Category: All (-ish)

Top 10 photos of 2015

Each year in December I go through the photos taken and pick out 10 to display on my wall for the next year.  Here are this year’s choices:

The bassist for Jilt and some mood lightingIMG_2550

Patton Oswalt at the Newmark TheaterIMG_2694

Fans of Gail Forman at her reading.IMG_2724

A shadow of a stop signIMG_2823

Daisies breaking free of chain link fence.IMG_3213

Bird and Mt. Hood.IMG_3483

Sara, an appropriate shirt for the setting, and the couple we were spying on.IMG_3724

Macbeth at the Lone Fir CemeteryIMG_4273

My toes at the beachIMG_4513

Various McLains working together to get the perfect shot.IMG_4640

New Year’s Eve Plans

New Year’s Eve is my least favorite day of the year and so, with Matt out of town, I made some plans.  Double feature!

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The beautiful Hollywood Theater has the Roadshow production of Quentin Tarintino’s The Hateful Eight.  To hear more about what makes the Roadshow different, watch this feature.  Samuel Jackson says you should go.  And when Samuel Jackson says stuff, you know it’s true.  So I went!

And look at the bendy screen!  It’s so big, it didn’t even fit within my camera lens.

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After the Hateful Eight, I had some dinner at a trolley sushi place, and then went back to see Joy.  It was a good way to spend the holiday.

Top Movies of December 2015

11 total movies watched.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
A great start to the newest trilogystar_wars_episode_vii__the_force_awakens_ver3

Cinderella
It made my “Top Movies” list once already this year and is still good enough to appear a second time.cinderella_ver3

The Big Short
Frustrating in all the right ways.big_short

Whiplash
Tense in all the right ways.whiplash_ver3

My new volunteer job.

I now volunteer with the Hollywood Library Teen Book Council.  The Hollywood Library has such robust programming that there is a regular Teen Council, as well as a Teen Book Council, as well as some other ways for teenagers to meet and talk about books.  I love Portland, the Multnomah County Library, and Danielle, the Teen Librarian so much!

Anyway, I go to the meetings where we choose a theme, and then recommend books on that theme.  After the meeting, I take the list of recommended books and write annotations of the books.  Then I ship my annotations back to Danielle and she puts them together in a post for the library’s website.  It’s pretty cool.

In November, we watched The Great British Bake-Off and recommended books for the hosts as well as the contestants.  Here’s the link to the final product:
https://multcolib.org/blog/20151229/great-british-baking-show-book-gift-edition

My favorite part of my white elephant gift.

Every year, friends have a White Elephant Christmas Party.  It’s always very fun, and fun to see what burbles to the surface as White Elephant gifts.  This year, Jeff opened a present that included two DVDs (Darby O’Gill and the Little People, Lost in Translation) and also a mix CD titled “My favorite songs of 2015, by Jane, age 7.”

I asked what the titles were, and Jeff read them, to a lot of jeering from other (male) party goers.

I got to choose after Jeff, and so I stole from him. I gave the two DVDs away, but kept the CD.

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Matt and I listened to it in the car and I can say that Jane, age 7, and I don’t have the same taste in music.  And both Matt and I were surprised at how many of the songs were about sex.  I think Jane, age 16, will listen to this CD and be aghast at how much went over her head.  But I love that Jane, age 7 has an opinion about what kind of music she likes.  And that’s why I was happy to take home this CD.

Jane, age 7, by the way is the daughter of one of the other party guest.  Her mother said the mix CD was a party favor for her birthday and also that there are favorite songs Mix CDs for Jane age 6, 5, and 4.  Which is also pretty cool.

Three sentence movie reviews: iZombie Season 1

izombie

At first, I found myself irritated that Rob Thomas couldn’t come up with a TV show concept that was different than his first one.*  However, eventually that irritation faded and I found myself drawn into Olivia Moore’s struggle to maintain a normal life while finding her way as a zombie.  As with his previous series, supporting cast is excellent, particularly Rahul Kohli as her colleague and David Anders as a very bad dude.**

Cost:  Matt paid for Neflix Streaming so I could watch this.  Thanks Matt!
Where watched: at home with Matt.

*Smart, blonde protagonist finds herself an outcast and clues us in via voice-over?  You did it already with Veronica Mars, Mr. Thomas.  Granted, Veronica Mars was one of the best TV shows of the 2000s, but still!
**Also, production budgets seem to have provided for more guys who look good in their skivvies.

poster (or thumbnail) from : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3501584/episodes?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1

May the merchandising (and the hype) be with you.

I often make fun of Parade Magazine, but this picture was my favorite part of today’s paper.  The couple (Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper) met because of Star Wars, and three generations of the family will go together to see the new movie.  The couple’s plans were quite extensive, with viewings with various family members on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Let’s hope the movie isn’t a stinker.

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And this was my second favorite part of the newspaper, for different reasons.  Can you imagine how many of these are going to be bought by women of a certain age who have no idea what to get their sons of a certain age for Christmas?  I have no idea how Star Wars merchandising has escaped the backlash that accompanies other features. (coughDisneycough).

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My favorite parts of this ad:  “Strong demand expected!”  “Arrives with a FREE light bulb.”

I checked to see if my brother wanted one.  Surprisingly he declined.

This catalog makes me want to gnash my teeth.

I have no idea how I got on this mailing list, because we are not a match.  C.C. Filson Co. may have got their start outfitting miners, prospectors and lumbermen in Seattle, but they have strayed far from their roots.  $300 for a flannel shirt?  You know where the last few miners, prospectors and lumbermen buy their shirts? Walmart.  Because that’s what they can afford.  You know who buys $300 flannel shirts?  Software engineers who think they are the same ilk as miners, prospectors and lumbermen.  And they aren’t.  So don’t pretend they are.

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And every modern outdoorsman needs a bag for his tablet and computer.  Grrrr.

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(I liked quite a few of their tablet and computer bags, but again, not my price range.)