Magnetic North

WPA Art

2009-05-14T01:20:00.001+08:00

Rellies Tucking Into Crabs at High Island Restaurant

2009-05-14T00:31:00.002+08:00

Planes, no trains, automobiles!

2009-05-14T00:24:00.002+08:00

We have been traveling! First, we had our half-yearly Qantas trek back to the US from AUS which was long, tiring, but thankfully uneventful. We watched lots of movies on the 14+hour flight, drank some good Aussie wine, ate some OK airline food, so had a common airline experience. Nothing to write about, but it seems I was able to squeeze a couple of sentences out of it anyway.

Then after a few days of rest, my mother came for a visit. She is 84 and lives in California. After seeing everyone in Midland, we flew with her to Liberty to see her 88 and 90-year old sisters whom she had not seen for quite awhile.

We also caught up with Miss Ruth, my Dad's second wife, and other rellies.

Ella Grace's Hoppy Easter Poem

2009-04-10T10:39:00.001+08:00

Dexter

2009-03-16T15:12:00.004+09:00

We finished Season 1 of Dexter on dvd last night. The script is absolutely leakproof, not one hole in any episode, all 12 episodes tied together seamlessly. The acting all around is pitch perfect; Michael C. Hall is completely believable as a forensics pathologist who moonlights as a serial killer. One could object to the antagonist of the piece being a serial killer, I suppose, but it's a heightened reality we're experiencing. Dark comedy has never exceeded this.

Mullaloo Beach

2009-03-15T13:40:00.002+09:00

While it's never crowded at our beach, it was absolutely vacant yesterday. It was a hot day too! Today there were a lot of families enjoying the waves. Us too!

Reading the Classics

2009-03-13T19:13:00.004+09:00

I am now reading the classic Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I read this book in high school, but that was many moons ago and I don't remember more than the story outline. Dickens is of course masterful in his characterizations; every person in the novel, from Pip, the protagonist, to the least mentioned barkeeper is rich in detail and fully knowable. As readers we meet Pip as a poor, orphaned child being reared by a shrewish sister and her hapless husband, Joe. Pip is settled on his life, knowing he will apprentice to Joe. However, fate steps in in the form of Mrs. Havisham and Pip realizes there is a world outside his own narrow life. He begins to have expectations, though limited by the meaness of his existence. Then he is visited by a London lawyer who tells Pip that he has a benevolent benefactor and enough funds to train as a gentleman. Pip travels to London with "great expectations" and his life changes forever.

My main purpose is reading Great Expectations now is that I'm very interested in seeing David Lean's 1946 film which is judged by many film critics to be the best adaptation of a book in the history of film.

That Toolbag in Outer Space

2009-03-13T13:44:00.008+09:00

One of our favorite sites on the internet is Heavens Above. We can find the orbits of dozens of satellites, including the ISS and iridium flares, and current locations of visible comets, planets, and constellations. An interesting recent addition to information on the page is the times for the visible orbit of the toolbag lost by the astronaut Heidi Stefanyshyn-Piper during her spacewalk on the last ISS mission. Of course, it's a decaying orbit and so the toolbag will eventually disappear from sight, but it's fun to find in the nightsky while it's visible. To find orbits over your head, go to the home page and put in your location, then follow the info in Satellites: ISS toolbag.

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Corman McCarthy

2009-03-11T12:16:00.006+09:00

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West, is Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel set in the American West in mid-1800's. If you love your romantic myths of the settling of the West, don't read this book. It knocks the wind out of all the glorious tales of Texas Rangers, pony express riders, Kit Carson types, buffalo hunters, gold diggers, Indian raids, cattle drives, stage coaches and every other delusion you've held about early American life in the West. Possibly McCarthy's novel is just as mythical, but his genius is substituting his myth for yours.

A homeless, fourteen year old, called the kid throughout the book, hooks up with a gang of men who contract with the local government in Chihuahua to drive the Indians out of their territory. The gang menaces Indians on both side of the Rio Grande, collecting scalps as proof for payment. As the hunt progresses, it seems any scalp will do, and the mercenaries kill anyone they come across. The gang is led by two men, Glanton and the judge. Glanton is the captain of the gang and a merciless, conscienceless killer. The judge is the devil incarnate.

Absolutely everything about this novel is remarkable. The writing style is rich, yet sparse. McCarthy details the country as the gang rides through, but keeps details of the ride itself to a minimum, hinting at the action then hitting the reader with it. McCarthy has a vocabulary for the setting which is extraordinary. As I read, I continuously wondered how one person could amass all the words he has to describe the land. Is he a botantist, a geologist, a zoologist, an astronomer, a geographer as well as a writer? Chosen randomly from the text, here's an example of his style:

All to the north the rain had dragged black tendrils down from the thunderclouds like tracings of lampblack fallen in a beaker and in the night they could hear the drum of rain miles away on the prairie. They ascended through a rocky pass and lightning shaped out the distant shivering mountains and lightning rang the stones about and tufts of blue fire clung to the horses like incandescent elementals that would not be driven off. Soft smelterlight advanced upon the metal of the harness, light ran blue and liquid on the barrels of the guns. Mad jackhares started and checked in the blue glare and high among those clanging crags joking roehawks crouched in their feathers or cracked a yellow eye at the thunder underfoot.

In summary, Cormac McCarthy has written a violent lyric masterpiece, a must-read book of American literature.

Play Misty for Me (1971)

2009-03-11T11:01:00.004+09:00

The second film in my Essential Clint Eastwood marathon is Play Misty for Me, a psychological thriller in which Eastwood stars and makes his directing debut. He plays Dave Garver, a Carmel CA disc jockey, well-liked around town in spite of his inability to settle on one girl. He drives a sporty convertible, lives in a cool house on the edge of a cliff, works nights spinning discs and reading poetry, and he's on his way up, receiving notice in San Francisco, maybe even an offer to work there. Then he meets Evelyn in a bar, what looks like a chance meeting, but Evelyn is an obsessive fan, the one who calls in every night and asks Dave to "play Misty for me." Evelyn takes over Dave's life. What begins as an affair leads to threats and we see before Dave does that Evelyn is very unstable and even dangerous.

Play Misty for Me is a good, small film. Parts of it are excellent, but some scenes are ridiculously dated, like the long walk on the beach which indicates his re-involvement with an old love. Shot around Monterrey and Carmel, the film focuses on the beauty of the coast and the local hot stops. The scenes shot live at the Monterrey Jazz Festival are wonderful. A seminal film for Eastwood, it's a benchmark for his development as both an actor and director.

Life in OZ

2009-03-01T11:32:00.006+09:00

Yesterday we had late afternoon thunderstorms come through, even though the temperature stayed warm. When John saw the sunset developing beautifully, we grabbed the camera and ran to the beach. We stood on a dune to get this shot.

Then we walked down to the sand and took some more photos, like this one of a dad night-fishing with his son. Later the kid caught a nice herring.

Travel in the English Countryside: Part 3

2009-02-26T14:27:00.006+09:00

On our second full day in England, we left Canterbury after visiting the cathedral and drove to Dover. After John took this stunning photo of the White Cliffs of Dover and the English Channel, we left Dover and drove along the southern coast of England to Rye then to Brighton.

Rye is a charming town, once walled and gated against her enemies. We had lunch of hot soup, bread and cheese at a local eatery then walked the cobblestone streets before heading off to Brighton.

Brighton is of course a beach resort town for Londoners. The rocky beach was not very appealing to us. Also it was May, so not yet tourist season.

Winchester '73: (1950)

2009-02-25T16:17:00.003+09:00

The third movie in my Essential James Stewart marathon is Anthony Mann's Winchester 73. Dan Duryea, Shelley Winters, Stephen McNally star along James Stewart who plays Lin McAdam. McAdam wins a prized Winchester 73, one-in-a-thousand, rifles in a shooting contest. Before he can claim his prize, it's stolen by his closest competitor in the contest. What follows is his quest to reclaim his prize rifle and also to accomplish something more. For the first half of the film, it seems we are watching the story of the rifle by following whose hands it passes through. At the mid-point we learn that McAdam's course involves more than recovering the rifle. It involves revenge of a certain sort.

Stewart is great as Lin McAdams, keeping his dark side under wraps as he helps those his path crosses in pursuit of his goal. He's knowledgeable, tender, understanding, but never veers from his quest for revenge and reclaiming his prize.

This is a great Western from the team of Stewart and Mann who collaborated on four films after Winchester '73: Bend of the River(1952),The Naked Spur(1953),The Far Country(1955), and The Man from Laramie(1955)

Twitter

2009-02-22T16:31:00.007+09:00

We're doing it! For now...

John is jgriffo. I am GlobalCandace. If you twitter and would like to follow or be followed (sounds all stalker-y, doesn't it?), let us know at Twitter.

Note: I have posted my Tweets in the sidebar. Yes, I'm boring.

Big Love

2009-02-20T10:45:00.006+09:00

I'm currently finishing the Season 2 dvd of Big Love, an HBO series which is in its third season. The primary stars are Bill Paxton as the husband and Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny, and Ginnifer Goodwin as his three wives. Yes, they are polygamists.

The first few shows of Season 1 were of course the set-up, and I must say I was not hooked. In fact, I left the series for awhile, but after hearing a Bill Paxton interview on "Fresh Air," I decided to pick up where I left off. Now, I am hooked.

Season 1 deals primarily with how this family of multiple partners navigates the home-side and the public-side of their entwined lives in a suburb of Salt Lake City. It also introduces us to The Compound at Juniper Creek which is an enclave of polygamists who live under the direction of the Prophet, Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton), on property two hours away from the suburbs into the desert of Utah.

Season 2 ups the ante as Bill branches out from his business as owner of a big box store into providing video poker machines to shady gambling businesses in the Southwest. This move is complicated by Roman Grant who had the idea first.

Throughout the series, we learn more about how the wives keep the peace, make trouble, manage their shared husband, and deal with their personal histories.

I'm a Little Vegemite! (almost)

2009-02-18T20:43:00.003+09:00

I applied for Aussie citizenship today! I'll be a dual citizen of the US and Australia. I'll have two passports. I'll travel in country and out at will. I will be cool. Hurrah!

Great Article...Worth a Read

2009-02-18T18:07:00.003+09:00

While listening to the Slate Culture Gabfest (if you're into podcasts and things cultural then you should be listening also), I heard an endorsement for this article The Itch by Atul Gawande in The New Yorker. It's a grand example of accessible technical writing. Also, it's interesting and informative. You should read it!

White Hunter Black Heart (1990)

2009-02-17T13:34:00.003+09:00

(click to enlarge)

For the first film in my Essential Clint Eastwood marathon, I watched White Hunter Black Heart. Eastwood directed and starred in this feature. Some of my Filmspotting board members call it Eastwood's best directing and acting performance. While I may prefer my Eastwood as a grizzled son-of-a-bitch over the arrogant snob he portrays in White Hunter Black Heart, I can't fault Eastwood's performance. The film is based on a novel which is a thinly disguised account of John Huston's trip to Africa to shoot African Queen on location at a time when very few films were shot outside the US. Eastwood's character becomes sidetracked from film preparations by his determination to shoot an African elephant on safari. Eastwood plays Huston as a man of passion and self-indulgence, humanity and selfishness, brilliance and stubbornness. In a great scene from the film, Eastwood deliberately picks a fight he knows he will lose with a white racist in an exclusive African club. As he staggers away from the fight, he states the central theme of the film: sometimes you have to volunteer for losing causes or "your guts will turn to pus."

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T10:28:00.004+09:00

Our usual beautiful, sunny Perth was overcast and humid yesterday so instead of heading to the beach for Valentine's Day, we headed to the hills. Just 45 minutes from our house, we were on the Chittering Valley Wine Trail, a winding loop through the Darling Ranges. Of the eight wineries available to us, we made it to three. Our first stop was Stringybark Winery where we were disappointed as the cellar door was shut, the staff readying for a crowd of Valentine's Day diners at their restaurant. Our second stop was at Western Range winery. We briefly visited with the server and tasted several nice whites, including a late harvest white which we enjoyed enough to purchase a case. It was not too dry, not too sweet, but just right for pairing with Thai, Indian, and seafood, three of our favorite indulgences.

Our third stop was at Briery Estate. The owners Christine and Ron met us at our car, welcomed us onto the veranda of their 90 year old farmhouse overlooking their vines and fruit trees and started pouring wine for us from their broad selection. We tasted 12 wines and they have five reds which we didn't taste. The one which caught my attention was a varietal I have never tasted, never even heard about, furment. Furment is a late harvest Hungarian vine producing a white grape which is an excellent host to botrytis, the noble rot, hence the pure, slight sweetest of the wine. Briery sells it under the label Fermento. Cheese tray pairing will be sublime. We also bought the Briery 10 Year Old Muscat Liqueur, of course. We never taste a great muscat that we can pass up. To complete the case, we bought several light rosés and a heavier velvety rosé, a dry grenache, a viognier, and a chenin blanc.

We arrived home in time to walk to the beach for the sunset. It was a perfect day for us.

House M.D.

2009-02-10T20:06:00.002+09:00

We started watching House M.D. last night. It's better than we expected it to be. Basically, it's Sherlock Holmes in a lab coat except Hugh Laurie as Gregory House doesn't really wear a lab coat. So here's the thing...he's really good at what he does and what he does is investigative medicine, trying to solve the mystery behind why an individual is very ill, a mystery no one else can solve. Add to his intelligence, acerbic wit, arrogance, anti-social proclivities, and an addiction to Vicotin, and you have a very interesting character. Dr. House also relies on his team of young gun medicos who are the sounding board for his profundity. One of this group is House's Dr. Watson, or in this case, Dr. Wilson, played by Robert Sean Leonard who may have the best hair in TV.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 5

2009-02-04T13:34:00.009+09:00

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there which I'll share here in part 5:

It's hot! True, it's dry heat, but it blows over you like air from a furnace. You will enjoy the cool malls, buses, and restaurants. Take your swimsuit for the hotel pool. Swimming in the gulf is allowed, but restricted. Tourists can use only small parts of the public beaches. If you really want to swim in the gulf, stay in a hotel on the gulf that will have a private beach access. Otherwise, use the pool. Most hotel pools have a bar. It's a good way to spend a hot afternoon. It's just as hot at midnight though.

How you dress is really up to you. I chose to wear pants and shirts, not shorts or sleeveless or halters or very fitted tops. I saw a few foreign women dressed in fitted tops, but none of the local women dress in that way. Take a cover-up to wear over your swimsuit when walking through the hotel to the pool. If you leave Dubai for another emirate, you may find much stricter clothing requirements.A typical souvenir is the shisha. These water pipes or hookahs (or bongs) are used to smoke fragrant steam. There are shisha bars everywhere. People lie about on sofas with the shisha on a low table between them. Each person has his/her own mouthpiece, but they share the shisha-produced steam. It's a social occasion.

Textiles in Dubai are marvelous. They're easy to pack to take home so great for souvenirs or gifts. The street markets are arrayed with lovely textiles hanging overhead across the alleyways. In the colorful markets on Cosmos Lane and Al Fahidi Street in Bur Dubai or the streets of Satwa the textiles are a bargain. Most of the shops close around lunchtime, so get there early in the morning or late afternoon. The two main textile shops in Bur Dubai Souks are Meena Bazar and Rivoli. There are many tailor shops in Dubai so you could have the textiles transformed into shirts, skirts, suits before you leave. Many have one day service.

If you can afford it, the best souvenir is a rug or carpet. They are amazingly beautiful. If you think you may fall in love with the carpets while you're in Dubai, take the measurements for the area from home with you. The rug merchants will ship to you anywhere in the world. We found carpet stores in every mall. Perhaps there were carpets in the street markets, but we didn't notice them there.

Other souvenirs include coffee urns, dates, nuts, models of Bur el Arab, Arabian chests, daggers, Bedu jewelry and carvings .

This post links to this previous post.

Word of the Week...3

2009-02-02T21:02:00.005+09:00

Canard

Say it cah nard; accent on the second syllable.

Literally in French a canard is a duck. In English (the language I speak), canard is a false or unfounded report or story; a groundless rumor or belief. Also a canard can be an airplane with horizontal stabilizing and control surfaces in front of the supporting surface.

Reading the Classics

2009-02-01T15:55:00.003+09:00

My next classic is Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady. I have never read anything about the book or any other book by this author, so I have no preconceptions about the text. I know from the book jacket that the main character is Isabel Archer, an American, and that it's set mostly in England and Italy. Since I've traveled both England and Italy extensively, I'm hoping that I learn more about those locales as I learn Isabel's story.

The Bridal Train

2009-01-29T17:57:00.006+09:00

Vikki Thorn of The Waifs wrote this wonderful song in celebration of her grandmother's experience in WWII as an Australian war bride. I ripped the story of Grandmother Betty's recollection of the time she was summoned to the bridal train from West Australian newspaper The Wagin Argus:

Betty lived in Perth with a lady who entertained many Americans.

"I walked down the corridor at 9pm one night and there was a party going on. There was this very good looking American man in uniform who said: 'Where did this flower come from?' I thought what a silly comment and put it out of my mind. Later he sat beside me and we talked all night. Bob was a chief petty officer; he had a lot of commendations. He had been stationed in Hawaii for two years. He watched Pearl Harbour being bombed. As the war effort moved closer to Australia his ship the Anthedin was transferred to Fremantle. He was 26 when we met and when we were married he applied for a shore job."

When Bob was transferred to the Philippines, Betty, expecting her first baby went home to Mum in Wagin.

A telegram was delivered in Wagin on a Thursday at 1pm. Betty and her 11-month-old daughter had to be at Dalgety's, the shipping agents, in Perth on the Friday, to be prepared to travel to the USA. There was no telephone and no taxis. Betty did not even have a suitcase. She and one of her two brothers, who had both returned from prison of war camps on the Burma railway, cycled into Wagin and brought two suitcases back on the handlebars of their bikes.

"I had half a day to pack. Time to see three friends, have a big cry and catch the midnight train to Fremantle."

She left Perth station one year to the day after her husband left Fremantle, with a daughter he had not seen.

"There were about 50 brides from Western Australia. Perth Station was awash with tears. I had Sue, but she was a good baby. We were joined by girls from all over Australia, more got on the train in South Australia and Melbourne."

They traveled on a large American luxury liner, the Monterey, which had been taken over by the army during the war as a troop ship.

"We were naval wives, but traveled under army regulations. Three of us and children had a first class cabin with big windows and a bath tub.It took three weeks to get to the States, we went as war brides."

She travelled to Colorado where Bob met her and there she met his family.

Another bridal train continued across the US dropping off brides.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-01-28T18:24:00.005+09:00

I saw David Fincher's beautifully realized The Curious Case of Benjamin Button today, mainly because of the multiple Oscar nominations and also because members of the Filmspotting forum whom I respect had recommended it. What an excellent film! Yes, it's a love story, but it's also an affirmation of life in general and of aging in particular. The text of the film looks death directly in the eye and doesn't blink.

Cate Blanchett is amazing as Daisy, and Brad Pitt is compelling as the aging-backward Benjamin. The scenes of Daisy dancing and Benjamin on the motorcycle are worth the ticket price.

The art direction and cinematography are flawless. Snowy scenes, seascapes, New Orleans' Bourbon Street and other sites are all beautifully shot.

It's a grand experience. I hope you'll go and enjoy it as much as I did.

The Count of Monte Cristo, Part 4

2009-01-27T14:47:00.004+09:00

The story of the Count of Monte Cristo ends where it began...at the Port of Marseilles. The count repents for his motive of vengeance, seeing that he has no right to assume he's the agent of God, no one can be. He visits the home of his dead father and finds there his lost love whom he's able to comfort and forgive. He promises to help her young son whom his actions against the father had harmed. He brings together young lovers whom his actions had separated. He frees his young slave girl and restores her fortune. In the end the count finds peace, happiness, and the love he deserves. In the final scene he sails away from the port of Marseilles to a new life.

Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3...prior installments at this blog

That Great Aussie Holiday!

2009-01-26T10:24:00.003+09:00

Lunch with friends in the park beside the Swan River

Ella

2009-01-25T19:35:00.003+09:00

Our Ella was a flower girl at her mommy's friend's wedding. She had fancy hair and beautiful dress.

Bruschetta with Tiny Tomatoes, Red Onions, and Basil

2009-01-23T13:50:00.008+09:00

When we were in Italy, we really enjoyed the very fresh ingredients on the wonderful chewy bruschetta. I am experimenting with growing my own tiny tomatoes and basil for bruschetta.

Here's a recipe for topped bruschetta (which I shamelessly ripped off the internet, including the photo):

Ingredients:
* 2 cups assorted cherry, grape, and teardrop tomatoes, halved
* 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
* 3 tablespoons olive oil plus additional for brushing
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
* 1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 large loaf focaccia, halved horizontally (or any chewy bread loaf)
* 1 garlic clove, peeled, halved (purple garlic is very flavorful)

Combine tomatoes, onion, 3T olive oil, basil, and balsamic vinegar in medium bowl. Season tomato topping with salt and pepper. NOTE: This topping can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature, tossing occasionally.

Brush bread half with olive oil. Toast bread in broiler until top is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Immediately rub cut side of bread all over with halved garlic, then cut bread crosswise into 4 equal pieces.

Top toasted bread with tomato mixture and serve.

We made it with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil and red onion. It was tasty, just not as colorful as the photo. Bruschetta goes well with Viognier or a hearty red.

Garden Update 2

2009-01-23T12:43:00.005+09:00

growing basil for bruschetta

our prolific tomato plant

cute tiny green bell pepper.

Garden Update: Our Tomatoes

2009-01-23T11:20:00.001+09:00

We have tomatoes coming off everyday, all from one big plant.

Weeds: Putting the Herb in Suburb

2009-01-23T10:57:00.008+09:00

In the dark comedy Weeds, Mary-Louise Parker plays suburban California housewife Nancy Botwin who resorts to selling marijuana to maintain her lifestyle and keep her young family together after the untimely death of her husband. In season 1 she's a newbie, learning the game. By the end of season 1 Nancy is the Godfather of Grass, organizing a "family" of growers, sellers, and moneymen. Season 2 follows a story arc of extreme success to extreme distress as Nancy learns that the new man in her bed is a DEA agent and that her competition plays rough.

I'm looking forward to season 3 but I haven't found it available here on dvd.

The Count of Monte Cristo, Part 3

2009-01-23T10:11:00.004+09:00

Edmond Dantès as the Count of Monte Cristo sees himself as an agent of a vengeful God and sets out to destroy those who falsely imprisoned him. He sets his plan in motion in Paris and stays his course of revenge even though the lives of his three targets are complicated by relationships which did not exist when they had a hand in Dantès imprisonment so many years ago. The plot escalates, ruining each man, but also bringing harm to their innocent children, finally ending in the near-death of a daughter and the sure death of a son of one target. At this point Dantès questions his motives and understands that his revenge has consumed him to the determent of those innocently involved.

Look here and here for prior installments.

w00t!

2009-01-21T08:34:00.004+09:00

BARACK OBAMA, 44th US PRESIDENT

24

2009-01-18T19:06:00.002+09:00

We've returned to "24" and our favorite samurai, Jack Bauer. Season 6 awaits. It's rumored that Jack will face nukes, terrorists and even threats from within his own family. There will be White House intrigue and torture, of course. It's a right-wing love fest!

Bye, Bye Bush

2009-01-18T09:57:00.002+09:00

It Was a Beach Afternoon!

2009-01-15T19:15:00.002+09:00

It was over 100F today, so, yeah, the beach beckoned! All the neighbors were there. At first,the ocean was flat, then the seabreeze came in and the waves came up. Still the water was so clear that we could see the white fish against the white sand as we swam.

Personal Marathon #3: Essential Clint Eastwood

2009-01-15T08:31:00.005+09:00

Again the Filmspotting forum recommended films for my next personal marathon: Essential Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood, now 78 years old, is saying in interviews that Gran Torino is his last starring role, so I included it on the list.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) *
Paint Your Wagon (1969) *
Play Misty For Me (1971) **
Dirty Harry (1971) **
High Plains Drifter (1973) *
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) **
White Hunter Black Heart (1990) *
Unforgiven (1992) **
Gran Torino (2008) *

**already seen at least once, but will watch again
* never seen and obtainable

Since all these films are available, I'm looking forward to finishing this marathon quickly!

UPDATE: Going to a sneak of Gran Torino on Saturday even though I feel like the preview shows me most of the film, oh well...

The Wrestler

2009-01-14T19:38:00.004+09:00

Could I be any more excited?

Tomorrow The Wrestler finally opens in Australia. John and I will be there! While I don't expect it to be the Best Film of 2008, I'm fully expecting that Mickey Rourke will knock my socks off with his performance. I've heard "Mickey Rourke gives a performance for the ages in The Wrestler, a richly affecting, heart-wrenching yet ultimately rewarding drama." Gosh, a performance for the ages! I hope so. Anything less will sorely disappoint me.

UPDATE: It's raw; it's powerful; it's the performance of the decade, for sure.

Hand and Foot Canasta

2009-01-13T19:52:00.011+09:00

John and I like to play cards together at the end of our day. We have a wonderful outdoor setting and by 5pm the seabreeze is in, so we can be outside with a glass of wine and a deck of cards...

Or 3 decks of cards, as that is what it takes to play a two-handed game of Hand and Foot Canasta.

There are almost as many sets of rules to Hand and Foot Canasta as there are people who play it. Here are the rules we play by:

Object of the Game:
The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them. A Meld is a set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards. After a Meld of three or more cards has been started, you can add further cards to it until there are seven. Then it becomes a Book. You can meld cards of any rank from A, K, Q, ... down to 4. Deuces (twos) and Jokers are wild cards and can be used in melds, as long as there is at least one more real card than wild cards. You can not meld wild cards alone. 3s are special cards. Black 3s freeze the discard pile and, if left in your hand or foot, cost you 100 pts each. Red 3s add to your score 100pts unless caught in your hand or foot in which case they count against your score by 500pts.

There are two types of melds:
A Clean(Natural) Meld has no wild cards and may become a Red Book.
A Dirty(Wild) Meld has wild cards and may become a Black Book.

A Meld of seven cards is complete and is called a Book. While melds are laid out face up for everyone to see, completed Books are piled up and the card placed on top shows the type - a red card for a Red Book, a black card for a Black Book. Cards of equal rank can be played on completed Books. Wild cards cannot be played on Books.

You score points for cards you have melded and for each Book. If you did not go out, you lose points for any cards left in your Hand and/or Foot at the end of the play. The round ends when someone gets rid of all the cards in their Hand and Foot, by melding/booking or discarding them.
In order to go out, you must:
1. Have reached your Foot and played it completely.
2. Have at least one Red Book and two Black Books.

Card Values:
Jokers = 50 points (Wild Card)
Deuces = 20 points (Wild Card)
Aces = 20 points
Eight through King (8-K) = 10 points
Four through Seven (4-7) = 5 points (unless minus threes are used)

Deck Options:
Players+1 - decks equal the number of players + 1 (2 players = 3 decks)

Round Points Options:
50/90/120/150
Round 1, cards points must total at least 50 to play
Round 2, cards points must total at least 90 to play
Round 3, cards points must total at least 120 to play
Round 4, cards points must total at least 150 to play

Book Points:
300/500
Red Book = 500 points
Black Book = 300 points
Player going out gets 100 bonus points

Play Discard Option:
5 - Pick up last 5 discards (top card and 4 previous)

In order to pick up the discard pile the following criteria must be met:
1. You must have 2 matching cards in your hand
2. You must meld the top discard
3. You must have the required round points
The top discard may not give you the required round points

You receive two scores per hand. One for the books, then the combined face value of all cards played on the board, booked or not. Once your books have been counted then all the cards you played, including those in the books, are added up at the card point value.
This applies to all players, not just the person going out. If you did not go out, and are caught with cards in your Hand and/or your Foot, those points count against you. If you did not go out and you have books and or cards on the board, those points count for you.

The person with the most points at the end of the rounds, is declared the winner.

The Play:
• Draw two cards from the deck.
• Meld your cards. To meld, your board points must match or exceed the points required for that round.
• Discard one card (any card).
• As the play comes back to you, continue to draw two cards, play on your books as you draw cards that play, then discard one card, until you get rid of your Hand.
• Picking up your Foot can be done two ways:
1. Going straight to your Foot, means all the cards in your Hand play without a discard. You may pick up your Foot and play out of it immediately.
2. You play all the cards in your Hand except one, then discard. You will be able to play out of your Foot on your next turn.
• Play continues until a player goes out. You can not go out until you have at least one Red Book and two Black Books
.When going out, you do not have to discard.

The Count of Monte Cristo, Part 2

2009-01-12T20:14:00.009+09:00

Chateau d'If

Our hero Edmond Dantès many years imprisoned is on the edge of losing all hope when he happens to meet another prisoner Abbé Faria in Chateau d'If. This man changes Dantès' life by first providing human contact, then educating Dantès in the ways of the world and the ways of society as well, and then by telling him where a great treasure is hidden. Unfortunately, the abbé dies as the two are planning an escape from Chateau d'If. However, after the death Dantès escapes on his own, finds the fortune, and begins a grand scheme to get his revenge on the trio who had him falsely imprisoned.

So many years have passed and Dantès' prison experience was so devastating that upon his return to the outside world no one, not even those closest to him, recognize him. Aside from the physical transformation, he has advanced intellectually due to the abbé's teaching and also has a great fortune. However, the greatest change of all is in his psychology. Dantès is no longer trusting and naive. Now he is cynical and conniving, set on revenge. In fact, all these changes make it possible for Edmond Dantès to re-invent himself as the Count of Monte Cristo and set his plot in motion.

The first installment is in this prior post.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

2009-01-12T17:25:00.003+09:00

The second movie in my Essential James Stewart marathon is John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starring, along with Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin. US Senator Ransom Stoddard returns to Shinbone where he made his name as the man who shot notorious outlaw Liberty Valance and tells the truth about his past deed. The real reason for his return to Shinbone is to attend the funeral of his close friend Tom Doniphon who played a key role in Stoddard's successful life at the expense of his own reputation and well-being.

Stewart is very convincing as the bookish, somewhat clumsy, but principled young lawyer. Wayne is perfect as the town's gritty protector who is the only one who will stand up against Liberty Valance and his gang of thugs. It's a Western about the coming of civilization in the form of statehood to the US territories, of the educational demands of democracy, and of the forgotten heroes of that struggle.

John Ford's direction is impeccable. Every shot is memorable. His use of black and white and of shadow, the composition of his scenes, and the acting he gets from his stars are all remarkable.

Lee Marvin's turn as the vicious, black-hearted Liberty Valance is without apology or humor or room for sympathy. He is perfectly despicable.

Great supporting performances by Andy Devine as the town's cowardly sheriff and Edmond O'Brien as the newspaper editor and Vera Miles as the love interest round out the terrific cast.

The Shield

2009-01-12T16:37:00.004+09:00

We committed to one season of The Shield to see how we liked it.

Why is this an award-winning show? The acting is just OK (even the leads), the camera work is clunky (to say the least), the direction is all over the place, and the writing is, well, poor. I get the conflicts within the "barn" and the edginess of having morally ambiguous cops, but still there are too many speeches, too many redundancies, too many coincidences, and too many characters in the right place at the right time. Worst of all, the lead character Vic is not sympathetic, and that ruins any chance of his abuses being understood on a practical level.

This is going the way of Lost; after one season, we're outta here!

Filmspotting's Top 25 Films of 2008

2009-01-10T15:22:00.005+09:00

Adam and Matty have posted their Top 25 Films of 2008 at the Filmspotting site. Actually they posted 30 films at the top of their lists and a few at the very bottom of their lists. They have also listed their Top 5 Lead Male and Female Performances and the Top 5 Supporting Male and Female Performances for 2008.

To hear Adam and Matty discuss their choices, listen to Filmspotting 238, 239, and 240. On the January 17th show (241), they will present the 2008 Blowout which includes surprises, disappointments, and lots of other year-end movie trivia which completes their film year for 2008.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 4

2009-01-10T14:43:00.001+09:00

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, my husband and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 4:

Take a tour on a bus. It's informative, air-conditioned, and reasonably-priced. It's the best way to see the city. The tours start at Wafi City (shopping mall) early in the morning and run all day. We took two tours. One went out-of-town to the area which is in development because we wanted to see Bur al-Arab. We did stop in front of the hotel long enough to take a photo. The tours of the hotel were $65 per person to enter the lobby when we were there. We passed on the tour, but it probably would have been a very interesting experience. That bus tour also took us past the indoor ski area and the underwater hotel, both of which are finished now, I believe. We got off that tour bus at the Mercato shopping mall at Jumeirah Beach area where we ate lunch and took a taxi back to our hotel from there.

The other tour we took was in town. It stopped at the museum and also at the gold and spice souks, all of which are must-see experiences. Do not leave Dubai without visiting those three locations. The bus tour for this is hop-on, hop-off so you can spend as much time as you like. About the gold: it is all 18c or purer. It appears orangey because of the high gold content. Take your camera with you and take lots of photos. The gold is near market-value/ounce which means the craftsmanship is free. From the gold souk we walked through a series of alleys to the spice souk. In the gold souk there is no hard sell. You may browse as long as you want without anyone saying anything to you. However, in the spice souk, it's a different story. Everyone will try to sell you something and the spices, dates and nuts are all so beautiful! If you don't want to buy anything, tell them you are going back to Australia. They know the importation laws of every country and understand that it's very difficult to enter Australia with their goods. We bought pastacios and dates, also saffron.

In the alleys between those two souks are the vendors. Here are the real bargains in Dubai. The street market is the place to look for souvenirs and bargain to your heart's content. The vendors will practically give their wares away to you. The men in the market love to bargain with the women. A handy hint is to have a little cheat sheet with currency conversions on it. With this we could quickly convert the Dubai dirham to US currency. Once a vendor sees this little tool, he'll start converting for you. They are very wily with currency exchange. No one will try to cheat you. In fact, they'll help you figure it all out.

None of the people working anywhere are Emiratees. Some are from the Middle East, most are Asian.

This post links to this previous post.

Australian Open

2009-01-06T18:57:00.005+09:00

Begins January 19th...I'll be blogging the interesting stuff...outfits...odds...early losers...surprises.

Winners? Anyone but Sharapova!

Gotta bet on Nadal, but Murray is really looking promising.

Hewitt...he'll be fine in the early rounds, but fade inside the sixteen.

My favorite, Marat Safin, of course. He came to Perth for the Hopman Cup with two black eyes and a stiff right hand...bar fight...gotta love this guy!

Word of the Week...2

2009-01-06T17:59:00.003+09:00

Jeremiad

Say it in 4 syllables: je re mi ad
Accent on the third syllable.

It means a prolonged lamentation or complaint also a cautionary or angry harangue.

In the current economy, we should all be able to use it, own it.

Oh, My!

2009-01-06T17:55:00.002+09:00

Seeing Venus in the daytime reminds me of the letter to the Ask Why section of the local WA newspaper which asked, "Why can we see the moon in the daytime?"

Why indeed!

Indiscreet

2009-01-04T18:54:00.005+09:00

Proof that the thinnest of plots when well-acted can produce the best movies is Indiscreet. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are perfect as lovers who find happiness beyond deceit. They were beautiful together in Notorious in 1946 and again in Indiscreet in 1958.

The West Wing

2009-01-04T18:40:00.003+09:00

Wow, just Wow...what writing!

I've been catching up with The West Wing, a TV series I loved but lost touch with due "to and from-ing" between the US and Aus. I've recently watched Season 5 and 6 and I'm finishing Season 7 now. I wish I had watched these last 3 seasons before the recent US campaign for the Presidency. Such insight!

Rarely is TV so entertaining, so involving, so informative, and so well-acted. Hats off to the entire ensemble cast of The West Wing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-01T08:08:00.003+09:00

We wish all our friends and family happiness, health, and fulfillment in 2009!

Great Photos

2008-12-31T09:16:00.004+09:00

Alex from Every Day A Photo blog has listed his Top Ten Photographs of the Year on his other blog The Earl of Essence. If that sentence confuses you, simply go here and see Alex's photos.

Here's a link to my first Alex post.

Alex really has a way with the camera. He got a CanonSXi for Christmas, deservedly so.

Happy Christmas, Everyone...Enjoy!

2008-12-26T08:46:00.003+09:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

2008-12-24T18:55:00.002+09:00

John and Candace and our granddaughter Ella Grace wish you all Merry Christmas!

History's Long Arc

2008-12-24T07:41:00.005+09:00

From the transition team:

Washington, D.C. - On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible is currently part of the collections of the Library of Congress. Though there is no constitutional requirement for the use of a Bible during the swearing-in, Presidents have traditionally used Bibles for the ceremony, choosing a volume with personal or historical significance. President-elect Obama will be the first President sworn in using the Lincoln Bible since its initial use in 1861.
'President-elect Obama is deeply honored that the Library of Congress has made the Lincoln Bible available for use during his swearing-in,' said Presidential Inaugural Committee Executive Director Emmett Beliveau. 'The President-elect is committed to holding an Inauguration that celebrates America's unity, and the use of this historic Bible will provide a powerful connection to our common past and common heritage.'

Presidents often call for meaningful historical or personal objects to be used at their inaugurations. I view Obama's request to use the Lincoln Bible as very unselfish. Instead of marking his inauguration with a personal object that he can keep or use in his Library, he is using an object which already belongs to the people of the United States. The Lincoln Bible is a part of the Library of Congress collection.

Our First Squash

2008-12-22T14:27:00.002+09:00

We'll report on the taste after dinner tonight!
UPDATE: Buttery and delicious

Word of the Week...

2008-12-21T20:25:00.004+09:00

Every week, a new word...you know the drill...use it, claim it.

If I love a word, it's as much for its sound as its meaning. Case in point:

Jejune

Pronunciation: \ji-ˈjün\

1 : lacking nutritive value as jejune diets
2 : devoid of significance or interest : dull as jejune lectures
3 : juvenile , puerile as jejune reflections on life and art

Innaloo Fish Market

2008-12-21T11:38:00.003+09:00

Photo of the whole fish at the fish market. We didn't photograph the octopus, squid or cockles. Maybe next time...

We bought one of these nannygai for the grill tonight.

Countdown: My Top 20 Favorite Movies

2008-12-20T18:03:00.014+09:00

Here's #10-#6 for my list. For #20-#16, go here. For #15-#11 go here. More to come...stay tuned.

#10.Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb(1964): "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."

#9.All About Eve(1950):"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

#8.Fitzcarraldo(1982)

#7.Taxi Driver(1976): "Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man..."

#6.All The President's Men(1976): "Woodward. Bernstein. You're both on the story. Now don't fuck it up."

Hot Water Beach in New Zealand

2008-12-20T17:11:00.004+09:00

What are these people doing, you ask? Notice how differently people are dressed; some for winter and some in swimsuits. This is the famous Hot Water Beach of New Zealand.

Volcanoes have developed underground reservoirs of superheated water which escapes to the surface through fissures under the sand. The idea is to go to the beach at low tide, dig a deep hole, allow it time to fill with underground water (it seeps in), and sit in your sand sauna until high tide comes in to destroy it all.

John gave it a go with one foot. It was hard to find water cool enough to stand in. The water is about 147F. Of course, the ocean is very cold, but at low tide, it doesn't fill the holes.

There are places in the ocean near the beach right around NZ where the water is hot because of this same phenomenon. Locals know where the spots are and swim there year round.

Hot Water Beach is located along New Zealand's Pacific coast just south of Mercury Bay at the northeast tip of the Coromandel Peninsula.

No visit to New Zealand's North Island is complete without experiencing the hot water sand sauna at Hot Water Beach.

ObamaWear

2008-12-18T10:54:00.006+09:00

Women's Wear Daily features the top designer sketches for Obama's Inauguration day and evening wear. The designers seemed to have an easier time drawing a likeness of the President-elect than they did for Michelle Obama. Some of the designers drew Barack Obama's face as a close likeness; others used headless mannequins; Tommy Hilfiger drew, well, himself.

The designers' sketches feature suits (which I don't find very interesting) and 12 ties (which are more interesting). Check it out.

Orion

2008-12-17T21:01:00.002+09:00

(click to enlarge)

Orion or The Hunter is our summer constellation. It is barely visible in the eastern sky in October and disappears in the western sky in April. Orion is oriented differently in Australia than in the US. In the US the major stars in the center of the constellation are referred to as the belt and sword. In Australia those same stars are thought of as the saucepan.

Harrods Chocolate

2008-12-17T17:54:00.003+09:00

Our son Ben and his partner Dana sent us Harrods chocolate for Christmas. They live in London, but are traveling to New Zealand for Christmas celebrations with Dana's grandparents and then to Brisbane for more fun times! Merry Christmas, Ben and Dana!

Travel in the English Countryside: Part 2

2008-12-17T16:49:00.007+09:00

After watching the movie The Gathering Storm which was filmed there, John and I knew we wanted to include Chartwell, the home of Winston Churchill and a National Trust site, in our tour of England's countryside. We arrived in time for the last house tour of the day. The house and its interiors are simple and homey. The gardens are lovely, but not grandiose; the views from the gardens over the Weald of Kent are spectacular.

This post links to this previous post.

Ella's Xmas Gift

2008-12-17T11:08:00.004+09:00

PoppieNan (that's us...we're like Brangelina, a blended couple) sent Ella Grace a cash register for Christmas. She got to open it early. (Thank you, Amazon...loved the free shipping this year!)

Garden Update

2008-12-17T07:05:00.004+09:00

We finally had a hot day so one of our tomatoes changed from green to reddish, still not ripe though.
Yellow squash is coming on like crazy. We'll have lots of squash to eat and give away soon.
We love how the leaves form a protective canopy over the fruit.

We've added a passionfruit vine, capsicum plants, some vine tomatoes, and basil to the garden. None of it is doing much as the weather is simply not warm enough yet. We've just experienced the coolest, wettest November on record. Also some creature is eating the basil leaves so that's not good. We put out snail pellets. I am looking forward to insalata caprese from my own tomatoes and basil so I hope the pellets do the job.

Laila and Her Snow Angel

2008-12-16T08:29:00.004+09:00

Our friends have moved from San Antonio, TX to Port Angeles, WA and are experiencing their first snowfall of the year, just in time for the holidays. They love the snow. Sue was born in WA state and Arnor is Icelandic (say no more!). Laila, their daughter, is getting her first taste of living in the snow. She makes great snow angels!

Leanne

2008-12-16T08:23:00.002+09:00

Looking beautiful on her wedding day!

Look Up!

2008-12-14T20:30:00.005+09:00

Tonight is the perfect night for looking up! Venus is so bright in the western sky that it's clearly visible at sunset. Orion is up in the eastern sky. The Seven Sisters (Pleiades) is clearly visible in the northern sky. The Southern Cross is low in the southern sky.

The sun will set at 8:18 and the moon will rise at 10:11. The air is warm, but not hot. There's a light breeze with no humidity and not a cloud in sight. So it's perfect for a night in the back garden on our banana loungers under the stars. What will happen? Satellites, for sure...Meteorites, maybe...

UPDATE: We saw dozens of satellites travelling through every part of the sky in every possible direction. No meteorites...but a bit of space junk came plunging from above and burned brightly overhead for several seconds. Also the ISS was visible for a long time as it came from the NW and continued across the sky until it disappeared in the SE. Venus was extremely bright, clearly visible before the sun's light disappeared from the sky. The moon was full and bright, rising just as we folded our loungers to return inside.

Cutie with Fish!

2008-12-14T19:57:00.002+09:00

Here is my friend Kimberley with her fish. She moved to Port Hedland recently, and she caught her very first fish with a pink rod that her dad bought for her! The family says the fish was yummy!

Joint's Jumping

2008-12-14T12:43:00.004+09:00

It's 35C (92F) today with a hot easterly wind blowing like crazy, and it's heating up all the creepy-crawlies who have been hiding out around the house in the cool weather we've been having. Today spiders, cockroaches and assorted other unidentifiable bugs joined us for lunch on the veranda. John's spraying now. Gotta get them before they get you! It's survival of the fittest here in AUS!

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

2008-12-13T13:13:00.006+09:00

(click to enlarge)

The first movie in my Essential James Stewart marathon is Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder. A small town lawyer (Stewart) who would rather be fishing than in the courtroom takes on a case involving a soldier who claims he was temporarily insane when he murdered a bartender who allegedly raped his wife. The case is a tough one because the bartender was well-liked, the soldier demonstrates a combustible temper, and the wife is an incorrigible flirt.

The film which is ranked #7 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Courtroom Drama" was nominated for seven Oscars but lost out to Ben Hur in 1960 for Best Picture and Best Director. Duke Ellington was featured in the film. His score won the Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album and Background Score from Motion Picture or Television. The film's poster (shown above, but not in color) has been voted the #1 movie poster of all time.

James Stewart's father was so offended by the film, which he deemed "a dirty picture", that he took out an ad in his local newspaper telling people not to see it. Part of the controversy surrounding this movie was its use of the words bitch, contraceptive, panties, penetration, rape, slut and sperm. It seems we still lived in puritanical America in 1959.

Personal Marathon #2: Essential James Stewart

2008-12-11T16:05:00.006+09:00

I contacted the members of the Filmspotting forum and these films were recommended as Essential James Stewart Films:

You Can't Take It with You (1938)*
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)**
It's a Wonderful Life (1939)**
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)**
Call Northside 777 (1948)
Winchester '73 (1950)*
The Naked Spur (1953)
Rear Window (1954)**
Vertigo (1958)**
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)*
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)*
Harvey (1972)**

**already seen at least once, but will re-watch
* never seen and obtainable

Three films are not available (so far) from my rental service or from the local brick and mortar video shops. So those may have to wait until I get back stateside.

I'll write mini-reviews because I know you are all dying to know what I thought of each film.

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 3

2008-12-10T20:38:00.004+09:00

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, John and I found out a few details of travel there that I'll share here in part 3:

Dining in Dubai:

Lunch away from the hotel will probably be at a mall or from a street vendor. There are a few other options: Walk inside a tall office building or apartment building and look around the lobby. Often there will be a little restaurant tucked away. These are very good value for money as they're where the locals eat. In an office building lobby, we found a small Asian restaurant where we ordered "hot rocks chicken" on a chance. We liked the service, the cleanliness, the food, and the pricing so much that we came back twice to eat there. The last time we were there, they treated us like regulars!

We were leery of the street vendors. The food looked and smelled wonderful, but there was no seating and no utensils, basically not Western-enough for our tastes. However, I think it could have been a memorable experience and I wish we had tried it.

In the malls there is the standard food court like you see all over the world. The malls are not non-smoking and the food courts can be very smoky as the young Emiratee men love to sit, talk, smoke, and text message in the food halls. There is always a table of men hanging out in every coffee area or food area. By the way, the coffee is delicious.

If you want to have a meal at an exclusive or expensive restaurant, book ahead. Or try to be there for late lunch instead of dinner. We ate a late lunch at Asha's (pictured) with no booking because we wanted to have the experience and it was completely booked every night we were in Dubai. I have read both good and poor reviews of Asha's online, but our experience there was wonderful. The sampler platter at Asha's was recommended by the server and it was extraordinary. There is a full bar and a wine list. Asha's is at The Pyramids in Wafi City which is the same mall where you catch the tour buses.

This post links to this previous post.

Gardenia Flower, Finally

2008-12-09T15:51:00.004+09:00

Our gardenia bush finally put on a decent blossom! It's a beauty, especially considering that the plant is rather scraggly and unattractive. It wasn't planted in the right spot and never really filled out. Every bloom we've had until this year has been yellowy and sad.

Tim Winton's Dirt Music

2008-12-08T17:22:00.009+09:00

Tim Winton's wonderful book, Dirt Music, is in the works as a film. "In pre-production", they say in the biz. Evidently, Rachel Weisz is playing Georgie Jutland, but there's a lack of clarity about the part of Luther Fox. First, Heath Ledger was announced. Even before his death, Colin Farrell was announced, but Farrell says now "that project didn't work out for me". According to imDb, Russell Crowe is "rumored", but that site still lists Farrell for the part of Fox. Confusion!

I've no doubt that the film will find its stars. What interests me more is when will shooting begin and will shooting take place on the Western Australian coast where the book is set? I have nightmares that shooting will be moved to the east coast because Western Australian shoots present expenses and inconveniences that shoots in the Sydney or Melbourne do not.

If the film is not set in Western Australia, I don't see how its story can be told. It's not only a love story between two people; it's a story about love of place as well. And that place is the red dirt and the blue Indian Ocean and the cloudless skies of the west coast of Australia.

Peanuts for Ella Grace for Christmas

2008-12-08T15:49:00.004+09:00

Good grief! It's not much fun being away from your granddaughter at Christmas.
Charlie Brown: I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I'm not happy. I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel.

Travel in the English Countryside: Part 1

2008-12-08T15:38:00.005+09:00

A couple of years back, we planned a week's car trip through the English countryside for May. Just before we left Perth, it snowed for days in London. Air traffic was a mess; roads were nearly impassable; and it was bitter cold. However, a week later flying into Gatwick we saw the canola fields in bloom, the blue cloudless skies, the meandering country roads and knew that the travel gods were smiling on us once again!

And that was only the beginning of our wonderful holiday. Of course, travellers can't control the weather, but when they can make careful plans otherwise, it always pays off.

Here are a few of the plans we put in place before leaving Perth which served us well:

Since we had seen London on a different trip, we decided to stay away from that city altogether, choosing the English countryside instead. Before leaving Perth we reserved a rental car that we would pick up at Gatwick. John researched it carefully, considering the following: fuel consumption, room in the boot for our luggage, road worthiness, riding comfort. He decided on a mid-size Ford Mondeo. [Note: This trip took place before we stopped traveling with over-sized luggage.]

We made reservations at B&Bs across the countryside, estimating the length of stay in each area as best we could. England invented the concept of the B&B, and they know how to do it right. There are several excellent websites that give complete details concerning every possible accommodation outside London. We chose farmstays in all cases except one night. The main reason for choosing farmstays was parking for the rental car. In towns, there simply is no extra parking. At the farmstays we had parking galore at the accommodation, so we avoided having to park outside the town and traipsing with baggage down the town street to the B&B. [More details about the different accommodations in a following post.]

We decided to have a purpose for driving. Instead of aimlessly poking down roads or breezing through towns, we decided to see the National Trust homes, castles, gardens, etc. So we went on the website and used their intelligence to plan our days in England. The website has ideas for everything from day trips to picnics to two-wheel adventures, in short all you need to plan your visit. We priced the membership and decided it was a terrific deal because once bought all the National Trust venues are free. [More on specific National Trust stops in a following post.]

We had good road maps. John studied these maps ahead of our leaving. He found good routes for sightseeing and for getting to accommodations. He knew when we had to drive on the highway and when we could take the scenic route. He also looked at the venues we'd visit on Google Earth and got a sense of where we'd be in relation to other stops we'd make. This map study was very essential because when you are driving on the narrow roads, the super highways, the town streets, you don't have time to read maps and you don't always have a way to pull off the road. In all the travel we did, we only missed seeing one venue that was scheduled (the map was more wrong than we were) and only circled one roundabout extra times in seeking the right exit. Other than those two minor glitches, we drove staight to all our desired locations.

After making those four very important decisions-organizing the transport, the accommodation, the tours, and the map study-we were ready to begin our experience.

A Ride Upcountry

2008-12-07T15:25:00.004+09:00

Today we rode north of Perth, up Wanneroo Road to Seabird, to enjoy the Australian Christmas trees in glorious bloom in the Australian bush. (brilliant yellow-gold blooms pictured here) In Seabird, a tiny cray fishing town on the WA coast, we stopped at the local general store (as the sign says "Assorted Bits and Pieces") and bought fish and chips to eat on the beach. After eating we stopped back at the store and bought two green crayfish which were pulled from the Indian Ocean yesterday and frozen. The cray fishermen don't go out on Sundays anymore or the crays would not have been frozen. Anyway, it's a real treat to get green (raw) crays. They're great on the grill with butter and garlic. Also we got a box of strawberries, fresh from the field, at a roadside stand on Wanneroo Road. Good times!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

2008-12-07T15:06:00.004+09:00

Compare for yourself! Our first gardening post is here. We have found that the tomato plant is root-bound so it must be watered frequently...something to improve on next year.

Our lemon tree is still producing lemons. I have already squeezed and frozen enough lemon juice to last us through the summer. Still the lemons come!

Traveling in Dubai, UAE, part 2

2008-12-07T09:37:00.003+09:00

As Westerners who traveled in Dubai in May of 2005, John and I found out a few details of travel there that we'll share here in part 2:

Lodging in Dubai

If you are staying at the Burj al Arab in Dubai (pictured above), then none of the following applies to you. However, if your pocketbook will stretch only to a more conventional stay, here's the best advice we have to offer:

Pick your hotel very carefully. Stay in the 5-star hotels only. To read the rating of a Dubai hotel, take off a star from the rating system you are accustomed to in the West. It doesn't really matter where the hotel is located in terms of whether it's in the city or near the airport or which side of the water. What does matter is the amenities at the hotel. You will spend a lot of time there. Choose your hotel for the room size, the restaurants available at the hotel, the club and bar facilities, and swimming pool and other outdoor facilities. Dubai has no "night-life" in the terms that Westerners are accustomed. There are clubs and bars where you can drink and dance and smooze; all of these are located in hotels. The hotels are spread out across the city so a bar crawl is not a real possibility. Therefore, if night-life is your bag, it's going to be happening most likely at the hotel where you are staying. Likewise, most of your breakfasts and dinner meals will be eaten at your hotel. Check-in at the hotel can be hectic with lots of waiting around for a room. Evidently, hotel service help is difficult to keep. The desk will apologize but it won't get any better during your stay than it was at the start.

There is a Western-style grocery store ( a French chain, I think) which is a godsend. After checking into your hotel, catch a cab for Carrefour supermarket. Get lots of bottled water and drinks, mixers and snacks, cheese, etc. for the little frig in the hotel room. Be sure to buy some plastic ware. There is a cab queue outside Carrefour so it's easy to get back to your hotel. There is another popular supermarket called Spinney's, but since we only went to Carrefour, we don't know what the Spinney's experience is like. There are more Spinneys around than Carrefours. We saw another Carrefour in a mall, but we don't remember which one. To get to any location in Dubai, jump in the cab and give the name like "Carrefours" or "Spinney's" and the cabbie will drive you straight to the nearest one.

The hotels rock until after midnight so if your room is near the bars or clubs, expect to hear the racket or join in the fun!

This post links to this previous post.

The Wire

2008-12-06T18:00:00.007+09:00

Family and Friends! Please watch this wonderful series. It is 5 seasons of the best cop series ever produced. You'll be hooked from the very first episode. Turn on the subtitles so you won't miss a word of the best-written show to come to air. The Wire should be required viewing for every one of us.

Australia (the movie)

2008-12-06T16:12:00.000+09:00

Just got back from seeing Baz Luhrman's Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Guess what! We enjoyed it. We agree with most of the negative criticisms. It is filled with cliches. It runs long. The bombing of Darwin seems tacked on. The sweeping epic quality matched with The Wizard of Oz is a bit silly. But, still, it's a fine film experience. If Luhrman had cut the cattle stampede, I think the film would have been better as a lot of the problems with the film are in that scene, ie overuse of CGI and Aboriginal magic.

However, the landscapes are immense and beautiful. The love story is fine. The villains are just evil enough. Jackman is gorgeous and Kidman is natural and believable. The script is over-reaching, but still interesting story-telling with moments of real humor and tenderness.

In a year in which critics are giving films like The Wackness and Zach and Miri Make a Porno 31/2 stars, I think those same critics should be ashamed not to credit Luhrman, Kidman, and Jackman for what they have brought to the screen.

First Summer Squash

2008-12-06T07:54:00.000+09:00

Can you see it? It's our first summer squash of the season. We have so many plants which have set so many flowers that this is the first of many. Our tomato plant has set flowers and it has tomatoes too, but it's pot-bound and that's becoming a watering issue so something will have to change. A bigger pot maybe?

Michelle Obama's Image

2008-12-05T20:19:00.000+09:00

Women's Wear Daily commissioned top designers to create the inaugural gown for Michelle Obama. Here's the slide show.

Forget the dresses. Look at how our future First Lady was drawn. Could it be that difficult to portray a black woman? In some of the drawings she's not even dark-skinned; in several there is no head at all; ET comes to mind a few times; and in one, she looks exactly like Jackie O instead of Michelle O.

Ella's Artwork

2008-12-04T13:32:00.000+09:00

Granddaughter Ella, 3, has learned a lot about coloring inside the lines and choosing appropriate colors since we last saw her. She was a scribbler then, but now she's an artist!

Personal Marathon #1: Bogie and Bacall

2008-12-04T13:22:00.001+09:00

I have recently finished a mini-marathon...the four films that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together:

To Have and Have Not (1944) which was very much like Casablanca (Bogart's breakout role)
The Big Sleep(1946) which was my favorite though the plot was a bit complicated
Dark Passage (1947) which was the weakest of the quartet but still a fine film
Key Largo (1948) which had a sweet Bacall instead of the femme fatale I'd come to expect

Of course, they fell in love and ended up together in every film as well as in real life. Chemistry? On-screen and off-screen, it seems.

Countdown: My Top 20 Favorite Movies

2008-12-02T20:43:00.000+09:00

Here's #15-#11 for my list. For #20-#16, go here. More to come...stay tuned.

#15: The Last Picture Show (1971): "One thing I know for sure. A person can't sneeze in this town without somebody offering them a handkerchief. "

#14. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): "Well, when I get the mean reds the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!"

#13. T oy Story 2 (1991): "Here's your list of things to do while I'm gone: batteries need to be changed. Toys at the bottom of the chest need to be rotated. Oh, and make sure everyone attends Mr. Spell's seminar on what to do if you or part of you is swallowed. Okay? Okay, good, okay."

#12.The Right Stuff (1983):"Monkeys? You think a monkey knows he's sittin' on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys they know that, see? Well, I'll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV."

#11. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969): "I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"

Sunday Afternoon at the Movies

2008-12-01T11:08:00.001+09:00

Man on Wire is a charming film about Philippe Petit and his team of determined pranksters who managed to rig a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center which allowed Phillippe to wire-walk between the towers for 45 minutes before police ended the act by threatening to fly a helicopter at him and pull him off the wire. It's a heist film, a caper, or in the words of the team "le coup"!

We saw it Sunday at Cinema Paradisio in Northbridge, an old cinema house, in a very intimate theatre (sits around 100) with a small-ish screen covered by a curtain that opens when the feature begins. So nostalgic!

Man of Wire is now out on dvd so if you have a large screen TV, we recommend it!

Photography Exhibition

2008-12-01T09:24:00.000+09:00

Sunday afternoon we took in the Earth from Above photography exhibition outdoors at the Perth Art Gallery. The photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand focus attention on the sustainability of our planet through aerial photography of regions in strife and regions of great natural beauty. Australia's coral reef and islands, Iceland's volcanoes and warm springs, America's Yellowstone National Park, and the English countryside were all featured in the display.

My favorite and then John's (though it was really difficult to choose):

Camel caravan in Mauritania

Offshore Wind Farm, near Copenhagen Denmark

Venus/Jupiter in Conjunction

2008-12-01T08:51:00.000+09:00

Tonight's the night in the US! Quick! Look in the evening sky 7pm Central and see Venus near Jupiter in the southwest sky. Also the crescent moon will appear with earthshine, as pictured left.

Alfred Hitchcock, Auteur

2008-11-27T19:14:00.000+09:00

Alfred Hitchcock is a director I love not to take too seriously, but still admire his craftsmanship and storytelling. I've seen the following Hitchcock films:

The 39 Steps (1935)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Rebecca (1940)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Spellbound (1945)
Notorious (1946)
Rope (1948)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Rear Window (1954)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
Marnie (1964)

My favorite is Rear Window. The best crafted is Vertigo. The best, most underwatched Hitchcock is Shadow of a Doubt. My least favorite is the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, but still it has a memorable scene at the theatre which is one of the finest on film.

Still on my radar, but not seen:
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Jamaica Inn (1939)
Torn Curtain (1966)

Chocolate Figs and Almonds (or Chocolate Dates and Walnuts)

2008-11-26T17:16:00.001+09:00

Here's an easy, healthy recipe for a delicious accompaniment to fortified wines used as dessert wine at the meal's end.

In a microwave, carefully melt 250 g chopped dark chocolate and add 12 chopped dried figs or 20 dates and ½ cup chopped toasted almonds or walnuts. Put heaped teaspoons of mixture onto trays lined with baking paper and refrigerate until firm. Put into air-tight containers and refrigerate until needed.

The fortifieds that are especially nice with this treat are port, mistella, and muscat, all favorites of ours.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

Novel: The Count of Monte Cristo

2008-11-24T17:32:00.000+09:00

I am currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I've only met a few of the characters who will populate the text with Edmond Dante, being the central character. At this point in my reading he's young, honest, gallant, naive, loyal. He loves a beautiful woman and has been selected to captain a merchant ship. However, at his betrothal party he is arrested and subsequently thrown into the worst prison imaginable Chateau D'lf for a crime he did not commit, framed by a jealous trio and imprisoned by a crown prosecutor who advances his political career on the back on this innocent man.

Stay tuned for another installment of this wonderful tale.

Pisa Italy

2008-11-24T16:01:00.001+09:00

We took a day trip from Florence by train to Pisa. We arrived at the train station in Pisa and followed the crowd across the bridge to the main tourist boulevard which was a wide street closed to traffic. It was an interesting mix of food carts (sausage, fruit, cookies, breads, cheeses), designer shops, sidewalk cafes, and fine dining. We ducked down an alley and found a charming, family-owned trattoria where we had huge bowls of spaghetti bolognasi, bread, and a glass of wine for few euros. Then we rejoined the crowd on the main boulevard and walked until we rounded a corner and discovered the famous bell tower of Pisa. It is surprising to see just how much it does lean and also to witness the efforts expended in keeping it from falling. Tourists braver than I had climbed the stairs and were walking around the outside of the tower. I was happy to stay on the ground and on the safe side of it should it fall. It was a great day trip, away from the tour group, on our own.

Shutterfly and All Its Greatness

2008-11-22T09:40:00.001+09:00

I did it! I got all the 1,000+ photos from this year gathered together in organized sections, sorted through them, selected the best 100, made decisions about which ones would be full page, and which ones grouped on pages, then opened Shutterfly.
Shutterfly is a miracle website for people who want a physical copy of their digital pictures. My daughter-in-law and I use it year round to send cards and photos, but we especially love it once a year when we make Granddaughter Ella's photobook for that year. Beginning in her first year of life, we have made three books so far and look forward to compiling an annual book of her photos until the last one which will be her wedding year or her university graduation year or some date in the far future. Here is one of my favorite photos from this year's book: (click on it to see just how adorable she really is)

Countdown: My Top 20 Favorite Movies

2008-11-17T19:23:00.000+09:00

Here's #20-#16 of the countdown. More to come...Stay tuned!

#20.Unforgiven (1992): "We all have it comin', kid."

#19. Bull Durham (1988): "You just got lesson number one: don't think; it can only hurt the ball club."

#18. North by Northwest (1959): "How does a girl like you get to be a girl like you?"

#17. Badlands (1973): "At this moment, I didn't feel shame or fear, but just kind of blah, like when you're sitting there and all the water's run out of the bathtub. "

#16. Annie Hall (1977): "A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark."

Australia's National Pastime

2008-11-15T15:33:00.001+09:00

The cricket season has begun. Today is a beautiful 24C, sunny day on our neighborhood oval, but the boys will be on the ovals every Saturday and Sunday all over Perth playing the cricket throughout summer. Many days will be well over 40C.

Flowering Trees of Australia

2008-11-15T15:20:00.000+09:00

Both of these native Australian trees flower at Christmas. Guess which one is called Australian Christmas tree.

Mental Health Break

2008-11-14T13:20:00.001+09:00

We have planted in pots yellow squash seeds and a beefsteak tomato plant. We can get dozens of fresh fruit and veggies at the local farmers market, but not yellow summer squash and not beefsteak tomatoes. It's been a treat seeing the seeds emerge, giving the pots a splash of water, and keeping the Aussie insects at bay.

Note: The previous owners had the fence painted with the mural you see a portion of. We were going to paint over it, but laziness took over first and now we've grown used to it. Since we're at the beach, the diver and dolphins are fun. You'll see more of the mural as I keep up with the progress of the plants.