March Penguins, March

I've seen March of the Penguins twice now.  One at AFI
silver before it was in wide release and once in (of all places) Dubuque,
Iowa
at a brand spanking new theatre only a few minutes drive from the field of
dreams (yes, that field of dreams).  Both times I was
left wondering how the hell those cute emperor penguins make it.  The
second thing I wondered about was their necks.  I mean, who knew that
penguins
has necks that could stretch like that?

Even if the penguins are not motivated by "love" as Morgan Freeman
posits at the beginning of the film, their survival instinct is
incredible. 
Although at times the narrative is a little heavy on personification, the
story of the penguins is still amazing.   And I am forever greatful to
whomever decided
assigning voices to the penguins (as they did in the original French
version of the film) would not play well to American audiences.  I'm not
sure that they could
have chosen a better narrator than Morgan Freeman. 

If you have not seen this film yet, you need to go see it.  After all,
I found it in Dubuque, Iowa, so I am sure it has made it's way to a
theatre near you
by now.  Please do not take Richard Roeper's advice to wait to see it on
tv.  It is really awesome on the big screen, and I promise you it's worth
the $9. 

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Requiem for O.m.m.2 -
Of
Montreal

I Was Never Young - Of
Montreal

Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games - Of
Montreal

Forecast Fascist Future - Of
Montreal

So Begins Our Alabee - Of
Montreal

Roots

This seems to be the summer for roadtrips.  I generally
try to fit in a few each summer,
but it seems like this summer I've been in a car more than out of one. 
And I just got back from my big trip of the summer:
one week of driving around Illinois doing genealogy research.

When I first started talking about this trip, my mom and my aunt said
that they wanted to tag along.  As anyone who has ever done
genealogy research knows - it can be boring unless you are really into it. 
You have to be really into it, for example, to sit in an old historical
society
back room and hand crank rolls of microfilm, scanning every single issue
of the local paper published in the year 1947 trying to find an obituary. 
So I was skeptical
when they said they wanted to come.  But we had a great time and I know I
wouldn't have had half the fun without them along.

We spent some time in Chicago looking for graves and checking out the
Museum of Lithuanian culture before heading out to Jo Daviess County in
Northeastern Illinois. 
There, we spent a few days in the town where my grandma grew up.  While
the town itself was sort of depressing because most stores on Main Street
were empty, we did find some
pictures of my grandma in the local antique store, which was sort of
strange.  Can you imagine finding your third grade school photo for sale
in an antique store somewhere? In addition to the genealogy research I
wanted to get done, we spent some time in Galena, which has to be the
living embodiment of
Disneyland's Main Street USA, and a ski resort (complete with Alpine
Slide!) overlooking the Mississippi River.  From there we ended up driving
down to Peoria where we spent a few days doing research, and then back to
Chicago, where we spent our last day window shopping on the
Magnificent Mile. We ended up eating dinner at the ultra-touristy but
good Gino's.  BTW, whoever selects their music has great taste.  I
almost asked the waitress who picked all of it out.

All in all, it was a great trip.  Not only did I find a lot of the
things I wanted to find genealogy-wise, but it was really great getting to
spend some time with my
mom and aunt, who I don't get to see that often.  We ended up finding the
past and making new memories at the same time.

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Baby You're Not in Love-
22-20's

Yesterday Threw Everything At Me - Athlete

One of These Things First - Nick
Drake

For Lovin' Me - Peter,
Paul, and Mary

Fortress - Pinback

I Am the Incredible Shrinking Woman

Over the past few years I had gained a lot more weight
than I was happy with.  I had tried a lot
of diets and exercise plans, but nothing seemed to work long term.  It
seemed like I was always able to lose about 10 pounds
and then I would plateau and give up.  Back in February, my company
decided to start a Weight Watchers at work program. 
We would have a Weight Watchers person come and run weekly meetings in our
office and the company would pay for half of the cost.

I had heard good things about Weight Watchers, so I decided I might as
well sign up.  I had decided to train for a half marathon in
January 2006 with some friends and I knew a large part of this would mean
losing weight.  A lot of weight.  Like 100 pounds.

So how has it been going?  Well, since February, I have lost 50 pounds! 
I've gone down 3 sizes.  I still have at least another 50 to go before I
get to my
goal weight, but I know I can do it.  I know that I can use the things
I've learned from Weight Watchers and apply them the rest of my life.
I'm very excited.  Jeff calls me a Weight Watchers evangelist because
whenever the topic comes up (and these days that's a lot, as people
notice how much weight I've lost and ask me about it) I extoll the virtues
of Weight Watchers.  Seriously though.  If you are looking
to lose weight it's a great program.  You don't even have to go to
meetings - you can do it by yourself online.

In college, when I was thinner (funny, I always used to feel *so* fat
in college, but when I look back at some of the clothes I've kept I can't
imagine fitting
into them!) I was a huge clothes horse.  Since gaining a lot of weight,
this habit of mine had been channeled into shoes and purses.  Now that I'm
losing weight,
I'm loving clothes shopping again.  As Jeff says, my losing weight might
be very bad for our budget.  Good thing I just got a raise. ;)

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
La Descarga del Bobo -
Willie
Bobo

Always Wanting You - Merle
Haggard

Lousiana Woman, Mississippi Man - Conway
Twitty and Loretta Lynn
All My Exes Live in Texas - Whitey
Shafer

Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key - Billy
Bragg, Wilco, and Natalie Merchant

George Lucas at AFI Silver

Jeff and I love movies. Jeff and I usually go to the
movies at least once every week, and our dvd collection just outgrew it's
home in December after adding about 30 new dvd's to our collection at
Christmas.  If I could build one dream room in a house, it would be a home
theatre.  And I don't mean a couch with a big screen tv, either.

However, we generally have different taste in film.  Jeff likes big
action movies like Independence Day and Armageddon.  I prefer classics,
documentaries, and foreign films, though I do also like a lot of the big
action movies that Jeff likes.

Little by little, I've been getting Jeff to enjoy the kinds of movies I
like too.  Jeff surprised me one day by wanting to go see Hero, directed
by Zhang Yimou.  I think it probably helped that Jet Li was the star, but
this helped me to introduce Jeff to some of my favorite Chinese films (I
took a Chinese film class in college, so I have quite a few).

This past weekend, Jeff said he had a surprise planned.  Since he said
that it was something he thought I would like, but he thought he might
like it more, I started imagining things like laser tag, a computer
convention, or something having to do with Star Trek.  Boy was I surprised
when we drove to Silver Spring, got out of the car, and started following
the signs to the American Film Institute Silver Theatre.

Since the Silver re-opened in 2003, I have been trying to get Jeff to
go with me, but he has never been interested.  Yesterday, however, the AFI
Silver was showing Episode IV, V, and VI of the Star Wars trilogy, so Jeff
got us tickets to all 3 films and we spent the day watching the original
Star Wars films on the big screen.  What a treat!  According to AFI staff,
the AFI Silver is the only theatre in the world that has permission to
show the 3 original Star Wars movies.  During the renovation of the
Silver, George Lucas personally outfitted the theatre's sound system (and
it was one of the best I've heard).  I'm not sure why Jeff thought he
might enjoy it more than me, after all I was Princess Leia for Halloween
in 1st grade.  I was even the proud owner of the plastic Jabba's palace
set, featuring a real trap door.  When I was in elementary school, I
washed my hair with shampoo that came out of a plastic model of Darth
Vader.

After spending 8 hours at the Silver, Jeff and I were both really
impressed.  They have good concessions and they have wine and beer that
you can take into the theatre with you. They also have an espresso
machine.  Neither the tickets nor the available snacks were as expensive
as other theatres with similar amenities.  Jeff was looking at their
upcoming schedule (which includes Jaws and the Indiana Jones movies), and
surprised me by saying he wanted to come back to see The Thin Man Movies. 
AND, he thought we should become members.  I think this might be the first
time Jeff has ever wanted to see a black and white movie, so AFI, thank
you!

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Do What You Wanna (Mr.
Scruff's Soul Party Mix) - Ramsey
Lewis
In the Waiting Line - Zero
7
Still in Love Song - The
Stills

Fried Neckbones And Some Home Fries (Dan The Automator Remix) - Willie
Bobo

Spread Your Love - Black
Rebel Motorcycle Club

A Great Roadtrip

One of my friends from high school got married this past
weekend.  Coincidentally, one of Jeff's best friends from high school
got married the same weekend, so Jeff took off for Yosemite and a quick
trip to see his parents, and I packed up my car to head to Massachusetts.
I was excited because the closest to a roadtrip I'd been able to take in
my car since buying it last July were a couple trips for work to southern
Virginia and to Eastern Maryland.  Not exactly very exciting stuff. 

I left Thursday after work, and I decided to swing by my parents' new
house in Waterford, CT.  I spent a few days with them and enjoyed
shopping with my mom at an outlet mall and going kayacking with my dad out
to the ocean (they live on a little river that is about a 20 minute kayack
out to
Long Island Sound). 

Saturday was the wedding
and I had a great
time.  I was at the
high school table
which as I'm sure you have seen at any wedding you have been to, is the
rowdy, fun table.  ;)  We were the only people clinking our glasses and
for about 90%
of the evening, the only people on the dance floor, where we did the naked
tie dance (don't worry, it's not really naked), a dance that was last
performed at our senior prom. 

After the wedding a
group of us who had been really close in high school decided we and our
spouses/so's would
meet up in Vegas next June.  I sure hope we do, because I had a great time
seeing everyone again.  And other than hitting some traffic right before
the GW bridge,
it was a great roadtrip.

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
A Fine Romance - Billie
Holiday

Momma Miss America - Paul
McCartney
Born in Chicago - The
Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Flat Foot Floogee - Benny
Goodman

Daphne - Django
Reinhardt

Brian Wilson's "Smile"

We used to fly out to my grandparents' house in Washington
and then use their minivan
to take THE GREAT AMERICAN VACATION a la National Lampoon.  Found memories
of that time
include attempting to drive the minivan through the Chandelier Tree (we
barely squeaked
through, but don't ask my dad about what happened in the gift shop),
driving from
northern Washington to Southern California in 2 days, and eating at what
must have been every Denny's
on the west coast.

I first heard the Beach Boys in my grandparents' minivan
on one of these summer vacations when I was about 13.  My grandparents'
had a
Beach Boys "Greatest Hits" cd and it was (to my 13 year old ears) the best
thing to listen to
when compared to the other cd's in their car (I definitely remember some
Glenn Miller,
Boxcar Willie and a compilation of classic country called "Wagon Wheels"). 
We used to listen (and sing along) to
the Beach Boys cd on repeat until my parents had enough and insisted on
something else. Listening
to those songs still reminds me of those roadtrips.

I am not a Beach Boys FAN, though I like their music well enough.  I'm
a Beatles person.  I liked the Beach Boys harmonies and arrangements,
but the lyrics lost me.  I picked up "Pet Sounds" in college and thought
it was ok, but not one of the best
albums of all time.  For some reason "Pet Sounds" didn't speak to me like
many Beatles albums did. I
bought "Smile" after it caught my eye when I was Christmas shopping.  The
fact that I waited to listen to it until recently
belies my lack of Beach Boys enthusiasm and also that I was really a
little afraid after hearing some more recent
Brian Wilson efforts.  Ouch.  I didn't even know about "Smile"'s dark
history until reading the liner notes.

At any rate, from this perspective, I think "Smile" is an eminently
listenable album.  And it is an
ALBUM, better when listening to it all at once.  In addition to awesome
harmonies and arrangements, it
has the same kind of Americana feel that early Beach Boys songs have, just
more mature.  With lyrics like:
"Ribbon of concrete, just see what you've done/Done to the church of the
American Indian" these lyrics are certainly deeper than
"Well I saved my pennies and I saved my dimes/For I knew there would be a
time/When I would buy a brand new 409".
"Smile" has it's fair share of low points ("Vega-tables" comes to mind,
along with a re-do of "Good Vibrations"
that doesn't match the excitement of the original version, and the
instrumental "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" which hurts my ears), it's still good
music. 
"Wonderful", "Our Prayer", "Heroes and Villians",
and "Roll Plymouth Rock" are some of my favorites.  It's pretty obvious
that the backing vocals are not the original
Beach Boys, and that Brian Wilson has lost some of his voice (hey the dude
is in his 60's and sang the songs in the original key which
is pretty amazing in and of itself), but it's still good music.
And in case you are afraid, it is WAY better than any of Wilson's other
solo stuff.

 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Good Vibrations - The
Beach
Boys

Because - The
Beatles

La Vie En Rose - Edith
Piaf
Wonderful - Brian
Wilson
Surfing on a Rocket - Air

Mid-Atlantic Laptop Battle

Last night I went to the Mid-Atlantic Laptop
Battle at DC9.  Quite an experience. 
There were a couple of dj's that really rocked, but quite frankly, I was a
little disappointed at the caliber of people that were there.  Some of the
dj's flat out sucked.  And, at a few points I was left wondering what the
judges were thinking.  I guess it's hard for me to be objective about
electronica when there are some genres I really don't care for.  For $6
though, I'm certainly not complaining.

Never having been to a laptop battle before, I wasn't sure quite what
to expect.  They are apparantly much bigger on the west coast, which is a
shame, since we have plenty of amateur dj talent here on the east coast
too.  Hopefully they'll have more of these around here in the future.  I
had a good time, but I left wishing I had bought that "more
cowbell" t-shirt I saw a few weeks ago.  It would have been the
perfect shirt to wear. (Note: When I first saw this t-shirt some of my
friends didn't get the reference.  If you are clueless, click here to
read more about one of the funniest SNL skits.)
 

Last
5 songs played on my iPod:
Young Americans - David
Bowie

Mas Que Nada - Sergio
Mendes and Brasil '66

Fixing a Hole - The
Beatles
Sunrise - Duran
Duran
Block Rockin' Beats - Chemical
Brothers