Birds are at my feeder....

...finally. I was beginning to think they ALL went south this year, chickadees and cardinals included. But today there was a sparrow on the feeder and a nuthatch on the suet. Maybe they'll spread the word. I've heard that there is a dip in the bird population this year because of the crappy summer we had, weather-wise. I don't know where that info came from or how true it is, but I guess it makes about as much sense as anything else.

As some of you already know, my dad Crash is in the hospital. Tomorrow he's having a (and pardon my spelling) bronchioscopy to see why it is that he can't get enough air. Sparky is maintaining, going down to see him every day and taking care of business at home. I'm pretty sure she didn't need anymore holiday season stress, but it is what it is. So now we just have to wait and find out WHAT it is.

Today I'm reviewing Angels and Demons, which stars Tom Hanks reprising his role from The DaVinci Code. Having read all of Dan Brown's books (except his latest release), I have to say that while I really liked DaVinci, I thought Angels and Demons was a much better book. Ditto the movies. It may not actually be the case, but I got the impression as I watched this movie that if I hadn't read the book, I would be having a bit of difficulty following the intricacies of the plot. It stands on its own as an action movie, but as is usually true of movies based on books, there is only so much that translates to the screen. Tom Hanks and Ewan MacGregor both gave excellent performances, and the machinations of the villain reminded me of "Se7en" (a really well-done movie which I liked but still found too twisted to ever watch again) I think that if you've read the book, you will not be disappointed in the movie. If you liked the movie, you should read the book. And if you've done neither, read the book first.

How do people in Florida do it?

So the other day here in southern RI, it was 75 degrees and sunny. It's RI and it's DECEMBER, and it was 75 degrees and sunny. How in the world is anybody supposed to muster any Christmas spirit under these conditions?? But today it's supposed to snow, and I've heard that if you don't like the weather in New England you should wait a minute, but this is just stupid.

Today's review is Nights in Rodanthe, based on the book by Nicholas Sparks and starring two of the most attractive people on the planet, Richard Gere and Diane Lane. I read this book several years ago, and if you liked the book you should see the movie. As far as I can recall, it stayed pretty true to the book. For the people who haven't read the book, it goes like this; Diane is estranged from her cheating husband and comes to North Carolina to get away from it all for a weekend, managing her friend's inn. The one guest, Richard (who is struggling with his own crises) arrives soon after. If you're a fan of Nicholas Sparks' work, you know that things don't always work out the way you think they're going to. That's all I'm going to say about the plot. I liked this movie, which was indeed filmed in Rodanthe and other locations in coastal North Carolina. There are several aerial shots of the inn itself, which is built right on the beach and made me want to stay there...although it did make me wonder why people go through so much trouble to build such things in a place that gets whacked by hurricanes on a regular basis. But I digress. This is, of course, a chick flick. But a good one.

What I do for fun when I'm not sewing....

...is, uh...sew. Or in this case, No-sew. I finally got around to making these banners for our band so that people will know who they're watching. Instead of making a big banner for the wall and then having the problem of trying to find a way to hang it, I decided to make two smaller ones that will hang from our speakers with velcro. These were made with heat n bond ultra hold, and then the small details of the Bleeding Cowboys font I added with paint.

Today's movie review is The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. I really liked this movie, and it's also something Sparky can watch (no violence, obnoxious language or overt sex). It's a romantic comedy, most of which is set in Alaska. It was, actually, filmed mostly in Massachusetts, and the scenery is truly stunning. The story was not as predictable as most romantic comedies, and the fact that Betty White is in it...well, it's my firm belief that ANY movie can be vastly improved by the addition of Betty White. Not that this movie needed improvement. I highly recommend it. It's very funny and a very sweet story. And getting back to Betty White, if you're browsing around YouTube you should check out the clips of her on the Craig Ferguson show. She's just got to be the funniest woman on the planet.

Not much changes around here...

...so that must be why I never remember to post. Can not believe it has been since August! As I said, not much has happened. HopArts came and went with not much excitement. The weather was lousy, and once again they had my location marked on the wrong street. But I got to hang out with Carol all weekend, which is always a good time! Thanksgiving with my parents Sparky and Crash was nice, low-key and nobody left the yard. Most of the conversation centered around PJ and Kaela moving to CA next year, so that was interesting.

Since there does not seem to be much about which to write of late, I have decided to appoint myself a movie critic. My son was a film major for a time, so I figure that qualifies me by osmosis. Plus, Ill pretty much watch anything. Except the Saw movies, no way Im going there. Ever. But we watch a lot of movies, so I have plenty of material to work with. Most of these will not be first run movies, but we have every movie channel known to man so theres probably something youve heard of but havent seen yet (forgive me, my apostrophe key is not working).

Crank and Crank 2 Im going to do these in one shot because if you like one, you will like both...and vice versa. I had heard of Crank but never saw it until just recently. The premise is that this guy, who I guess is some sort of hitman, has run afoul of the Chinese mob. They have injected him with a poison that will kill him unless he keeps his heart rate going rapidly. So in the search for his nemeses, he spends the movie ingesting caffiene, cocaine, whatever else he can find, having sex in public, and engaging in one car chase after another. While I know this SOUNDS like cinematic gold, I didnt love it. I have no problem with gratuitous sex and violence to a point, but thats all there is to this movie. Plus it looks like it was filmed by somebody following our hero around with a handheld cam, which I know was done on purpose but I found it really hard to follow. If you like Crank, then youll love the sequel. I watched it because...well, I dont really know why. Preston put it on and I was there so thats what we watched. I thought maybe the second time around it would get better. It got worse. Our hero has now, against his will, had a heart transplant and must track down his own heart while trying to keep his new artificial heart going with whatever electrical charges he can find. There actually were a few funny moments in this film, but not enough to make it a comedy. The rest of it was pretty much more of the same stuff we got in the first movie. Including the car chases and the sex in public.

If nonstop action is your thing, you might like these. They waste no time getting right to the chase, and it doesnt stop until the very last frame.

Let The Barn Raisin' Begin....

...and so it has. Preston has set the concrete blocks that will make up the basis for my storage shed. Picture, if you can, him holding a piece of pipe whilst I, in the fading daylight, use a small sledgehammer to pound it down through two concrete blocks to stabilize them. I can barely hit a nail on the head twice in a row on a GOOD day when I can actually see it. There were a couple of close calls, and Preston was fearing, if not for his life, at least for his fingers. But the day ended well, nobody lost any limbs or needed any stitches. So far, so good.
Also this week, it's the last week before the powwow and I am just swamped with work. I'm not complaining, mind you, I am thankful to have a job. I just wish there were some way I could prepare for this in January and February when I'm twiddling my thumbs.
Carol and I have entered HopArts, which happens in October. That's something to look forward to, also something for which we'll need to prepare and we should start now. For details, visit www.hoparts.org.

Chapter 81, In Which We Get Rid Of Stuff....

....yay!!! Here at "The Compound", as someone dubbed it the other day, we have two families' worth of stuff. My parents (and by that I mean my Dad, because my Mom doesn't have much stuff at all) have been accumulating stuff for going on 50 years. Preston and I have only been at it for 25, but that means there's cumulatively 75 years worth of stuff here. Sooner or later, no matter how much space you might have, you need to get rid of some stuff. This week my Dad got rid of a junk car, and I got rid of my camper, the only thing I have to store my fabric in. I know it SOUNDS like a bad idea, and it's making things really difficult to find because now all my stuff is crammed into Preston's old van, but it'll all be for the best. The camper leaked, smelled musty, and was infested with ants and mice and God only knows what else. So I'm getting my own shed. There are no words to describe how happy that makes me. My mom is also happy, yesterday she called me at work to give me the good news before the old car was even out of the yard. "There it goes!!!" she said. It was a good day for everyone.

I Knew It Was Coming....

...when the screen on Preston's phone ceased to display anything other than the black screen of death; a trip to the Verizon store. He tried to spare me by looking for online tech support, bless his heart, but to no avail. Much like death and taxes, it was unavoidable.

I hate going to the Verizon store. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I would seriously rather go to the dentist. I consider myself an intelligent person, but at the Verizon store I feel...outmaneuvered. I don't understand the pricing plans, no matter HOW many times the salespeople explain them to me, I don't understand when or why I might or might not qualify for a new phone-or an "upgrade", I believe the term is, because you can't just get the same phone you got last time now that you've grown used to it-and I don't understand the phones themselves. The last time we got new phones, Preston laughed at me for getting the "welfare phone". It was absolutely the cheapest phone I could find. But I didn't really get it just because it was cheap (and I might add that my welfare phone was still working just fine when his phone gave up the ghost), I got it because it had the fewest number of extraneous functions. Look, I don't text. I don't have the time or inclination (or the eyesight) to play games on my phone, or surf the internet, or download music, or any of that. I just wanted a phone that makes and receives calls. That was cause for some amusement at the Verizon store. I didn't even want one that took pictures, but such a thing was not available. So imagine my angst at now having a phone that not only does things that I don't need it to do, but it opens up and inside are even more things I'll most likely never use....it's got a full keyboard, because apparently it's meant for texting. And it takes pictures, plays music, etc. etc. etc. And this, believe it or not, was the current "welfare phone". It was the cheapest thing there was. The salesman was trying to impress me with the texting thing, and I told him, I don't do that, don't know how, not interested. He laughed and looked at me like he felt sorry for me, which I actually found pretty offensive but not wanting to cause a scene, I didn't say so.

So here's the thing I've come to realize about me...I am quite technologically impaired. And as I've said, I'm an intelligent person, so I blame it on simple hardheaded stubbornness. I probably have ADD, for real, because the thought of sitting still and focusing on this stuff long enough to learn it just makes my eyes cross and my brain wants to go to its happy place. I can't work the VCR and all that other stuff that's all hooked up to each other via the spaghetti pile in back of the TV (and I'm only 45 so it's not old age). And the remotes to all that stuff? Forget it. My guitar amp has way too many knobs and switches, and my guitar is not far behind. I don't see the whole point of texting when you have a phone and can just speak to each other. I refuse to Twitter. My microwave has functions that I've never used, ditto my phone, my car, my MP3 player, my clothes dryer, my camera, and of course, my computer. My husband, of course, is the complete opposite of that. He's a total technophile. If it's new and improved, he wants to know about it. And he sucks up all that information like a sponge, and retains it all for future use. I think if I didn't have him to program stuff for me (and put music on my MP3 player, cause I don't know how) I'd probably descend into the dark ages.