chased the sun southwest down the Northeast Corridor

[bibliothekara]

I'm back. So sorry, didn't get y'all any presents. :)  The best stuff I got- that is to say, time with my family- sadly non-transferable.

You can't have my Grand'rents. They're MINE. MINE ALL MINE. (I was always not that great at sharing in kindergarten.)

Actually, Metro-Boston Trip, since I was sadly not in the city so much. Need to remedy that. Maybe a concert weekend this spring?

- Erev Christmas/Visits, with Maternal Grand'rents! My Grampa R, sadly, has pretty advanced Parkinsons' now, so I cherish all the time I get with him. But while he moves slower and slower, his mind is still sharp as a tack. On Sunday, we visited again, for the express purpose of playing Scrabble. And this is SRS BZNS, because he is, like, my Obi-Wan Kenobi of Scrabble. It was one of the proudest days of my life when I first won a game off him. And this time, I used all 7 tiles off my board, and received the BINGO BONUS of 50 points. *dance of joy* Plus, the rest of the time, I got to hang out with my Gramma N, who is the only other person in the family who likes to talk as much as I do. (Do not think I am kidding, either. Although I think sometimes I fill the space with noise because it's better than what my occasionally fail-y brain comes up with.)

-Christmas Day with The Fraternal Unit, The Paternal Grand'rents, plus phantomcranefly  and her family! Mom showed up later too, because having Dad in another state facilitates getting along with ex-laws. Especially when my aunt was a high-school friend apart and independent of her brother's romantic relationship. (It's complicated, but it works.) There's really nothing like an M-Family Christmas morning. Arrayed lengthwise down the den in front of the Christmas tree, attempting to determine the proper passing speed of presents, and everyone trying to get a word in edgeways. GLORIOUS. (Plus: my mommy loves me. My mommy got me the COMPLETE DVDs of Fry and Laurie's Jeeves and Wooster.)

-Monday, we somehow got all 9 of the above mentioned people out to the furniture store IMAX to see Avatar. Coordinating 9 very opinionated and intelligent people into a movie theater is harder than one might think, but we did it. Movie itself: Fantastic visual experience. Really well done, especially by the WETA people. Story...kind of meh, in that I've seen it endless times before. And having read King Leopold's  Ghost this year didn't help. However- having Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, and Michelle Rodriguez tends to cover up a lot of sins. Especially Sigourney the Goddess. Grace Augustine was my absolute favorite character in the whole thing. And while Michelle was fantastic, Trudy Chacon= Aliens' Pvt. Vasquez, next generation. Oh James Cameron. *G*

-Speaking of movies: once it stops being the frozen tundra around here, maybe some time this weekend? Must get out and see Sherlock Holmes. I spent my childhood poring through the books, I am a FAN. So, yes, there are probably some things that will make me go into Braveheart mode.* But I am in deep loff with Robert Downey Junior right now, and from trailers, and the reviews of matociquala and melliyna , I think I will enjoy it. I am all for blowing shit up, action sequences, plus funny things and what apparently will be a boatload of HoYay.

*Braveheart Mode: Saw the movie for the first time when I was 14. 8 years later, I write my Hist and Lit Thesis on the historical fact and various literary/legendary stories (Blind Harry, Jane Porter) of William Wallace, the Scottish bandit/insurgent/freedom-fighter/what have you. After 6 months of work, with the thing nearly done, I go to rewatch the movie. I spend 3 hours yelling at my iMac (on which I was watching it), and come out feeling a) that William Wallace would have been pissed at the liberties Mel Gibson took, and b) that I have something that sums up/supports the thesis I've been working towards for half a year. Short version ( I can send y'all the 60 page version if you wish): That Wallace, whatever the historical facts were, is the kind of story that changes towards who the audience needs him to be. Anonymous Jacobite authors made him more violent and manly; Jane Porter made him into the doomed  romantic hero for her assimilated audience; Mel Gibson made him a proto-American. But nevertheless, I can never again watch the movie with people, because of the yelling at the teevee.

-Managed to catch End of Time, Part One in a free moment over the weekend. So, so many silly things in there. Bouncy Master, 6 billion Masters; way too creepy incestuous Idiots of the Week. But I think I kind of loved it any way. When he wasn't bouncy, Simm was raving and pathetic and pretty awesome. And oh, Ten. I wanted to give him a Gibbs-smack upside the head at points near the beginning, but he broke my heart in the cafe. "I thought it was better, but...some things went wrong." Epic being, epic nature, all expressed in a simple statement that is very, essentially, human. And: WILF. WILF AND DONNA. Donna and Wilf. I will do very nasty things to RTD  if harm comes to either of them in Part Two. Although if they find a way for Donna to remember without dying, and for her *and* Wilf to be at Ten's side when he regenerates (because it's pretty obvious Wilf's going to be there), I would dance with joy.


Hmmmm. Probably should go do something useful now? ....Nah. VACATION TIEM.

 

Comments

[katewallace.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you had a good Yule. I love Scrabble, but I usually end up getting my hind-end kicked.

Went to see "Avatar" with the Mr. and the daughter and SIL. They saw it while they were visiting his parents but wanted to go again. I was worried I might not really enjoy it because of the really cheesy tie-in they had in one of the recent "Bones" eps..an idiotic sub-plot about standing in line for tickets for the movie. *duh*

But I worried for nothing..I loved it. Yes, it was predictable but I liked it anyway. The ladies kicked ass! And it was just so beautiful and the animals looked way better than the Mickey D's toys, especially the 'horses'. The linguistic-minded SIL said there was a translation error late in the movie..whatever the character was saying, didn't match the sub-titles. I'd go see it again, just because it was so pretty..and to see the last part where everything comes together just when you thought it was going to fall apart. (Even though you were pretty sure it would be okay, cause this is a movie and not Real Life.)

Hope you have a wonderful New Year!

[bibliothekara.livejournal.com]

Hee. I've been reading this book about English and its grammar (McWhorter's Magnificent Bastard Tongue), and the Neta'an (?) popped out at me too. Except that it was just that the word for "moron" made me realize that it was a "verb-first" syntax, unlike English. But it was pretty cool anyway.

And though it was mostly the shiny and the cast that made me enjoy it, I might go see the sequels. Might.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!