighborhood”

Recently, it was advertised that Roxane Gay would be judging a fiction contest for the Masters Review.  There was an informative few sentences as to what kind of stories Ms. Gay likes and didn’t like.  Among the things she didn’t like: stories about writers, and stories about white couples in sad relationships.  I chortled, and decided not to enter that contest because the piece I had ready would have trended too closely to the sad relationship trope.  Then, this arrived in the mail.  I’m sorry to say that Roxane Gay’s comments were still too fresh in my mind.  It’s a story of a white couple in a sad relationship.  Even without Gay’s comments, I think I might have still compared it unfavorably to an earlier One Story about a white couple in a sad relationship.  That one–“Queen Elizabeth”–I really enjoyed.   This one, not so much.

Three sentence movie reviews: The Loving Story

This is the documentary on which Jeff Nichols based his movie Loving.  Watching it after having watched Loving, it felt repetitive, as the fictional movie follows this closely.*  I enjoyed the original media coverage and felt this was a solid documentary.**

Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home

*This is, of course, not the documentary’s fault.
**If you have no time for either the documentary or the movie, might I suggest Grey Villet’s photos from 1966?  Here’s a link.

Poster from random internet search.

Three sentence movie review: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

I didn’t get a heads up that this is one of those films where they sing all the way through–not my favorite.  It’s a beautifully composed story, the colors pop, and it’s worth watching just for the wallpaper.*  It’s an emotional film, and quite enjoyable.

Cost: free via Vimeo. (Sometimes the subtitles blipped very quickly, so I couldn’t read them. This was annoying, but I still got the gist)
Where watched: at home

*Seriously.

I watched this so I could listen to the Next Picture Show podcast pairing this movie with La La Land.

poster from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Umbrellas_of_Cherbourg