Spiderman

At first I thought this new Spiderman looked really stupid because I thought it was derivative of the Toby McGuire movie, but I'm getting kind of excited about it.  Plus, I really like this Andrew Whatshisname's hair.   Also, I love Kirsten Dunst, but she really ah-sucked as MaryJane.  I think Emma Stone will be good.  One thing I don't understand is this whole Dennis Leary/Willem Dafoe thing.  I mean, honestly at first I thought they were the same guy.  For realz those guys look exactly the same.  You know what would have been totally cray cray?  If they had cast Elijia Wood as Spiderman.  I have a hard time telling him from McGuire.  Coming soon:  a complete list of celebrities I cannot tell apart.

Did you see The Hair on the Daily Show?  This is too much...

passing time on the couch

kissing ass

I had another procedure done on my left foot on Friday.  Swollen and booted (again!) I spent a lot of time on the couch this weekend, asking M to bring me stuff and watching movies on tv.  Here's what I watched...

Valmont (on demand, free) 1989.  It stars Colin Firth and Annette Bening and is not as good as Dangerous Liaisons.  Meg Tilly uses her big girl voice.  Firth looks creepy in a 17th c. mullet.

2 Days in Paris - starts out as kind of a witty Woody-Allen-type comedy, devolves into shouting.  M walked in and said, "All people do in this movie is TALK!"

even the cat's upset

Chronicle - three stupid boys touch a rock and get super-powers.  They can't really think of anything interesting to do.

Carnage - two sets of parents sit down to have a civilized conversation about their kids' fight.  Society falls apart.  I like when Kate Winslet throws up.

Brave - really enjoyed it.  Is this the first movie about a princess that has nothing to do with how she feels about a boy?  Hallelujah!  And that HAIR.

Fiona!

I bought Fiona Apple's new album, The Idler Wheel... and it. Is. So. Fan. Tastic.  My favorite song is probably Werewolf.  The lyrics are amazing.  Dear God, can she write...

We are like a wishing well and a bolt of electricity But we can still support each other, all we gotta do's avoid each other Nothing wrong when a song ends in a minor key 

And then it ends in what I can only assume is a minor key.  I have no idea, really.  (BTW, are we supposed to stop listening to Pitchfork after Letter to Emily that's going around?)  There's a great review/article of her new album and perceived wackiness on Flavorwire.  


I'm totally obsessed with this Paul McCartney cover by Apple...  

Perfect weekend

We had a perfect weekend (aside me me accidentally spilling mojito all over M's laptops - whoops), lots of time in our garden, which is where we like to spend most of our time.  I had a pedicure, during which the esthetician called my feet "beautiful".  That's a word that has never been used to describe my feet.   Dinner with friends, time with some of my favorite gals at the beach, back to the garden (mojito incident) then off to Via Venito, one of our favorite Italian restaurants.  Evening in the garden - candles, fireflies...


Happy Father's Day to my dad!

Moonrise Kingdom

 We saw Moonrise Kingdom over the weekend - it's utterly charming and M & I both loved it.  Every moment is a visual pleasure.  Like most (all?) Wes Anderson movies, it has a great soundtrack, too.  I'm pretty happy to have discovered this song.

The film website looks like it might hold a few treasures - I'm going to pour over it later...

I also watched Higher Ground on dvd, directed by and starring Vera Farmiga.  It made quite an impact on me.  Lots to think about re: religion.  Parts were difficult for me to watch not because of violence or anything like that, but because of the particular expresion of religious dogma.  I recommend it espec. to my sister, I wish we could watch it together.  

Lest you think I whiled away the entire weekend, not so!  Most of the weekend was whiled away in our backyard oasis where the following ingredients (cat + hammock + mojito + good book + beloved spouse) formulate just about the most perfect summer day you could ask for.  On Sunday we ate every single meal outside.  Bliss.  

camping in LA

We went camping for just one night while we were in LA but we had the BEST time.  My nephew had never been before and it was so fun to experience it with him.  And my sister had never been (excluding a mostly disastrous trip when we were kids, so she was a good sport to give it another go).  We went to the Angeles National Forest, which is really huge (larger than LA itself, but not quite as big as LA County).  As we drove there, we were going through what was mostly desert and dusty, cactus-covered land.  Everyone was getting nervous because we all thought, "Is this the type of place where we're going to spend the NIGHT?"  But, when we got to our campsite in the mountains, it was a nice, wooded area that was more like what we were expecting.  My nephew loved seeing the tent go up and had a lot of fun playing and swinging in the hammock.  He got so dirty, and made us all laugh with his stream of chatter and excitement.  When M built a fire, he for some reason wanted to stand in the smoke, even though it was hurting his eyes.  Later, when I asked him what his favorite part of camping was, he said, "Sleeping in a bag!"  What's the least favorite part?  "Getting smoke in my eyes."

We were obviously practicing a lot of fire safety, and he said, rather matter-of-factly, "If I fall in the fire, I'll be like Anakin."

At the end of a lovely day, we all slept soundly on REI pads.  I listened to the wolves howling and felt secure as ever.

Mini-Break

We took a quick trip to LA this weekend to celebrate our friends' K & G's wedding - it was a beautiful wedding ceremony and a fun reception.  K ranks among the 10 Top Gorgeous Brides of All Time, I'd say.  Near the end of the reception she changed into a red satin cheongsam (pronunciation - btw, I've been driving myself crazy the last few days trying to remember what that particular kind of dress is called!)  They're great friends and we were very pleased we could be there to share in the fun day.  

This note was left in our hotel room, which we thought was particularly hilarious.  M and I spent a lot of time asking each other, "Whhhhhhaaaaad're yoooooooouuuuu doing?" a la The Californians - a skit on SNL that gently mocks Angelenos for their propensity to show of their comprehensive knowledge of the LA freeways.  Anyway, be sure to avoid specific substances in your hotel room.

Stay tuned for a few pics on our little camping trip!