It was cool enough (60 degrees) to wear my vintage (1970s)
cycling sweater.
It has a emblem that says "elf" that turns out to be a Norwegian
petroleum company. I bought it at the Clarendon Cup race that
Joe and I went to in June. I really liked the color, the emblem and
the 50/50 mixture of wool and acrylic.
Here's a pic:
And it looks like one of my other recurring dreams - you know he one where
I am climbing the dreaded Tilden Avenue Hill of Hell and Humiliation and all of a sudden it turns into a scary mountain pass in the Italian Alps - came true.
Some more movie/DVD reviews
Ringu
I have been reading about this Japanese horror film for years
and since there has been an explosion of Japenese horror films
and their sequels and their American remakes I decided I should watch
it. It did the job. I was creeped out. I don't need to see any more
Japanese horror films, their sequels or their American remakes.
Charlotte Sometimes
Another film that is so well done for being a low budget movie. It is a story
of a guy, his neighbors, one of whom he is in love with and a mysterious
woman who enters their lives. It is a very nice looking film (the colors and
sets) and the characters and their stories unfold inicely. Although it is
slow paced and I knew it would probably never be anything but sad I really
enjoyed it.
September 10, 2004
Back to school
I have decided to take Latvian language classes again. Lyla and I
took classes before we went to Riga in 2001 for the 800th anniversary
celebration of the founding of Latvia - a great trip. Anyway I really did want to
keep it up but our teacher Dace went on to teach Latvian history to
Latvian-American kids. And I am sure her duties as wife of the Latvian
Ambassador to US kept her busy as well. Well, I finally got off my butt
and found a teacher. I had my first private lesson tonight. It was tough.
I have been listening to Latvian
all my life and can pick up words here and there. And this is what was
happening tonight. She was doing this immersion thing - trying to speak
only latvian and I could figure out the first 2-3 words and then maybe the
6th and the last but the words in between were just a blur. The worse part
is that before tonight I could feel smug that I understood what my mother was
talking about in a general sense but tonight I wasn't just eavesdropping. I
was being asked a question and I supposed to answer and in Latvian.
But I am excited. I really want to learn and she seems like a good teacher.
September 3, 2004
Aawwww!
I park next to this particular car a fair amount at work
so I walk by it frequently. This week I noticed what was hanging
from the rearview mirror.
More Movies
Quentin Tarantino keeps popping up. First it was Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2.
Then last weekend we
watched Swingers, which we
enjoyed. It is about of group of struggling actor types in LA, one of which has
just been dumped by his girlfriend and the others of which alternately
try to get him back in the game and tell him how annoying he is. There is
one scene where the guys are arguing about Reservoir Dogs, a 1992
Tarantino movie (starring the aforementioned Michael Madsen). They talk about
a scene in the movie and then the next scene starts off in the style of the
scene they were talking about. Actually I am not sure this is absolutely true.
I have never gotten up enough courage to see Reservoir Dogs but I have seen bits and pieces.
So then we see
Margaret Cho's film of her stand-up comedy routine I am the One I Want. Overall I enjoyed it. It was both raunchy and sweet. I particularly
enjoyed the part where she talked about her TV sitcom and subsequent turn to alcohol and drugs after the show was canceled. She imitated her mother a lot
which was fun at times. But some jokes just went on way too long.
So the Tarantino part is when she is talking about her sitcom and she mentions that she
was dating him at the time. I actually watched the sitcom a couple of times
and he was on one episode. I had no idea who he was and they did a spoof
of Pulp Fiction which I had not seen at the time. I did not really
know what was going on but knew I probably should. It wasn't until I saw
Pulp Fiction that I realized how many times I had seen it spoofed,
including on The Simpsons and the Saturday morning cartoon
Eek! The Cat.
This movie also made me realize something about my taste in comedians. I like
physical movement with my comedy. We watched the realty show Last Comic Standing this summer. I actually liked the one that won the best. I think
the one that won second place was just as funny but the winner added a
lot of movement to his routine and I thought it made things more interesting.
Margaret Cho incorporated lots of movement. She had this wild little kung
fu movement she used when she was talking about Asian stereotypes. I thought
it was hilarious. Joe has already asked me to stop doing it.