Movie – Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

Posted on February 24, 2008 by

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I was flipping channels trying to find a good movie this afternoon and came across one of the best movies of all time! I missed the very beginning, but that was OK – I have seen it at least a thousand times, so I didn’t miss anything.

The movie I had the distinct honor of watching was “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” – the original 1967 version with Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn, and Spencer Tracey (not the more recent half baked attempt to do a comedic twist on the basic story line called Guess Who, starring Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher – I didn’t waste my time on that one!).

Whether the first time or the thousandth time, this movie is captivating, touching, controversial, thought provoking, and just plain amazing! They don’t make actors the caliber of Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn, and Spencer Tracey anymore! They can grab your very sole and hold it in their hands with a simple look or phrase. Sidney Poitier is an exceptional actor who demands your attention and gets it! The chemistry between Hepburn and Tracey is incredible – the off screen intense love they had for each other is apparent in every glance that takes place between them in every movie they do together. Their ability to make the characters they play come to life and touch your heart is second to none!!!

This movie tells an important story and brings out strong emotions in all who view it. The final scene is my favorite – when Tracey’s character recaps the events and conversations of the day and voices his concerns and feelings. It is one of the very best scenes ever filmed!!!

If you haven’t seen this movie, I suggest you find it in a rental store or watch for it on cable – it is so well worth the time – I am so happy I came across it today and will take the time to see it whenever I find it!

Movie Review – Atonement

Posted on February 24, 2008 by

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OK – I gave in and went to see Atonement today! I usually like period pieces, especially if they are about unrequited love or deep romance! But, I just wasn’t interested in watching this one – for some reason, it just didn’t reach out and grab me. So, I almost didn’t go see it – even though I gave it serious thought every weekend when trying to decide what movies to go see, I never put it in the top choices! Finally, today, it was down to Atonement or Vantage Point! Vantage Point looked intriguing to me, but I really wasn’t in the mood to “think” too much – I really just wanted to see a movie that would touch my heart. So – against my better judgement, I listened to the critics who have been shooting down Vantage Point and seem to really love Atonement! That should have been my clue to just stay home!

I went to the 5:10 show, so that meant that I paid full price instead of matinee price! I got in to the theater and the movie started — almost immediately, I was bored and contemplating leaving! But – I paid full price and wasn’t going to waste that kind of money! I kept thinking that it has to get better! I was WRONG!!! It was slow, uninteresting, and confusing!!! The scenes kept bouncing all around and it was really hard to keep track of what was happening and what time frame they were in!!! Several scenes started in the middle or almost end of the scene and then when it was over, it started showing the same scene again from the beginning to show what happened to get them there – it was so WEIRD!!! Then, later in the film, they had real flash backs where they were in a later time frame and then went back to a previous time frame! And then, they were suddenly MANY years later! AND – in the end, it is revealed that some of the facts that were presented were “imagined” by the character telling the story – they never actually happened – making it all even MORE confusing! There was some good acting, but there was so much about the movie that was just strange and confusing, that it far out-weighed the good acting and made it difficult to put my finger on anything that was worth watching!

I will admit, though, that the last 10 minutes were good — they actually managed to pull it all together and get it to make sense — but it was almost 2 hours too late!!!! I absolutely do NOT recommend this movie and am incredibly sorry I saw it!
  • Will I add this one to my my DVD collection? HELL NO!!!
  • Was I sorry I spent the time and $$ on it? ABSOLUTELY – BIG TIME!!!
  • Did I enjoy it? I enjoyed Monday’s Dentist appt a whole lot more!!!

I rate this one Two HUGE thumbs DOWN – or – an F

Spell Check Fixed!!!

Posted on February 23, 2008 by

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Woo Hoo — spell check on Blogger has been fixed!!! The spell check button for posts on blogger has been unusable for quite a while now — it’s been very frustrating for someone who really depends on spell check (me!!!). But, it is fixed now, so I am happy!!!!

I want comments!!!!

Posted on February 23, 2008 by

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What do I have to do to get people to comment on my posts???? I had a record # of hits yesterday – 30 – in one day!!! And not one single comment!!! ;-(

I know my posts aren’t terribly interesting or thought provoking, but there must be SOMEONE who has an opinion that is worthy of telling me about!!!

So – what do I need to do? Pay you? OK, then – every comment to this or any other post on this blog dated today or tomorrow (Sat / Sun – Feb 23/24) will be considered for a $100 cash prize!!!

Bring on the comments!!! Let’s see how many comments I get this weekend…………show me you’re out there!!!

Thoughts for Thursday….

Posted on February 22, 2008 by

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Here are my thoughts for today:

Mom is out of the hospital and in rehab as of today — she’s in a LOT of pain and swollen pretty bad, but the doc and PT folks all say she is doing really well……

I did a “career day” thing at East Lee Middle School today — the kids were GREAT!!! They had a list of required questions, so there wasn’t a formal presentation. I took a basket of Chapstick (Wyeth makes Chapstick at our Richmond, VA location) and a couple baskets of candy (1 w/ M&Ms and 1 w/ Hershey’s Kisses). The ones who came by my table were really interested in hearing about what it would take to have a career in the BioTech industry – they asked their questions, I signed their sheets, and they got Chapstick and candy!!! I really enjoyed myself!

When Jon Owens posted his blog about the Lottery Challenge, I said that he had sparked my interest in scratch offs and that I was going to start getting them again…….well, I never did!!! When I would think about them, I didn’t have the time to go into a convenience store to get them – when I had the time, I wouldn’t think about them…………..and so on!!! Well, today, on my way to the career day event, I stopped at a convenience store to buy a bottle of water – while I was there, I thought about the scratch offs – I thought “wow – this must be my lucky day – I am thinking about them at the right time, I started a new job this week, I had enough cash to get enough to make it worth the effort, and I was on my way to help students learn about new career potentials — it was perfect!!! So – I bought 20 $1.00 “2 for the Dough” cards — that made a $20.00 investment!!! I left them in my purse and thought about winning all day while I did the career day thing and then while I was at work after lunch! When I got home, I took them out and slowly scratched off one at a time, building the anticipation……………I ended up with 1 card that won $3.00 and 3 cards that won $1.00 each — so, I ended up winning $6.00 total…………….since my investment was $20.00, that left me $14.00 in the hole!!!! So:
  • Cost of 20 scratch off cards: $20.00
  • Winning cards: $6.00
  • Net loss: $14.00
  • Fun factor (1-10 scale): 6 (started out at 10 and went down the more frustrated I got!)
  • Knowing I have $6.00 worth of cards to cash in for more fun: PRICELESS!

I’m exhausted — it’s been a wild week — I think I’m heading to bed early tonight!

Another one bites the dust!

Posted on February 20, 2008 by

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Well, I am giving up on any hope of a future for yet another pretty comforter!!! I am also giving up on ever being able to own a pretty comforter!!! Yep, Megan has destroyed my usual “glass is half full” outlook on this subject – totally!!!

Megan has a “thing” for anything that has batting, fiber filling, or foam filling……..she HAS to rip it open and pull out the stuffing!!! I went through SEVERAL comforters, pillows, lawn furniture pads, dog beds, and even a living room chair and couch in the first year she was here – do you know how iritating it is to find any one of these items in shreds all over a room or the back yard???? But – she’s been a LOT better about it in the past several months. So, I broke down and bought a new comforter just before Christmas (I MUCH prefer a comforter over a blanket or quilt – it just feels so much cozier!!) – a really pretty rusty gold one that matched a set of sheets I have perfectly and looks so rich and cozy and felt GREAT!!!! I really loved that comforter!!!

The comforter went untouched for several weeks – I thought it was going to survive the rath of Megan-stein!! Then, in the wee hours one morning I heard the tell tale sound of fiber being ripped through a small hole and felt the blanket being tugged! I jolted up and yelled “Megan, stop that you bad girl!!!!” She did immediately stop – but the damage was done! There was a small hole in one of the bottom corners and there was a pile of batting on the end of the bed, the bench at the foot of the bed, and on the floor that, when scooped together, was larger than a basketball!!!! That, actually was a small amount – I caught her in time!!! After I put her and her sisters outside to do their business, I stuffed the batting back in through the small hole and stitched it up!

I saved the comforter! But, once Megan finds that there is fun inside a comforter, there is no stopping her! About once a week, I had to put large amounts of batting back in the comforter and stitch up a hole! One evening, I forgot to shut the bedroom door and was surprised about how quiet Megan was – she wasn’t alseep beside me and wasn’t outside – so I went to look for her and found her in the bedroom in a MOUNTAIN of fluffy white batting!!!! Once I composed myself and gathered all the batting into one pile, I discovered that she had ripped open SEVERAL holes and pulled the batting out from several locations around the perimeter of the comforter! Apparently, she got all she could reach in and get from one hole, so instead of giving up, she just opened up another spot to get more and kept going until she was “caught”!!! I thought it was beyond repair — BUT — I did get all the batting back in and stitched up the holes!!! It was a little lumpier than it was before and the decorative roping around the edges was destroyed in several places, but it was OK!

This morning, I was awaken by that sound of batting being pulled through a hole again. She must have been awake and at it for quite a while before it woke me up — must be the full moon we had last night! There were several holes along one area and a LOT of batting piled up all over the place!!!! I lost it — I yelled at her to stop and put her outside — then, I put the batting back in the comforter, folded it up, and put it in the guest room!!!! I will go out tonight and buy a replacement that has NO fiber filling and the pretty comforter will stay put away until such time as I feel it is safe to bring it back out! This one received the most first aid I have EVER given anything that Megan has chewed up — I typically don’t go to this much trouble to save them — but I really LIKED this one!!!! Although I put the batting back in, I didn’t stitch up the holes. I will decide if I think it is worth the effort again or not later!

This season’s "Dancers" announced!!!

Posted on February 20, 2008 by

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Woo hoo — the new season of Dancing With The Stars will start on March 17th!!! This season’s dancers have been announced:

Priscilla Presley
Kristi Yamaguchi
Adam Corolla
Marlee Matlin
Shannon Elizabeth
Steve Guttenberg
Monica Seles
Penn Jillette
Mario
Jayson Taylor
Cristian De La Fuenta
Marissa Jaret Winokur

My early predictions:

Adam Corolla will be the first to go — no way he’ll take it seriously and will ham it up right off the bat and won’t last!

Kristi Yamaguchi has a good chance of lasting a long time and may just go all the way — her skating career will help her significantly and her popularity will make her a “fan favorite”!

I can’t wait to find out if I’m right or not!

I’ve been crowned….

Posted on February 19, 2008 by

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Bow, all you devoted subjects, for I have been crowned the Queen of………….uumm — oh, yeah, sorry — I GOT a crown – on my tooth – I wasn’t “crowned” —- I got confused — must have been the novocaine side effects!!!! ha-ha

You know what bugs me most about novocaine wearing off???? It is when my chin starts to itch, but I can’t scratch it cause the itching is on the inside and the outside is still numb and huge feeling and I can’t feel myself scratching the itch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Anyway – all the novocaine is wore off now and my face is back to normal. I have a temporary cap on and it tastes kinda metally, but it doesn’t ache – which is more than I can say for BEFORE I went to the dentist this morning……..

And now the healing begins….

Posted on February 19, 2008 by

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My Mom is in her room now — it’s all over but the healing! Of course, recovery is a long, hard road for surgery of this kind, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for her now!!! I talked to my brother and he said her vital signs are all strong and she is in la-la land with the pain meds they have her on. He said the surgery took less time than expected and the Doctor said it went very well — no problems at all!!! Tomorrow, they will get her up on her feet and start getting her used to using her new hip!

After she decided to get the surgery to ease the intense pain she was in, we have been talking about all the things we can do together when she gets her new hip and gets through the healing process!!! I’ll just be happy to know she can get around easier and isn’t in constant pain!!!! But – if we start making some plans to be together more, that will be icing on the cake!!!

Thanks to those who sent well wishes via email, phone, or posts here – I really appreciated you thinking of her today!

D-Day

Posted on February 18, 2008 by

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D-Day — that’s what my Mom is calling today — the day she goes in for total hip replacement surgery!!!

She’s 800+ miles away from me today, so I could use your help — please keep her in your thoughts and prayers today!

We decided that there wasn’t anything I could do sitting in the hospital watching her go through recovery and rehab, so I will plan a trip up later when I CAN help —- BUT — what I didn’t take into consideration was how sick to my stomach I was going to be sitting here in NC worrying about it!!! The operation isn’t even scheduled until later this afternoon and she doesn’t even need to be at the hospital until around noon, but I am already upset and have thrown up twice!!!! I’ll be on pins and needles until my brother calls me this evening when she’s out of surgery and in her room!!!

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