Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Tooth and Consequences

Began a cloudy morning with some needed comedy. Minako "Sailor Venus" Aino has taken up with two different guys in the fourth season episode "Storm of Love: Minako's Grand Two-Timing Plan." It may be a "storm of love," but it's also hard work to keep up with the deception when she accidentally schedules both of them for a date at the same time. Even when she finally comes clean, it turns out it was all a Dead Moon Circus plot...and they're both after her dream mirror.

Headed out to the dentist office in Westmont around 8:20. Got there with enough time to update my paperwork for them before I was called in. It only took one x-ray to reveal the cause of my toothache. The wisdom tooth on the bottom left jaw never grew in properly and had impacted on the others. Yes, they had to remove it. No, it wasn't fun. I also need three more extractions (two broken teeth and a broken wisdom tooth), major cleaning, and despite my brushing and flossing and using mouthwash and doing everything I can to stem the tide, my gum disease has gotten worse. And while the extractions (including today's) and cleaning should be covered by my insurance, seeing a gum doctor about my condition is not. It's just as well that he was so booked, I can't get in until June 11th. I'll actually have the money saved by then.

It's just as well that I didn't have too many other plans for today. My mouth was still numb and filled with cotton when I went over to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session there. I normally do it in the afternoon, but since the dentist's office is right across from the library and I had no other morning plans, I figured I might as well get it done. Besides, you don't need to do much talking in a library. I shelved and organized DVDs and tried not to talk much.

I did take a few movies out this time. The live-action Speed Racer came out about a decade ago. It was a flop then, but it's become something of a cult favorite in recent years. I thought it sounded like fun. After having enjoyed the last two historical epics from the 1960's I took out of the library, I thought I'd give A Man for All Seasons a try. I heard good things about Logan Lucky, a comedy about a family pulling a big heist, last year and have been wanting to check it out for a while.

Though my tooth was still numb when I left around 11:30, it wasn't going to stay that way forever. I dodged early lunch traffic and headed over to the Audubon Acme to pick up my prescription for antibiotics to help my sore tooth. Since I was there, I picked up a birthday card for Rose (she's April 7th), a combination Easter/birthday card for Mom (hers was March 20th), and yellow cake mix (which I forgot on Friday).

As soon as I got home, I took the antibiotics, then had lunch. (At least as much as I could, given I can't eat solid foods today.) Ran Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies while I got organized. The Easter Bunny is sick and can't deliver eggs, so he calls Granny to help him find a replacement. Her first choice is understandably Bugs, but he's swamped with work. They try to find a suitable Easter Bunny among the Toons regulars, including Daffy, Foghorn Legohorn, Pepe LePew, and Sylvester. Truth be told, this is really more of an excuse to highlight some of the best shorts Termite Terrace ever made; the special includes bits of "The Rabbit of Seville," "Hillbilly Hare," "Sahara Hare," "Robin Hood Daffy," "Bully for Bugs," and three Oscar winners, "Birds Anonymous," "For Scent-imental Reasons," and "Knighty-Knight Bugs," among others.

Went out for a walk after lunch, around 1:30. It may have been cloudy and blah, but I really needed to get out (and send out Mom's card). It's still a little chilly, though not quite as bad as it has been. It's still mostly a cold wind. That snow did more good for the plants than you might think. Brilliant yellow daffodils and velvety purple crocus have finally blossomed in every garden, bringing color to the drab straw yellow and faded browns. Some folks have Easter decorations, pastel eggs and bunnies lined up on their lawns. Most have settled for flower-strewn wreaths and banners.

Went right on the computer when I got in. Han, Leia, and Jyn are able to get rid of the bounty hunters, but they're surrounded by soldiers. Palpatine, the chancellor and an evil sorcerer, also appears, having flown there in the form of a crow. He throws out lightning at Leia, then binds Han with his magic and tries to bury his slowly re-emerging memories.

Jyn manages to help Leia to her feet, but the soldiers are advancing on them. Good thing they get help from Jyn's fiancee Cassian and his friend, the tall, black-clad scholar Kayton Twomby, as well as former soldier Bodhi Rook.

Broke for dinner at 5. Ran the short movie Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose while I ate tomato soup and an Italian cheese wrap for dinner and had chocolate pudding for dessert. Usagi, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa, and the girls have an unpleasant encounter with a young man who claims to be a former friend of Mamoru's. Fiore is actually an alien who befriended Mamoru when he was orphaned as a child...but now, his mind has been taken over by an evil flower who wants to drain all the energy from the Earth. When he kidnaps Mamoru, the girls follow him to an asteroid covered in energy draining flowers...seeds that are ready to cover the Earth!

Played video games for a couple of hours after dinner. Started off with Wii Sports. I didn't do boxing today, since I got a walk in earlier. A vigorous game of tennis and some target practice on golf, along with another Wii Fitness examination, were almost as good.

Moved on to Lego Star Wars after a 40-minute workout. Was able to get the last pieces on "Secret Plans" and "Bounty Hunter Pursuit" and True Jedi on the latter and "Ruin of the Jedi." Found the red brick and the remaining pieces in "Death Star Attack." Didn't have as much luck with "Invasion of Kashyyak" ; I still haven't figured out how to get the last piece there.

Finished the night with The Shape of Water. It's 1962, and mute cleaning woman Elisa (Sally Hawkins) works day and night helping fellow cleaner Zelda (Octavia Spencer) scrub the halls of a top secret laboratory in Maryland. The government's latest discovery is more than a little fantastic - a fish-man who was found in South America and was considered a god by the locals (Doug Jones). Nasty Colonel Strickland (Michael Shannon) is supposed to be studying it, but he's really more abusing it. He plans on cutting the creature open to learn more about it. Ignoring his commands, Sally makes friends with it. When their relationship evolves into something deeper, her friend and neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins) helps her and Zelda break it out and bring it to her home. She wants to release it into their local canal. A Russian spy posing as a doctor (Michael Stuhalberg) wants to kill it to keep the Americans from getting it. Strickland just wants to know which strike team stole the damn thing. There's a lot more to this little fish-man than meets the eye, as Giles discovers. Will Sally be able to help him, or will Strickland get there first?

This unique "Beauty and the Beast" story was one of the most romantic movies I have ever seen. The relationship between Sally and the fish-man despite all the ugliness around them is truly touching. Hawkins and Jones stood out as the improbable lovers; Jenkins and Shannon were also excellent as the kindly neighbor who faces another type of prejudice and the mean bully of a military man who thinks anyone in the world who doesn't walk, talk, and think like him isn't worth bothering with. The special effects, especially on the fish-man, were incredible, too. And the lovely score by Alexandre Desplat won the movie one of its four Oscars. (The others were for Best Picture, Best Director for Gulliermo Del Toro, and Best Production Design.)

If you're interested in unusual romances or modern fairy tales, this strange but sweet tale of two of the oddest lovers to ever grace the silver screen is a must-see.

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