The Rocker review

Here’s my review of The Rocker. Is the movie even in theaters still?

Ouch — I Need Ice Cream

The surgery to cut down some bone and gum back next to my last upper left molar caused discomfort. Luckily I didn’t have so much pain that I needed to take any of the pain medication prescribed to me. That was two weeks ago.

Yesterday I had the stitches removed. So today was the day to fill the “cavity” caused by that old wisdom tooth that caused the indentation in the side of my tooth (the wisdom tooth didn’t pop out and forced itself against my molar for many, many years, until removed about six years ago.

So, the filling ended up impossible due to how the size of the cave in my molar. I will now have a crown. I’m wearing a temporary one and it hurts like the dickens. According to my dentist the crown is up against the bone, next to the root. I’m feeling it.

I just have to say that it makes for an odd moment when your dentist in a frustrated manner tries to figure out what’s going on and suddenly stops and says excitedly, “Ooh, that’s interesting.” Yeah, he saw something in my tooth that he’d never seen before. My tooth roots are visible. Lovely. Thus the crown must be very deep to cover it all.

Anyway, the title says it all. I need ice cream.

Summertime

As it is now autumn, it seems funny to watch a movie called Summertime. I’m glad I did. The movie is a middle-aged woman’s fantasy. It includes a vacation to gorgeous Venice, meeting a handsome Italian, and love blossomimg in the Venetian night air.

The movie stars Katherine Hepburn as the spinsterish tourist. Rossani Brazzi is her lover. David Lean directs this propaganda film for Venice, Italy. It’s beautiful to watch, with scenery galore.

A trip to Italy one future summer would definitely be on my fantasy list. If a handsome Italian lover showed up, I wouldn’t complain.

Gee Whiz — Crazy Day

So I drive down to Sedona today to have some stitches pulled by the periodontist who did some surgery on my mouth two weeks ago. It was a lovely day, except for a huge plume of smoke rising above Oak Creek Canyon (controlled burn? Maybe). I stop and have lunch in Sedona, drive up and stop for groceries, come home, open up the laptop, and discover all hell is breaking loose.

The bailout failed? Wow. I’m actually happy that it did, but do hope we get something in place in the long run that isn’t such a giveaway to the Wall Street idiots.

The Dow loses 777 points? Now that will certainly put pressure on Congress to do something. I just hope they do something smart, but don’t have high hopes. You know what I’d like? If all those folks who made tons of money working for the banks that screwed up could be taxed up the ying yang. If tax dollars are going to make their life right again, then let them pay for a good share of it.

I’m just wondering what else is in store for us. I wonder what happens when I go to my regular dentist tomorrow for a filling. Will I return to work and discover that stockbrokers are jumping out of windows on Wall Street?

I’m telling you, interesting days we live in. My retirement funds may disappear, but at least my teeth will be healthy.

Lakeview Trail

I took poor Spencer on another hike today. With my feet feeling much better, I’m going for more distance. Spencer loves going out and walking, but his short little legs do get tired after a distance. This is a benefit to me. I have to stop and rest while Spencer rests (he’s smart, he waits until he finds a shady spot to stop and sit).

Today I took a short drive out to Mormon Lake. I’d done the Lakeview Trail in the past, but it’s been years. With a total of two and a half miles, it would also test how much mileage can my right foot can handle. And, yay! My foot never hurt at all.

It’s a very nice hike — shady, with lots of oak and pine trees. There’s even a little spring that Spencer can romp in at the start of the hike. The leaves on the oaks were beginning to change, which gives this hike a very nice Fall feel.

It’s so exciting to be able to pull out the Flagstaff Hikes book and explore possible hikes. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to do this. I just hope Spencer with his short legs can handle it.

Tonight’s Viewing

I just watched Baby Mama. not a brilliant comedy, but it’s friendly in its own baby-worshipping way.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars review

Goodness, I didn’t realize I had some reviews “unposted” — how can that happen? Too much knitting? Anyway, here’s my review of the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Interesting, but rather too late.

Knit One…Video Too

I was talking to a co-worker about knitting. She mentions how nice an audio book is to listen to while knitting as you can visually pay attention to the knitting. I liked that idea, but I’m not a fan of audio books. I do think that I could like them if I stick to non-fiction, but fiction is meant to be read and not listened to. I’m much more a visual person than someone who picks things up aurally. Thus, listening to something that doesn’t need my total attention would work for me while knitting.

Well, I don’t have any audio books, but I did come up with something that works very nicely. Anyone watch the lectures at TED? Various speakers discussing a multitude of fascinating subjects. The lectures aren’t long, but for knitting they last enough time to get some knitting done. What’s even better, is that I can knit and watch the lecture. I don’t know how many other knitters have their laptop in lap and knitting in hand, but the angle of looking at the knitting leads directly to glancing at the computer screen. Perfect.

I’ve watched some good ones tonight. A friend had sent me the link to the lecture by Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives. This animation of what’s going on in our cells kind of freaks you out. What I really enjoyed was Joshua Klein’s explanation of the intelligence of crows. Goodness, they are way smart!

more about “Joshua Klein on the intelligence of c…“, posted with vodpod

The Longest Day…at Work

Is it time to go yet?

(long silence)

(even more silence)

(me heaving a big sigh)

Okay, back to work. I really do have work to do…I just don’t feel like doing it! So much for my Puritan work ethic. Guess I’m not so Puritan, huh?

Put Some Blame on Someone

Hey, with Rita Hayworth in Gilda (voice of Anita Ellis) it is poor Mame that gets the blame. Somebody always has to get the blame. It always seems to be the gal. None of the guys are at fault.

Here’s one of my favorite musical interludes in film:

Unraveling

Knitting away on a scarf, which should be finished as soon as I sit and spend an hour or two on it. Unfortunately, I had to pull out a row when I realized that I forgot to cast on a bunch of new stitches. Sigh. Well, it’s better than reading up about the fun happening in our financial markets.

Sunday Night

What a lovely lazy day today. Lazy, yet I did enough to consider it productive. Cleaning the house will do that.

So tonight I’m watching disc 2 of Planet Earth. This one has episodes covering caves, deserts, and ice environments. They got some amazing footage in this series. Watching the “diaries” showing how they came up with various segments. Anyway, great show.

Well, I must get back to watching the DVD and figuring out what to wear tomorrow.

Dilly-Dallying

I just finished dinner (some halibut and sautéed mushrooms and zucchini). Now it’s the decision on what DVD to put in. I’ve got the second disc from the Planet Earth series or I could watch Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Both DVDs are from Netflix, and it would be good to see them this weekend, so I can return them during this month of an extra DVD (Netflix lost a court case, thus an extra DVD this month for free). I could put in the first of season 1 of Babylon 5, which a co-worker lent me. I loved that series. Yet nothing sounds that appealing.

I did go see Ghost Town today. As a fan of Ricky Gervais, I just wasn’t sure how he would come across in a Hollywood movie. Happily, I’m pleased that the movie didn’t suck, Ricky is funny and moving, and though his character’s romance with Tea Leoni’s character seems rather far-fetched, they managed to make me laugh often enough to give the movie a thumbs up.

Maybe I won’t watch anything tonight. I’m rather tired after waking up this morning at 4:00 AM and not making it back to sleep. I seem to be on a consistent six to seven hour sleep cycle lately. The problem is that if I go to bed at 10:00 PM that means I’m awake at 4:00 or 5:00.  Of course, if I go to bed early tonight that means I’m up again early tomorrow morning. I sleep well, I just can’t seem to get back to sleep once I wake up (damn bladder — stop waking me up!).

Due to waking up so early I did manage to get Spencer out for a walk nearby. We hit Sandys Canyon. It’s a lovely hike, with aspens, pines, and just a lovely descent into the canyon. We even met a Forest Service guy hiking with a new wooden trail sign to put up.

The weather has been beautiful. The days are in the low 70s and we still get some rain off and on. After so many years of drought this change in the weather is a delight.

Well, I’ve dilly-dallied enough. I still don’t know what DVD to put in. Maybe it’s time to read instead. Maybe I just sit here and knit while listening to music. That sounds nice. I’m knitting up the “Shape It” scarf from Sally Melville’s Knit Stitch book. I made one a few years ago and love it. This time I’m using a ribbon yarn with warm colors of brown, orange, violet, and red (really, it’s pretty). You can see a pic of how the scarf can look like at Knitting Weather’s blog, who writes up her experience with the scarf.

Okay, back to perusing my DVD collection or maybe pulling out the knitting or doing both! Who needs to make decisions anyway?

Atomic Cafe Night

Tonight’s movie is The Atomic Cafe. For such a fun documentary it is so disturbing. Old footage from newsreels, TV interviews, military films, and educational films (“Duck and Cover” anyone?) tell a story of our naive ideas about nuclear power.

Ninja Cat Moves on Little Cat Feet

Dang, those Ninja Kitties are tricksy!