Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Close Encounters of the Sci-Fi Kind

Started another sunny, cold morning with more Three Stooges animated shorts. I really feel sorry for the trio in these. Most of the time, as in "Deadbeat Street," where they have to get money from an old lady who won't pay, they're chased out of town for just doing their jobs. "Le Stooginaires" has them driven from the French fort they're supposed to guard by desert chieftain El Zadre the Raider...or is that really him who doesn't want the guys there?

It snowed again last night. We only got about an inch, but it was more than the dusting expected. Once again, it was dry and light. I easily swept it off my steps and the area of my porch I'd cleared yesterday. My ride didn't go as well - the snow covered the remaining ice and snow on the street, meaning I had to be extra careful going to work.

Work was, surprisingly, dead for most of the morning. Some people may have been scared off by the snow or cold temperatures. Others might be waiting for the weekend and the beginning of the month. Under any circumstances, I was in and out with no major problems; once again, a manager came in for me.

(A lot of customers mentioned having seen the havoc wrecked by the snow in the Southeast on TV, including Atlanta, Georgia, where my friends Linda and James Young live, and South Carolina, home of my brother Keefe and his girlfriend Vicki. There were kids stranded at school overnight because the buses and cars couldn't get through the snow to pick them up! Linda, James, Keefe, Vicki, and everyone else who lives in the south, please stay safe and be careful!)

I spent the rest of the evening at home, doing my taxes. This is a very simple process for me that takes less than an hour. I own no property, live in a rented apartment, have no dependents, and work one job. I didn't even need to add the extra numbers that I did last year because of the temporary disability money when I hurt my ankle and was off of work.

I spent another hour looking over eBay and American Girl's website. I'm thinking of buying my first - and last - doll straight from the site new. All of my other dolls are used. I thought I'd round out my group to six. That's enough for anyone. I don't have the room or the money for the enormous doll collections some of the women at the American Girls Playthings message board have! I'd rather spoil my six dolls with pretty clothes than buy more of them.

Right now, I'm looking at either the "Girl of the Year" Isabelle or one of the modern dolls, probably either this blond cutie or this curly-locked darling. I want a doll who can have a character I develop, rather than American Girl, and who can get away with wearing most of the historical doll clothing I have under the excuse of it being "vintage." Isabelle has an interesting story - she's a ballerina, and her hobby is scouring vintage clothes shop for outfits to make into her own dance costumes. This could give her an excuse to wear the historical clothes under the guise of them being her finds. However, Izzy is also expensive (more than usual for AG), due to her hair extensions, and when you come down to it, not that creative of a doll. (She looks like several other modern dolls, including 2012 Girl of the Year McKenna.) I have no blond AG, African-American AGs, or AGs with curls.

When I finished online, I made flounder in red wine vinegar sauce with mushrooms and a green salad with cherry tomatoes for dinner while watching Super 8. A group of middle-school kids who live in a small town in Ohio in 1979 go out to their local train depot to film a zombie horror movie they hope to send to a contest. While shooting, they inadvertantly witness and film a truck crashing into a train and the spectacular ensuing train wreck. It turns out that the train was a military vehicle that was transporting something..something that seems to be after all of the metal in the town. While the frightened citizens go to their local deputy - and the dad of one of the kids - for help, the kids try to figure out just what they saw and what the military is after.

Directed by J.J Abrams (who helmed the recent Star Trek reboots) and produced by Steven Spielburg, this is an intense but loving homage to all of the movies directed by Spielburg and his contemporaries in the late 70s and 80s that depicted kids getting into wild adventures or strange encounters of the alien kind. The violence and blood (both fake and more realistic) and some swearing makes this inappropriate for younger kids, but for older kids, teens, and adults, this is surprisingly touching ride through the tail end of a more innocent time.

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