Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Movie Review – The King’s Speech
I haven’t been to the theater to see a movie in quite a while — since before the holidays, I believe!!! No particular reason. It isn’t because of lack of interest – quite to the contrary, I am still in love with movies. It isn’t because of lack of time – I’ve had several weekends where I had opportunity. It isn’t because the current movies don’t interest me – there are several that look like I would enjoy them. No excuse – I just haven’t made the effort to go.
But, I can say that most of the ones out now that I think I would enjoy are all ones that I think I could easily wait and see on NetFlix. And, while I still love the feeling I get from sitting in a dark theater watching a movie on that giant screen, I also find that some of the other experiences associated with going to the movies aren’t as appealing as they used to be. For instance – I used to LOVE movie theater popcorn! I believed it to be against some moral code or law to go to a movie and not have a bag of popcorn! Lately, the popcorn in movie theaters is less than desirable with a large portion (I’d go so far as to estimate 50% or so of the bag) made up of crumbs scrapped from the bottom of the bin, stale taste, and that oil they mistakenly call butter. I also find myself considering the cost more than I used to. Even with my practice of going to matinees and avoiding paying full price, it costs $7.00 to see a movie!!! And it costs more for the snacks than it does to see the movie! Case in point – yesterday, I went to Spring Lane Cinemas in Sanford to see the 4:35 showing of The King’s Speech. It cost me $7.00 to get in and $8.75 for a small popcorn (that was mostly crumbs) and a bottle of Dasani water! So — the two-hour excursion cost me $15.75!!! Outrageous!!! Luckily, the movie was worth it…..but often, I find it really wasn’t. Hence my feeling lately that I could just wait for NetFlix.
So, enough about how the experience of going to the movies is diminishing and on with the movie review:
The King’s Speech is up for, like, a gazillion Academy Awards. The previews looked good, it is based on a true story with historical interest, and has a prominent cast. So, of course, I was interested in seeing it. The critics AND Yahoo Users all rated it an A, which rarely happens — either the critics love it and most real people don’t or the critics hate it and most real people find it enjoyable. So, I decided to pay the $15.75 to spend two hours checking it out for myself.
What I got for my $15.75 was a totally enjoyable time. There are three Oscar worthy performances – Colin Firth as King George VI (nominated for Best Actor), Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue (nominated for Best Supporting Actor), and Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth (nominated for Best Supporting Actress) – and an absolute top contender for the Best Picture Oscar. I haven’t seen many of the other nominated films and performances, but I think it will be an injustice for some or all of these nominations to not be the ones to bring home the statue.
The story, if you aren’t already familiar, is of King George VI, the current Queen Elizabeth’s father, who had a life long struggle with a speech impediment – he stuttered. This was viewed as a weakness and defect that was not something a King should suffer from. Obviously, this was a huge problem when he was required to speak publicly and provide comfort and strength to his people. The movie starts before he becomes King – his father is still the reigning Monarch and upon his death, George’s brother, Edward, becomes the King of England. However, Edward is in love with an American divorcee currently in the process of her second divorce, which is strongly frowned upon by the Church and English Government. So, Edward abdicates the throne, leaving the role to a reluctant George. George’s devoted wife, Elizabeth, finds an unconventional speech therapist to work with George – Lionel Logue. The two work together so George can overcome his stuttering and become close friends.
It is a touching story and, even without the historical interest, conveys an important message. I found it to be a powerful movie with strong performances portraying endearing relationships – George and Elizabeth, George and Lionel, and George and his daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. I highly recommend this movie and rate it a solid A+!
On another note – after the movie, I went to Cafe 121 for dinner and had Chef Hamm’s special for the evening – Shrimp and Scallop Scampi!!! YUM!!! The only thing that would have made it better would be to toss in some angel hair pasta….then it would have been beyond perfect! I took home a hot Caramel Apple Cider to sip through the rest of the evening. A perfect end to a very nice outing.
Just a quick thought
I notice that I haven’t posted anything on this poor neglected blog since my “New is Cool” post on January 18th. But, yet, I am getting a lot of visitors looking for my thoughts or finding me through searches for something other than my thoughts. So, to keep this somewhat current, here are a few quick thoughts for the day:
- So glad the Groundhog didn’t see any shadows yesterday…….anxiously awaiting spring!
- Got a teaser taste of spring, yesterday — high over 70 degrees!!! But, I was inside at work all day and couldn’t enjoy it! There is a sick injustice in that, for sure!
- Loving my new Wii…..but, need to get into a routine with it, if I am successful in using it for what I intended when I bought it – a way to increase my workout activity!
- Looking forward to doing something really cool sometime in February — will post the details after it happens!!!
- Gonna be a busy month! There are a couple of events I’d really like to participate in – the Annual CARA Dinner at The Steele Pig and the Temple Theater Valentine’s Event, but have so much other stuff going on, I’m going to have to pass on both……
So — there it is…..just a few quick thoughts unloaded!
New is Cool….
It always feels good to have “new” stuff, situations, experiences, etc. New is good, exciting, energizing, and….well….New! The last few weeks have brought an abundance of new to my life. Not all are things and not all are major stuff, but new, just the same! New usually means change and change is good – it snaps you out of a rut, gives you new stimulation, or just provides something new to think about.
The first new, of course, is a new year! 2011 — the start of a new year, new opportunities, new challenges. I didn’t make any resolutions this year. I usually do and, like most people, I break them before January ends. So, instead of resolving to not do something or do something, I decided to look for opportunities as they come and handle them as appropriate at the time.
This weekend, I got a hair cut and took care of my roots. So, I’ll have new hair for a few weeks – until the roots start to grow out and my bangs get shaggy and I need another trip to Marcello’s to renew my hair, again. I also got a few new tops at Burke’s Outlet this weekend, too. Burke’s Outlet is fairly new to Sanford and new to me, since I just started checking it out a little before the holidays.
My work life is full of new, too – lots going on!
I have watched some new shows on TV in the last week or so, too. Tonight, I saw the pilot for Kathy Bate’s new show Harry’s Law – looks like a winner! I also caught The Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network for the first time (not a new show, but new to me) this weekend – I know there are people out there who claim they can’t boil water, but there is this one lady in the competition who actually admitted she didn’t know the difference between a scallion and a scallop and, in fact, didn’t even know what a scallop is! Hhhmmm…..I’m thinking this might be interesting!
I’m trying Weight Watchers to see if it can make a difference in my health and WW has a new program – Weight Watchers Points Plus. It has done wonders for Jennifer Hudson – maybe I can get my mind in the right place to let it do wonders for me, too. Time will tell if this results in a new me!
The newest of the new goes along with the last paragraph….sort of. I finally gave in and got on the Wii bandwagon. I thought it might be a good way to burn some calories and have some fun and just plain do something new! I got the console today, set it up, and tried some of the sports games – I really did good at bowling right from the get-go, but tennis is going to take some figuring out! I am also planning to get Wii Fit, some dance games, and a karaoke game. I figure this will give me a new way to dance and sing around the house!
So, let the new keep coming – shake things up – new is cool!
Fun Songs
A song came on the radio on my way to the grocery store and, like so many old songs, it brought a flood of memories. The song? “King of the Road”, by Roger Miller. My Mom had a couple of albums by Roger Miller and my brother and I would play them and have a ton of fun with them. You see, although Roger Miller was a singer/song writer with some serious county music songs to his credit, he was best known for his novelty songs – and boy, were they fun for a couple of kids on an otherwise boring afternoon.
Kevin and I would act them out as we sang to them to create little mini play productions. We’d laugh and laugh over trying (and usually failing) to mimic the funny sounds he’d make in his songs. It had to have been a riot to watch us!
An example of one we fumbled over the be-bop sounds:
An example of one we loved to act out — we’d pretend to do all the things that he said you “can’t” do and then just do a jig-like dance during the chorus (sorry – this won’t come up in the post, but click on the “watch on youtube” and it’ll come up in a new tab):
The one I heard on the radio today was one we just loved to sing — we’d pretend we were on a stage and singing just as “cool” as Roger sang it:
These are, by far, not the only ones we loved — just what I think Kevin would agree were our favorites! But, there was also “Dang Me”, “Chug-a-lug”, and many more!
While thinking of those fun songs, some that weren’t from Roger Miller came to mind — we loved this one, too (give it a minute – it does get to the song):
Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs gave us lots to have fun with, too. A bunch would gather in our cousin, Gary’s garage and we’d have a pretend band. This one was one of our top numbers to do:
And, I can’t forget “Wooly Bully”!!!
OK – enough fun for now……
So much better than snow…
I had a white Christmas, but not here in Sanford and not as plentiful as it was here in Sanford! I went home for the holiday break and totally missed the record-breaking snow that blanketed the southeast. Oh, I saw it – through the many photos posted by friends on Facebook – but, missed physically experiencing it! There was quite a bit of snow on the ground in Albion and we had a brief dusting on Christmas day, so I did get to see snow on Christmas. But, the irony of it was that I went to Western NY – the Buffalo snow belt – the frigid north and saw much LESS snow than Sanford, NC had over Christmas! I was all worried about what I would encounter on my holiday trip and all the while, it was here that got blasted! Funny!
A small part of me – very small – is kinda sad that I missed something so historical (NC never gets any significant snow fall this early), just because it was unusual to get so much on Christmas and something I may never see again. But, I’m not a fan of snow – I grew up in it and saw more snow in my lifetime than I feel anyone should have to see…..or more to the point…..more than anyone should have to shovel, drive in, struggle through, etc.!!! So, I am not all THAT disappointed that I missed it.
After all, my holiday trip had something much better – something Sanford doesn’t have to offer me – FAMILY!
I had several Christmas celebrations and even my fair share of snow. The Weds evening before I flew north, Ronald, Lisa, and I had dinner and celebrated our Christmas together.
Then, I arrived at Mom’s the night before Christmas Eve and stayed until the morning of New Year’s Eve. There was only a few inches of snow on the ground – enough to cover everything good, but not be swept up into big drifts – but, Mom’s car hadn’t been cleaned off in quite some time, so it had a good 6+ inches of hard packed, crusty snow all over it! When I went out to go to the store to shop for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals, I had to clean it off, first. It took quite a while to chisel the snow off the car – snow filled both my shoes (with no socks on), the knit gloves I took with me got soaked, I broke a fingernail, and I bruised my arm on the trunk when I slipped on the slippery driveway behind the car – but, I got it cleaned off so that I could go to town. Thank goodness there was no more accumulation while I was there and that was the only time I had to clean it off!
My brother and his family came over on Christmas Eve to have our Christmas. It was very nice – we had munchies and opened gifts and enjoyed the company. Christmas Day was just Mom and me – a quiet, relaxing day spent talking and watching movies together. I fixed a ham with a bunch of sides – nothing special, but very good. Then, on Sunday, my nephew, his wife and son, and my brother and his family came out and we had another Christmas celebration. This one was with the newest member of our family – my great-nephew, who will be one year old later this month. It was a joy watching Nolen get excited about all the new toys he got to open! But, the best toy of the day was actually a small egg beater (wire whisk) with a cute egg for a handle that was actually a gift for his Mom – he latched onto that and they couldn’t pry it from his hands!
Another highlight of the week was dinner with some of my high school friends. I so enjoy being able to spend time with them. It was a lovely evening and I look forward to the next time we can get together.
The rest of the week was spent just visiting with Mom – something I treasure and enjoy more than anything. She has had a tough year that ended with her second total hip replacement on November 1st. She isn’t fully recovered, yet, but is starting to turn the corner and doing quite well. I saw a huge improvement in her since I was there over Thanksgiving!
So, yeah – I missed the historic snow fall in Sanford, NC! But, it would have been far more tragic if I had missed spending Christmas with my family, seeing Nolen rip open gift after gift that revealed yet another new toy to excite him, discovering first hand that Mom is starting to show marked improvement after her surgery, enjoying an evening reminiscing with old friends, and savoring the peace that comes with being home for the holidays!
It is a new year, now – one that I hope will be much better than the last one for all who struggled through it. I wish everyone peace, love, good health, and happiness in 2011! I pray the economy is really on the upswing that analysts are predicting – the first stock day seemed to show some promise! And I hope the Farmer’s Almanac is incorrect in their prediction of a long, bad winter season!
Happy New Year!
Dreams
One of the Christmas gifts I received from Ronald and Lisa was a book on interpreting dreams. I was very excited to see it…..I have some strange dreams and often wonder what the hidden meanings are behind them. It is a THICK book – a “dictionary” of sorts – all categorized by key words in alphabetical order. I haven’t gotten into it much, yet, but I am sure I’ll enjoy it! The only thing that bothers me about it is that any I have looked up, so far, have a very negative connotation! Can all dreams stem from or be predictive of something bad that has or will happen? I’ll be digging deeper to prove that wrong, for sure!
One recurring theme that shows up in most of my bazaar dreams in some way or another is particularly disturbing to me – no matter what else is going on, this will most likely end up as a big part of the dream:
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I can’t seem to walk in dreams — whether I’m trying to walk or run — whether it is from or to something good or bad! My legs feel like huge, unliftable weights that cause me to not be able to move my feet more than a very small, painful step at a time. So, when I have to get somewhere in my dreams, I either crawl, inch along on my belly, or walk on my knees. OR – the more bazaar method of travel for me is to “swim” through the air. Yep, if I need to get somewhere fast, I push off and do the breast stroke through the air – so long as my arms keep pulling me through the air, like they would if I were swimming, I can continue to make progress – when I stop, I stand back up and am stationary!
The keys words associated with these all allude to bad things to come. Since they tend to occur quite often in my dreams – both good, bad, and bazaar dreams – I will take it all with a grain of salt. Afterall – if I had as much misfortune as it seems these dreams predict, I would be in pretty bad shape! And life is good……so……I’ll continue to have fun trying to analyze my dreams purely for the entertainment value. Unless, of course, if I start to find lots of good stuff in that book – then, I’m sure I’ll consider it “gospel”!
Sweet dreams!
Baby, it is cold outside!!!
Twenty-six years ago, I traveled to Sanford to visit my soon-to-be in laws over the Christmas holiday. It was fun going back to snowy Albion to tell everyone that I ran around on Christmas day in short sleeves and no coat! The weather was amazing! We moved here the following June and I took great pleasure in writing letters and calling my family and friends throughout the winters that I was experiencing warm, sunny days while they were being bombarded with snow! Yeah, we had a few pretty cold days and maybe a couple of flurries and the occasional ice storm, but, for the most part, the winters here were pretty incredible!
What happened? The last few winters have been brutal – albeit only for a couple of months (except this past winter when we had a major snow event three months in a row). I woke up this morning to let the girls out and it was 10 degrees – TEN DEGREES! And they are predicting snow tomorrow – in December! We usually don’t see any snow here until January!
Yeah, I know – I’m whining about some cold weather that probably won’t last terribly long and I was begging for it to cool down when it was so incredibly hot this summer! And after all, I grew up in the Buffalo snow belt – I know cold and I know snow and this really does fail in comparison! But – IT IS COLD!!!! Maybe my northern blood is finally thinning out to where I can’t take the cold anymore! Maybe I feel cheated because I got so used to the mild winters that the last few (and, so far, this one) are letting me down! Whatever the reason, I can’t help but scream out — IT IS COLD!!!!
Stay warm, my friends……and for those of you in good old Albion, where the temps are in the single digits and you’re buried in record snow falls, all I can say is: Hey, it is still warmer here than it is there!!!
Temple Review – A Christmas Carole
I had the best time today!!!! I had a really good morning at work and then the day moved from “good” to “great”! My group at work and a few other special guests (17 of us) all went to lunch at Sabatino’s and then attended the Thursday matinée performance of A Christmas Carole at the Temple Theatre. Lunch was filled with good food, great conversation, fun and laughter, and sharing. If it had ended there, the day would have been perfect. But, it didn’t end there – it went from “great” to “amazing”!
Temple Theatre’s A Christmas Carole is an original musical adaptation of the Dickens classic story of the magic of Christmas. It is filled with dancing, singing, ghosts, and, of course, Mr. Scrooge! The mix of traditional Christmas Caroles and new original songs written just for this production warms the heart. It is a fun-filled show that will appeal to all ages.
Terry Schwab does an excellent job of bringing the grouchy old Scrooge to life. He looks mean and weighed down as Scrooge goes through the beginning scenes with his “bah humbug” attitude towards life and, in particular, Christmas. Then he is light as a feather as he frolics with the people of his past during his first ghostly visit and when he completes the three ghostly visits and transforms into the happier, more charitable Scrooge. And, he is delightfully funny at both versions of the legendary Mr. Scrooge.
Chris Wright is always a delight when he appears in a Temple Theatre production! But, he is fantastic as Scrooge’s happy-go-lucky nephew, Fred. He steals just about every scene he is in with his whimsical song and dance routines and animated dialogue.
Steven Moore has a short, yet extremely memorable appearance as Jacob Marley. His booming voice, chain covered body, and ghostly appearance give him a menacing presence. And then he breaks into his musical number that provides Scrooge with a view of the nightmare that is his future if he doesn’t heed the messages of the three ghosts that will visit.
Temple’s own Michael Brocki plays Bob Cratchit with the trademark child-like appeal he brings to all the characters he portrays. I only wish he had more stage time in this one!
The rest of the cast did an amazing job, as well. The vocals and dancing were a joy to behold. The ensembles meshed together perfectly to create an atmosphere that would be thoroughly enjoyed on any stage, anywhere!
This production is touted as a new Temple Theatre tradition – it was presented last year at this time, again this year, and I hope will continue for years to come. Those who attended and enjoyed it last year will find it even more enjoyable this year – I sure did! If you think it will be the “same ole, same ole” – just a repeat of last year’s show, think again! There are new songs, new costumes, new sets, and new actors in some of the roles. If you are worried that the changes might ruin a good thing, you’d be wrong again! The changes are subtle improvements that bring more fun and enjoyment to the show. And, for those who didn’t see it last year – what are you waiting for? Take the family and experience the magic of Christmas in this wonderful production.
Want to go? You’d better hurry — the popularity is resulting in tickets selling like hotcakes! I’ve already got my tickets to see it again with a couple of friends at the final matinée on the 19th and I can’t wait!!!
The remaining show times are:
December 3-4 at 8:00 pm
December 5 at 2:00 pm
December 9 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
December 10-11 at 8:00 pm
December 12 at 2:00 pm
December 16 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
December 17-18 at 8:00 pm
December 19 at 2:00 pm
Airports can be entertaining
I traveled to my Mom’s for the Thanksgiving holiday. I flew up on Weds – the busiest travel day of the year – and back on Monday. I had a wonderful time. Just a month ago today, Mom had her second hip replacement surgery (the first was two and a half years ago). She got home from rehab on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, so she had only been home a few days when I arrived. She had a rough time with the surgery and rehab, which followed many months of agonizing pain – she’s had a tough year!!! But, she was doing remarkably well – still slow and unable to do most of her normal routine without assistance or taking longer than usual, but she is getting around with a walker and doing a LOT better than I anticipated! We had a great visit! I am so glad I went up for the holiday!
The traveling part was rather event free – no long lines (even on Weds morning), no flight delays, no rough weather, no drama, and no one touched my junk! It would have been very boring…..if it weren’t for the people in the airport! I love to people watch – especially in airports – I’m always amazed at how people act when traveling and wonder if they act that way all the time or if there is something about traveling that brings the bazaar tendencies out of them!
A few worthy of mentioning from this trip:
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This actually happens most trips – not sure why I always seem to get behind someone like this in the security line! The requirements at airports are well publicized and the brunt of many jokes, cartoons, late night talk show banter, etc….so, why is it that there is almost always someone who comes totally unprepared for what they will encounter? Case in point – this trip wasn’t the first time I’ve been behind someone who chooses to wear something on their feet that is extremely difficult to take off and put back on – holding up the line while they struggle! This time it was a young woman who wore THIGH high leather boots – yes, thigh high – they were skin-tight and went all the way up to just inches from her – well, you can guess how high they were! She struggled with the zipper, then couldn’t get them off and needed her travel companion to help her pull them off, and then after passing through the metal detectors – instead of grabbing them and moving on to one of the benches at the end of the conveyor belts – she stood there struggling to put them back on and getting herself all situated – holding up everyone’s bins from getting through the scanners behind her! Come on! I wear the easiest shoes to slip off and on and I STILL grab my stuff and move out of everyone’s way before I put them back on and get all the stuff I had to take off and out of bags back where it all belongs!
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While on my lengthy layover in Baltimore – after I stopped in at the great little seafood restaurant that specializes in Maryland crab cakes and had a delicious dinner of crab and shrimp – I watched a big guy standing out in the main aisle way doing the “I’m so important, I have to be on the phone every second” dance. He had a bluetooth or something else that made him hands-free with no sign of where the phone was! So, he was pacing back and forth, talking loudly, laughing with great animation, waving his arms around for dramatic impact, and basically just making sure everyone in the airport knew he was there and what he was doing! Since his phone was hidden, it made me think that not all that long ago, if someone was acting the way he was acting in public, people would have stared and laughed or avoided eye contact or went out of their way to not get too close to him — all because he would have looked like someone who needed help from some guys in little white coats!!! hahaha But, everyone just passed him by like he wasn’t even there — I’m sure that was much to his disappointment, since it appeared like he really wanted the attention drawn to him!
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There was also this woman who was waiting for the same flight I was waiting for who ALSO wanted to be sure everyone knew she was there – and that she left her pizza in Chicago! She constantly paced around the entire waiting area or stood wherever she could easily be seen by everyone. Whenever someone from Southwest passed her and said the polite “how are you?”, she would say very loudly and disgustedly, “Not good at all – I left my pizza in Chicago and I’m not too happy about it!” Apparently, it was some special deep dish pizza from a famous place. If someone accidentally made eye contact with her (and we all soon learned to try hard to not let that happen) she would say, “Can you believe I left that pizza in Chicago? I’m so upset!” And then she got on the phone and loudly told someone all about it! I got on the plane pretty quickly and sat in one of the front row seats. When she got on, the flight attendant greeted her and she told him all about it and then I heard her telling another attendant further back all about it! For pity sake – please get that woman a pizza!!!!
Those are the ones that stood out the most for me this trip……but there are always some that give me reason to chuckle to myself, just as I’m sure someone is chuckling over something I do while I’m sitting there, as well!
If any of you are traveling over the upcoming holidays or for other reasons, I hope you find joy in the free entertainment that is provided by all your fellow travelers!
Happy Holidays!
The ties that bind us to our past…
Very little ties us to our past like music. How often does a song come on the radio that brings up a very specific memory or time period in our lives? Music is the single most defining trigger of memories for me. And none are stronger than Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale!
I’m not really sure why, though — it was a favorite song of mine, for sure, but there were a lot of other more important songs and memories than this one.
From the very first note, I can physically feel my body relax, a sense of peace waves through me, and I am instantly swept back to dances at the bowling alley in Albion, NY in the early-mid 1970s! I can feel myself dancing with a date and find myself swaying as we dance in my mind. I remember going to the bowling alley a lot for dances and always having a good time, but wonder what makes this song stand out and why it has a much more instant and strong memory tie than any song that triggers memories for me. And it really does — every time I hear it — no matter where I am or what I’m doing — it instantly gives me an amazing inner peace and distinct physical feelings! It simply makes me happy — I only wish I could put together more of the context around what was so special about that particular memory!
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