'snot sunday - 'tis monday

The alarm doesn't go off. Last night This morning we went to bed at 2am. I open my eyes and glance at the alarm clock. It reads 4:22am. That's got to be wrong. The sun is shining outside. I look at my wrist watch. My eyes are too blurry to make out the hands. I press the button at the side of the watch and the digital display is illuminated. Through the fog of sleep I can make out that it is ten-something. Carefully, so as not to wake Maria, I get out of bed and head towards the bathroom. From there I wander into the main part of the flat. The computer has reset, the answer phone is blinking, the microwave's clock is reading [blank]:[blank]. We've had a power cut.

The computer boots up as I smoke a cigarette on the balcony. I check emails and then head off back to bed. I slide, carefully, into my side of the bed, making sure that I don't disturb Maria, and open my book. I read for an hour until Maria stretches and rolls over. We kiss. We talk. She gets up and showers. I wander out on to the balcony again. I go back to the computer as she dries and dresses. Suddenly she is beside me, telling me to get dressed, telling me I have no time for a shower, asking me if I know the time, telling me that we have to get going. We have worlds to conquer, things to do, and it is past midday.

We head out to the paper store, we need legal sized paper which is a bit bigger than A4. The store is closed and that plan is wrecked. We decide to head across the border. The line for the Sentri is long, the line for walk-overs is long, but they are moving. It takes only thirty minutes to get out of Mexico and into the US. Twenty minutes later we are in Borders trying to decide which living with IBS book to buy. I flick through a book, laughing out loud, scaring people, at Banksy's audacity and sheer gall. Maria finds a film that she has been looking for.

We go to a mall to look at sunglasses. I've had this pair for two years. They are bent and when you clean the left lens it falls out but I love them. Love them so much that I was wearing them while playing football in the last week of school. Unfortunately I headed the ball, which flew in one direction as my glasses flew n another. The right lens is now so scratched that it is messing with my vision. Time for new glasses. Unfortunately we can't find anything I like. I know what I like, the pair that I am wearing, but nothing else calls out to me. We move to another mall.

Four more shops that see sunglasses and I still find nothing that grabs my attention. So we end up buying an identical pair to those I already have. We also get a hard case for them, instead of having to shove them in my pocket, where they get bent. Into Macy's for a new watch strap and then onto Target. Oddly, to me, the first thing I should be doing to combat my stomach problems is eating more. I have always spent my time avoiding putting food into my body, working on the principle that with nothing in my body - there will be nothing to expel. However, I am now supposed to "snack" all day instead of shocking my system with a huge intake in one sitting. We spend over $50 on rice cakes, health bars, baked crisps, and other things that (according to the book) my body won't reject.

After eating a rice cake in the car park, thus warning my stomach that food is coming, we head over to Chilis for a meal - it is now just after 5:30pm. A meal of chicken and shrimp doesn't cause any particular problems and a conversation inspires me to make our next move. Two nights ago we watched Street Kings and felt unfulfilled. This led to a discussion about The Departed, which moved towards American Gangster, and finally settled on The Untouchables. I wanted to get Maria a copy of Torso, Elliot Ness's next case after his time in Chicago. Unfortunately when we get to the comic shop we discover it is closed, closed because it is now after 7pm on a Monday evening.

We decide we will go to the cinema and head to anther mall. However, our timing is out and there is nothing we want to see about to start. We wander the mall and I buy Maria some pearls, two strings of them. They are not real. We step into another Borders and walk out with two books (I read my comments). We set off home and realise we need petrol. We end up in another Target buying hair dye for him and her. Then home.

We settle in front of the television and watch (and enjoy) "Home for the Holidays". It finishes at midnight. A quick check on my mobile phone tells me that I have walked 9.4km, which might explain why I'm tired. We go to bed.

And this was a Monday. A Monday! The first day of the holidays. It was Monday and I didn't have to go to work. You know, I could get to like Mondays.

Comments

[J.A.]

"We end up in another Target buying hair dye for him and her. Then home"

is it contagious then? should I worry?

(However, I've always thought I would look good with highlights;^))

[(S)wine]

black. do it jet black.

[Alan]

*sigh* holidays.

Enjoy !! :)

[(S)wine]

I have to put in my one cent about Marty's The Departed. I loathed it. I mean, for a Scorsese movie; otherwise it was good. But I do realize that they snubbed him w/the Oscar for so many years, they HAD to give it to him. Of course, he deserved one for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and Goodfellas, but...anyway. Unfortunately, The Departed is a remake of a Hong Kong shoot-em-up type crime film called Infernal Affairs. The ending (or double-ending) is typical of those kinds of HOng Kong films. For me, Jack Nicholson became a caricature of himself many moons ago, so I had troubles being scared or being afraid of him as Big Boss in The Departed. I think, for me, Jack's last good role was in Terms of Endearment; and what was that? 1980?? Oh well, as you may imagine, I was quite happy for Marty when he snagged his Oscar; unfortunately the Hollywood machine has ground him down and placated him (same with Francis Ford); Marty's best days have long been gone. That being said, IMHO, he is still one of the few important filmmakers in the world still alive and still working. There.

[will]

You're not wrong :^)

I don't actually like DiCaprio but I loved his performance in The Departed. In fact, I really enjoyed the whole film EXCEPT for any moment that Nicholson was in. Jack Nicholson has just become annoying. Checking imbd.com I think you've nailed his ability to act exactly correctly. The next film after that was Prizzi's Honour, quickly followed by Witches of Eastwick. Both films suffer from him being Jack Nicholson - living the legend. His latest debacle (Bucket List) is a film that I will avoid. [Note: Morgan Freeman also seems to be coming a caricature of himself as well] The comparison between The Untouchables and The Departed was that de Niro played a much better presence than Jackson. Of course, The Untouchables suffered from Sean Connery being Sean Connery. Also, there was the fact that Kevin Costner (like DiCaprio, in so much as he irritates me) put in a brilliant performance.

The conclusion of the discussion was that, scarily for both of us, what great actors Costnor and Denzel Washington (an actor Maria doesn't like) are. I read on Wil Weaton's blog recently that he failed an audition because "they could tell I was acting". And that is the key, I think to a good performance - you aren't supposed to notice that they are acting. That's why Costnor and Washington are so good. That's why Nicholson used to be so good.

The problem with Oscar awards is that they are seen as the pinnacle of your art. And yet, in many cases, they are given retro-actively: Washington's performance in Training Day compared to Malcolm X; The Return of The King compared to the other two. Or politically; Halle Berry anyone? What happens is that NOT winning an Oscar becomes this big thing. Once someone gets two/three films in the top 20 films of all time, and still hasn't won an Oscar, the Academy seems to go out of their way to give them for whatever dross they turn up with. Ho-hum.

The year Taxi Driver was made - Rocky won the Oscar.
Raging Bull lost out to Ordinary People.
Goodfellas lost to Dances with Wolves.

Of course, at no point should anyone ever mention the video to Bad!

[(S)wine]

I still cannot talk about the '92 loss of Goodfellas to Dances in every category except Best Supporting Actor, which Pesci took (and might I say had the Awards' shortest speech ever: "...........Thank you!.....).

I like Denzel a lot, I agree w/you about Training Day (snore) vs. Malcolm X (brilliance!). Also...don't forget "Glory." Not a fan of Costner's although I totally agree w/you on The Untouchables--he did a good, solid job. I hate saying that, but he did. He was also kinda decent in "No Way Out" and "American Flyers." I think he did his best job in The Big Chill (I'm being a wise ass here; if you don't know, he was the dead body/the dead friend and even those scenes got cut, so he never made it). DePalma directed Untouchables...not a fan of his, either. I enjoyed The Departed and pulled for Marty all the way, although I realized that it's not a "Marty movie" and he'll probably never again make a "Marty movie" as we know it. I am on the fence about DiCaprio but I, too, liked him in Departed. For me: Nicholson was great in The Shining, One Flew Over, Easy Rider, Terms, Chinatown, and I give him semi-props for The Pledge.

[Vanessa]

Re: the snacking: would it work to eat your meals in parts? Travelling often triggers temporary food intolerances, and I sometimes find that packaging up part of the meal and eating it an hour later is easier to handle than sourcing snacks that don't make me grumpy or hungry.

Enjoyable comments, can we have Movie Comments regularly?