This Delta Skymiles card arrived from Sara on a Saturday. It was mailed so it would arrive after Sara had seen me in person. That’s right, Sara and Shawn came through town on Wednesday! We had lunch at Oven and Shaker and they headed off to the coast. Stay tuned. There will soon be another S&S post.
Due to a hitch in the giddy-up of the beginning of my subscription to One Teen Story I received two issues in quick succession.* This was a very good saying goodbye story, in this case two friends about to be separated after their high school graduation.
I also dig the cover. I have to say, the presentation of One Teen Story is much more fun than One Story. You get a cover design and there are little YouTube clips.
*Although looking at the website, I see that I missed an issue between the two. To contact customer service again or not? Hmmm. That missing story does look quite good.
This movie was trying to be something it failed to be, what with the jumbled time line and the scritch-scritch effects. It wasn’t a winner in the “Whoa! Super Artsy, Man!” category, but the story of the ebb and flow of the romance was interesting enough. Both actors were quite solid in their performances.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
I’ve pledged to call out when I see movies unapologetically using fat people to further their plots. In this movie, Justin Long is waiting in line and a teenage girl keeps talking to him. The guy in line behind Justin Long insults Justin Long for his fat date (the teenage girl), thus trying to set himself up as looking good for Emily Rossum. I see that the script is using his words to depict this guy as an asshole, but what he said was troubling enough that I gave a cry of dismay and then the movie just floated on by that incident. leaving the fat joke hanging out there.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2014/comet.html
A friend told me about, One Story, this great literary publisher who sends you one story in the mail on a regular basis. There is also One Teen Story which is a YA short story. They are inexpensive subscriptions, so I subscribed to both. My first one arrived in the mail today. I especially enjoyed the setting during the 1992 LA Riots.
Also, the cover is awesome too.
From Jan, who thought I might find it funny. I did. There was audible laughter when I pulled it out of the mailbox.
Astute readers will notice that the postcards of late have been arriving from friends, not from Postcrossing people. I’ve fallen off the Postcrossing horse. It hasn’t been determined yet if I will get back on, or if Postcrossing will be yet another unfortunate casualty of the return to the 40-hour work week.
I was so busy taking a stand against internet trolls that the first couple of jokes flew by me before I remembered, “Oh yeah, this is a comedy.”* And I started laughing and didn’t stop, except when I was being scared, or enjoying that happy, glowing feeling when I realized just how much I’m enjoying a movie. This was a big winner for me, from the name of one of the characters, to the hilarity, to the fact that a major kick-ass action scene was performed by a female wearing overalls.**
Cost: $10.00
Where watched: Bagdad Theater with Matt, and also AM and BM, who Matt happened to run into.)
*”Anti-Irish fencing” was the phrase where my brain woke up.
**I’ve listened with open ears to the critical responses (Filmspotting was particularly savage in it’s analysis in a way I don’t usually hear on that podcast) and I have to say, that I hear what you are saying, but I just don’t care. This movie and I are friends forever. I loved it.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2016/ghostbusters_ver2.html
It’s another early Sunday morning and time for another hike. This was a quick up-and-back to Angel’s Rest.
The Columbia River from not-so-much elevation.
Matt on the trail. He would like you to note his good calf definition.
Can you see the hidden falls?
Hollow log
Bunny!
Taking stock of if we are there yet.
We now have a map. It did not help as much as the trail runner who happened by.
We make it to Angel’s Rest.
The angels have many rocks on which to rest.
Two angels, resting.
I forgot to take this picture at the beginning, so here it is at the end.
What happens when you forget to unzoom before taking the self-portrait.
More successful shot. But not a great one. What is Matt looking at?
On this hike there were long discussions of Girls Season 4, which I had just finished watching. Also Enterprise, which Matt is working his way through.
I forgot my camera, which was unfortunate as there were times in this play when my fingers itched to be grabbing photos. These two were taken with my phone. (And one of them doesn’t want to load in its correct orientation)
We made this not-often-produced play a priority and I’m glad we did because the location of Pettygrove Park was a good one. The sculpture “The Dreamer” and the hills where the audience sat added a lot to the setting. Fun Wikipedia fact: the mounded hills inspired this park’s nickname: Mae West Park. Further opinion: I’m not sure anyone actually uses this nickname anymore. Or if they ever did.
The sculpture was used as a device to manufacture sound. One of the actors “played” it with rubber mallets during battle scenes which added a lot to the action.
The play was tight and held my attention, despite the intermittent rain. Arthur Delaney was a solid Coriolanus. We’ve seen him before in other productions. I also enjoyed Allison Rangel and Heidi Kay Hunter as the two tribunes.
Aside from the rain, this performance provided us unique theater-in-the-park experience. During the climax, a passerby wandered into the action, first touching Ken Yoshikawa on the back during an intense interchange with Arthur Delaney. Ken turned to see what was happening and then turned back and kept going.
The man retreated to sit with the audience on the hills talking loudly to himself, with a woman–possibly the stage manger–trying to coax him away. Just as the cast erupted into the final fight scene the man ran into the fray, grabbing Arthur Delaney by the back of the neck.
“Back the fuck off, asshole!” Allison Rangel’s voice rang out as she broke character advancing on the man as everyone stopped. He retreated immediately. “That’s right, keep going,” she yelled as he disappeared. Everyone, actors and audience, stared, following his retreat. “I apologize,” she continued, addressing the audience, “That’s my boyfriend,” she said, meaning Delaney.
In the manner of all unexpected situations things were quiet for a beat before one of the actors asked, “Shall we start the fight scene over?” There was a mutter of agreement, the cast reset and we watched Coriolanus be killed for his betrayal.
Rangel’s quick action in a scary situation and the actors carrying on while most of them must have been completely freaked out brought home what a solid production this was. We won’t soon forget Coriolanus.
Slow-burn love story set before/during/after World War I. It’s an old fashioned kind of a love story, full of longing and denial and long separation. I can’t say it lit me on fire, but it meanders along just fine and the acting was good, so take what you will from that.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/misc/2014/promise.html
Kind of amazing, eh?
