Thank Goodness For No Late Fees
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Not as grating as The Royal Tenenbaums, with redeeming performance by Cate Blanchett, terrific Portuguese versions of David Bowie classics, and striking art direction – especially the candy-coloured faux marine life and the cut-away view of the sets – but, overall, the movie is clever without being good. Buy the soundtrack.
Wimbledon
Tries to be a Nick Hornby story, but lacks a strong sense of direction. Paul Bettany plays a tennis player who captures lightning in a bottle during his final tournament, but he’s not enough of an underdog to leave the outcome in doubt. The romance with Kirsten Dunst shows spark.
PDA-less No More
I just heard from the rental car agency, and they’ve found my missing Palm Pilot.
Looks like Ben and I have a road trip ahead of us after lunch.
w00t!
Broken Flowers
The slowest-paced farce I’ve ever seen. Bill Murray stars as a playboy of inexplicable and inexpressive charm searching for an old girlfriend who may be the mother of his unknown son. The scenes are long, contemplative and funny as the director takes time to show what the characters aren’t saying.
The Last Weekend in August…Already?
We spent Friday evening playing with Ben and catching up with taped episodes of Veronica Mars. The twice-weekly broadcast schedule means that our weekend getaway to New Jersey put us far behind.
After television, I played through another level of Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms as an evil panther-man berserker. I’ve named my character “Kitty,” and pronounce it like the little girl from Monsters Inc..
On Saturday, we hopped into the repaired Subaru and ran errands. We first went to Westmount to look for a specific type of yoga/Pilates mat that Dina was looking for as a gift. She phoned the store to double-check that they had the right type. Alas, the sales clerk was mistaken. They did not.
Then, since we were close to my comic book store, I went to pick up my books. It was 11:30, but the door was still padlocked. I wandered for ten minutes, and then gave up.
Next, we went to the local Best Buy to conclude the ongoing saga of Dina’s new laptop. She purchased a USB/infrared doohickey and we went looking for our sales representative so he could reimburse the purchase with a gift certificate. The store was less crowded in its third week of operation than its first, so we didn’t have too much trouble, to our relief.
We also took a look at the display of Palm Pilots, on the off chance that my trusty Tungsten is well and truly lost. The Tungsten E2 seems to fit the bill nicely; I don’t need the excess storage of the LifeDrive, the built-in digital camera of the Zire, or the portrait/landscape display options of the Tungsten T5.
But, let’s hope that I won’t have to upgrade. I’m very happy with the Tungsten I had.
After that stop, we went to the Fairview Mall for some anniversary shopping. First, we went to Sears to look for a new set of bed linen as a gift from my parents and Scott (the fourth anniversary gift is traditionally linen). There was a confluence of sales in effect, so we ended finding a very nice set of 400 thread-count sheets.
Then we went to a toy store where I pointed out games that I liked, and Ben practically leapt out of his stroller and showed us all the toys that he liked. Every parent in the store smiled as Ben danced with glee around the aisles.
I never get that reaction.
We were heading out of the mall when Dina and I both lamented the absence of decent bag stores. Dina was looking for a suitable bag to carry her new laptop, and we hadn’t found anything that suited her needs and tastes. Well, no sooner than we give up than we pass by a little boutique that held not one, but two, perfect shoulder bags. After some modelling efforts, Dina made her choice and I sent her out of the store while I paid for it.
Our anniversary is on Thursday. I hope she’ll be surprised! [grin]
Ben fell asleep in the car on our way home, so we took a detour back to my comic book shop so I could pick up my comic books. I should have taken the opportunity to ask what the weekend store hours were, but one of the owners and I were sidetracked by a conversation over how long I’d been a customer.
I know I transferred my reserve list there when I was working at TicketMaster Montreal, which would put it in the fall of 1993. I had another comics store closer to Concordia University, but that store closed after four months. I remember the owner phoning me at work to tell me I had to pick up my books that very day, before the landlord changed the locks. He gave me an extra foil-covered copy of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #1 for my trouble.
Once home, Dina felt a wave of exhaustion, so we closed her eyes for a late afternoon nap while I got dinner ready. When she woke up, she started in on a prolonged sneezing fit. I think that her body knew that allergies were acting up, and tried to protect her by letting her sleep through the worst of it. So far as I know, you can’t sneeze when you’re snoring (not that Dina snores of course. Oh, no, definitely not.)
In the evening, we watched some of the second season of Coupling, and then Dina coached me past a difficult spot in Return to Arms. “Try the flaming axes,” she said. “Look at that those damage numbers!” I exclaimed.
Sunday, we drove to the Townships to visit Dina’s folks. Because Ben still hadn’t recovered from his sniffles, his sniffle-induced post-nasal drip, and his post-nasal-drip-induced coughing, he was so tired that he managed to fall asleep in the car for most of the drive up.
He woke up when we were about ten minutes away. When we told him we were visiting Grandma and Poppy, he smiled a huge smile and started chattering.
He was in a chipper mood for the rest of the day, right until the end, when the coughing hit him full-force. In the mean time, he had plenty of energy to try to pull his sandbox:
(There’s 360 pounds of sand in there. He has his work cut out for him.)
He also had plenty of time to tackle his Dad:
(Right-click and Save As to see the movie.)
Ben didn’t sleep well on the drive home, but we made good time, so his unhappiness didn’t last terribly long. We rushed him into a bath, gave him some dinner, and then put him to bed. He fell asleep right away.
Then, we watched that afternoon’s episode of Veronica Mars, played around on our laptops, and turned in. We slept with our ears attuned for the sound of Ben’s cough. He slept soundly for most of the night.
How Long Until These Songs Are Retro?
Want to take a musical trip down memory lane? Give this a try:
A.) Go to musicoutfitters.com
B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about).
Caveat: The list is based on US music data, so your mileage may vary. I notice a distinct lack of Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo and Sass Jordan, to mention just a few.
[via A Small Victory]
1. Hold On, Wilson Phillips
2. It Must Have Been Love, Roxette
3. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O’Connor
4. Poison, Bell Biv Devoe
5. Vogue, Madonna
6. Vision Of Love, Mariah Carey
7. Another Day In Paradise, Phil Collins
8. Hold On, En Vogue
9. Cradle Of Love, Billy Idol
10. Blaze Of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi
11. Do Me!, Bell Biv Devoe
12. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Michael Bolton
13. Pump Up The Jam, Technotronic
14. Opposites Attract, Paula Abdul
15. Escapade, Janet Jackson
16. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Heart
17. Close To You, Maxi Priest
18. Black Velvet, Alannah Myles
19. Release Me, Wilson Phillips
20. Don’t Know Much, Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
21. All Around The World, Lisa Stansfield
22. l Wanna Be Rich, Calloway
23. I Remember You, Skid Row
24. Rub You The Right Way, Johnny Gill
25. She Ain’t Worth It, Glenn Medeiros Featuring Bobby Brown
26. If Wishes Came True, Sweet Sensation
27. The Power, Snap
28. (Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection, Nelson
29. Love Will Lead You Back, Taylor Dayne
30. Don’t Wanna Fall In Love, Jane Child
31. Two To Make It Right, Seduction
32. Sending All My Love, Linear
33. Unskinny Bop, Poison
34. Step By Step, New Kids On The Block
35. Dangerous, Roxette
36. We Didn’t Start The Fire, Billy Joel
37. I Don’t Have The Heart, James Ingram
38. Downtown Train, Rod Stewart
39. Rhythm Nation, Janet Jackson
40. I’ll Be Your Everything, Tommy Page
41. Roam, B-52’s
42. Everything, Jody Watley
43. Back To Life, Soul II Soul
44. Here and Now, Luther Vandross
45. Alright, Janet Jackson
46. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
47. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
48. Have You Seen Her, M.C. Hammer
49. With Every Beat Of My Heart, Taylor Dayne
50. Come Back To Me, Janet Jackson
51. No More Lies, Michel’le
52. Praying For Time, George Michael
53. How Can We Be Lovers, Michael Bolton
54. Do You Remember, Phil Collins
55. Ready Or Not, After 7
56. U Can’t Touch This, M.C. Hammer
57. I Wish It Would Rain Down, Phil Collins
58. Just Between You and Me, Lou Gramm
59. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, Phil Collins
60. Black Cat, Janet Jackson
61. Can’t Stop, After 7
62. Janie’s Got A Gun, Aerosmith
63. The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground
64. I’ll Be Your Shelter, Taylor Dayne
65. Free Fallin’, Tom Petty
66. Giving You The Benefit, Pebbles
67. Enjoy The Silence, Depeche Mode
68. Love Song, Tesla
69. Price Of Love, Bad English
70. Girls Nite Out, Tyler Collins
71. King Of Wishful Thinking, Go West
72. What Kind Of Man Would I Be?, Chicago
73. Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over), Technotroic
74. Here We Are, Gloria Estefan
75. Epic, Faith No More
76. Love Takes Time, Mariah Carey
77. Just Like Jesse James, Cher
78. Love Shack, B-52’s
79. All Or Nothing, Milli Vanilli
80. Romeo, Dino
81. Everybody Everybody, Black Box
82. I Go To Extremes, Billy Joel
83. Whip Appeal, Babyface
84. Oh Girl, Paul Young
85. C’mon and Get My Love, D-Mob With Cathy Dennis
85. (It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me, Paula Abdul
87. We Can’t Go Wrong, Cover Girls
88. When I’m Back On My Feet Again, Michael Bolton
89. Make You Sweat, Keith Sweat
90. This One’s For The Children, New Kids On The Block
91. What It Takes, Aerosmith
92. Forever, Kiss
93. Jerk Out, Time
94. Just A Friend, Biz Markie
95. Whole Wide World, A’me Lorain
96. Without You, Motley Crue
97. Swing The Mood, Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers
98. Thieves In The Temple, Prince
99. Mentirosa, Mellow Man Ace
100. Tic-Tac-Toe, Kyper
PDA-less
My Palm Pilot has gone astray. I’m pretty certain that it’s lying under the driver’s seat of the rented PT Cruiser that I returned yesterday.
I had to stop quickly at an intersection yesterday and the baby bag tipped over in the back seat, spilling some of its contents. The PDA probably skittered under the driver’s seat, and I didn’t think to look for it.
I called the rental agency this morning, and they told me they had already rented the Cruiser to one of their regular customers. The car is due back on Monday, so they’ll let me know.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I won’t be missing any data, since I keep the device synchronized and backed up, but there was nothing wrong with that unit. It did everything that I needed it to do.
If the Palm Pilot is gone for good, then, as Dina says, there’s another idea for an anniversary gift.
PT Cruisers Are Nice To Look At…
…but they don’t hold a candle to my station wagon.
I brought the Outback to the dealer yesterday to have the engine block replaced under warranty. Subarus of that vintage have a quirk in the piston/cylinder fittings that cause the car to run a little rough until the pistons heat up and swell to fit the cylinders properly. The dealer said that the’d fix the problem for no charge when I bought the car.
While they replaced the block, they took care of the little quirks that Dina and I had noticed: re-fitting the driver’s side window seal to do away with a high-pitched whistling sound; replacing the interior fan so that the third fan speed finally works; and tightening the parking brake. They even replaced the timing belt, which they don’t usually do this early in the car’s lifespan. All that work at zero cost to me.
Well, that’s not entirely true. The dealership rented me a PT Cruiser from the local Thrifty to tool around in for the day, and I was responsible for the gas. So, in essence, the repairs cost me $4.50.
Dina and I had rented a Cruiser when we were in Vancouver last year for the first week of our vacation; it’s a cute car, but it has no pickup worth mentioning and is generally sluggish where you want it to be responsive. The sightlines also aren’t great from the driver’s seat – especially the driver’s side blind spot – which was a bit of nuisance on the trip back to the dealership.
The trip home, on the other hand, was smooth sailing.
CBC Lockout Sites
Journalists just have to write. Here are a couple CBC Lockout sites that I’ve found. If you’re into that sort of thing, podcasts are available from iTunes.
CBC Unplugged – by CBC tech and culture stalwart, Tod Maffin
CBC On the Line – The Front Line News Magazine
You know the saddest thing about the CBC Lockout? That Libby, who just moved back to Canada, isn’t getting her Peter Mansbridge fix. That’s so unfair.
New Jersey 2005
Click the picture below to view the photo album from our trip to New Jersey.
Here are some cute movies from the trip:
1. Ben splashing around in a muddy puddle.
2. Ben walking around in my sneakers.
3. Ben driving Ryan’s motorized scooter car.
4. Ben hugging a balloon at the Red Robin restaurant.
(Right-click and Save As, please)
Gray and Sniffly
It’s cloudy and cool outside, and Ben is fighting off a bout of the sniffles. I think we’re going to lay low today, read stories, and try to nap.