Year: 2004

I went duck hunting on…

Adventures

I went duck hunting on Saturday. Between the 7 of us we got 15-20. It was a lot of fun and I like duck hunting because you get to talk and be with the other guys. I stir-fried some duck yesterday and it turned out okay. To wit, I liked it but more experience will produce a better dish.

G had been really close…

Family

G had been really close to reading for some time but we hadn’t gotten him the very beginning level book he needed to get started so he kept saying, “I don’t know how to read!” Finally, we found a set that B had given us. I showed it to him and got him started. Well, I couldn’t stop him. Normally, he’s asleep by 8:30 but that night he lay in his bed and read until 10:30 pm. How wonderful is that?

Stopped out at my mom…

Adventures, Observations

Stopped out at my mom and dad’s house last night and dusted a few clay birds. I always forget how much fun it is to shoot until I’m doing it. Moreover, I got to shoot L’s Beretta, which only added to the pleasure.

New thought: Shooting is more fun than a lot of other things people do: more relaxing than golf, more satisfying than basketball. Note to self, “Shoot guns more often.”

Gattaca

Opuses

Okay, so I finally got around to watching Gattaca. I’ve heard only that it was a good film but nothing else for some time now. Last time L visited, he told me what the story was about and that I should see it. C was pretty tired on Thursday and I wasn’t. So after she went to bed, I ran down to the local Blockbuster video and rented Gattaca.

I’m not a movie critic but to my tastes, it was more than just a good film. It had a solid moral premise that made the story twice as strong. The writer used the power of suggestion to let the viewer process the issues he raised while immersing himself in, experiencing, feeling the story along with the characters.

I really enjoyed the score of this movie. Standing out was the “concerto for twelve fingers”. 🙂 Since the message of the story is so timely, I positively recommend this movie for viewing.

I have so little time…

Adventures

I have so little time to write but a couple of things to mention:

The Jimmy Eat World concert was pretty good. I’d give it 4 stars out of 5. It was really an amazing evening to go to a concert. The fog was coming in off of Lake Michigan and there’s a magical, a mysterious, a dreamlike quality about fog. I’d never seen fireworks in the fog before so that was intriguing too. As the concert progressed, the band played their hearts out. They played well together and played and sang almost all of the parts that you would find on their albums. Even one particularly satisfying piano part was translated to guitar. However, because of the mix that was given to the audience, we weren’t able to hear all of those parts as well as I would have liked and the contrasts between peaceful passion and frenzied fervor that work so well for Jimmy Eat World weren’t as contrasting as I would have liked. That’s my take on it.

I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to vote for Bob Welch in the Republican primary for US Senate. He’s outspoken about what matters and he’s not afraid to be specific about what he believes. On the other hand you have Michels and Darrow who have so far stuck to their plausible generalities — Darrow more so than Michels. In the end I will support the Republican candidate because Feingold has got to go.

The Village

Opuses

I’d been trying extra hard for two weeks and yesterday I finally got to see “The Village”. By the looks of things it was just in the nick of time. It’s already done playing at the local cinema and the theatre we went to was pretty empty. Of course that was a Sunday matinee.

* s p o i l e r a l e r t *

The nub of the story was good. I did figure part of it ahead of time but I’m having trouble saying what is the really interesting bit. I keep coming back to the conclusion, when the elders decided to continue the farce. If they decided to carry on with the settlement but end the farce, I would have almost agreed with their actions. Howsoever all events seemed to point toward a lesson that they should be learning, they forgot to learn it. I’ll have to process a bit more and maybe watch it one more time.

Once again M. Night Shamaylan has created a wonderfully riveting story, a full-flavoured picture of a time and a place, a thing that makes you go, “Hmm…” Oh yes, and the score was exquisite.