Letters to Holly

Wednesday, November 21

I'm Going to Spike My Turkey Gravy with Cold Medicine.

The cold fades away slowly, and I remain in the sick bed at night. Today, my voice has turned bass, and I'm unable to sing along with the iPod. But I can add great background harmony. I've become a Pip. We grabbed Mexican food for supper and watched some Jeopardy before I retreated to the bathtub for a hot soak with the newest Vanity Fair. My best friend NyQuil helped me make it through the night.

I got an odd call from My dad earlier Tuesday. When My Mom talked to Your Sis Monday, there was some sort of comment about which car we'll drive to Alabama. My Dad called to apologize to me over his unheard remark that our new car isn't as safe as theirs. I had no idea about any of this. I was baffled. And I don't care which car we take. I assume we'll take theirs; My Mom hates driving through Atlanta and mountains, so she should be in her car to feel more comfortable.

Picture of the Day
A matter of perspective.

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Tuesday, November 20

Sniffle, Cough

While home sick, I watched two films. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is an utter disappointment. Such a cast, such a production, and a pretentious drab script. A shame. Altered States is a hum-dinger of early '80s scifi. I hadn't seen it in years and years. I also played some Katamari Damacy. Your Sis loves to play nursemaid, and she made cookies before I went to bed.

I'm at work today and feeling about 50% better. The throat is a swamp, and my nose acts up once an hour. But I feel OK.

I officially won my fantasy week for my first winning record after 11 weeks.

Picture of the Day
The possible monster design from the upcoming Cloverfield film.

Monday, November 19

Neil Simon and Meteors

Thanks to a DVD-burning trade with a fellow university alum, we now have many new movies to watch, and Friday was The Bourne Identity. Tight, small action film, and you can tell they hedged their bets on the ending in case the profits didn't warrant sequels. If it ended there, all would be well. Now we want to see what comes next.

I met with the director Saturday morning for coffee and gift exchanging. She bought gifts based on the original play Witness for the Prosecution, and I never did learn just when the switch to the Ayn Rand was made. She got pen sets made to look like pipes. It's cute. She liked her book and the cast messages. She pressed her case about the stage lights (even handing me a handout of pictures from the DVD with and without lights), and I mollified her politely. We traded war stories, and she took every opportunity to insult the backstage director. I don't think she knew his behavior problems on previous shows, and I didn't know that he had tried to name himself technical director during the show. It was a nice chat, and I'd work with her again if the stars aligned.

We met up with an alum of Your Sister's for dinner and a play. We caught The Good Doctor at Furman, an anthology of small skits written by Neil Simon inspired by Chekov. I consider myself a fan of Simon, yet had never heard of this. It was great. Very funny, with a sharp young cast. I'm not used to good theatre from college kids. But they nailed this.

On the way back up home, she and I stopped on Bald Mountain to catch the Leonid meteor shower. We first saw them in 2001, one of first dates. Thhis night's show was milder but still worth the time and cold. The very, very cold. We nestled in a crater on the flat rock side of the mountain for an hour before drunks and shivers made us leave. We stopped in farm land and saw some more before getting home right before 2 a.m. And now I'm sick. I've fended off a cold for a week now, and it finally struck Sunday. I'm at home sick from work as I write this. I'm hoping to assault my sore throat with buffalo wings tonight to teach it a lesson. I'm also determined to kick this before the drive to Birmingham Thursday.

We watched Beowulf Sunday. My eyes hurt from looking at everything. Because this is animated through motion capture, I'm squinting to see eyelashes, beard hairs, scale detail, light play, etc. I have a headache from staring over this film.

It's a tight action film. They've made changes to the story that even my English teacher wife approved of. What I really liked were the creative camera movements and the attention to conveying the actors' choices. Anthony Hopkins acts like Hopkins. Malkovich is undoubtedly Malkovich (the scene where Unfirth confronts Beowulf steals the film). The animation isn't consistently fluid, but there are some images that make me gasp.

The elements make this movie sparkle and they all involve the monsters. Grendel is fully formed in concept if not biologically, and I miss him when he's gone. The dragon is, of course, designed well, but the movie takes of when it first flaps its wings, and we get about ten solid minutes of action.

It's going to be compared to 300, and they're similar but descended from different perspectives of animation.

This is fun, and funnier than I expected.


The NFL Contest
HER PICKS
NFC: New Orleans (4-6), St. Louis (2-8)
AFC: Indianapolis (8-2), New England (10-0)

MY PICKS
NFC: New Orleans (4-6), Carolina (4-6)
AFC: New England (10-0), San Diego (5-5)