Vacation, Day One Begins

It's not yet 8:00am, and My Dearest O and I have already polished off the first pot of coffee. Ah, life is good...

I was out in the garden before breakfast. Here's what I picked:

Summer of Spuds

First, the torrential rains we had a few weeks ago battered the poor potato plants. Then, just as they were starting to look as if they might recover, someone (yes, B) forgot to turn off the soaker hose, watering them for about 8 hours yesterday while we partied with our favorite aunt and uncle. Yikes!

Disappointment

I spent the entire morning weeding the sweet potato bed, only to find in the afternoon's mail my returned check and a letter from the sweet potato company saying they couldn't fill my order... (Although earlier in the season they said they could.)

Bummer.

June

30 days
Not one post
Now it's gone

It's Here! It's Here!

My four-day Annual Birthday and Gardening Extravaganza Weekend (Day One). Yippee!

What to do? What to do?

1. Sit around in pajamas. Check.
2. Drink a lot of coffee. Check.
3. Plant corn (22 seeds; 1st crop). Check.
4. Plant drying beans. Check.
5. Nap.
6. Tango lesson with sweetie. Check.

So...

Maybe I will post some photos of the garden later today.

Maybe.

Luck of the (People Who Have Ancestors Who Were) Irish

'Twas a good day today.

My Dearest O and I got in line at Star Liquor* just in time to ensure we'd get a pair (and an extra pair for Auntie Susan and Uncle Jim, if they want them) of tickets to this year's Great Taste of the Midwest beer festival. There's not a better way to spend a hot August afternoon, with or without beer.

But wait! There's more. I won the Star Liquor* and Futhermore Beer** raffle for a 1/6 barrel*** of our choice of delicious, refreshing Furthermore beer**. What shall I choose? Proper? Knot Stock? Oscura?

*We LOVE you, Star Liquor!

**We LOVE you too, Furthermore Beer!

***Approximately 65 12-oz servings, according to Adam, Star's* wine and beer guru extraordinaire.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

Sure wish I could check my brain at the door when I leave work for the weekend. Even on Saturday, I think too much.

Enough!

Since you can't garden, here's a good way to start a rainy Saturday: Plaka's* sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich and a big spicy Bloody Mary. Yum!

More later. Maybe I'll even finish my WiFF reviews.

Cheers-
b

*I still miss Cleveland's Diner

Films #5, #6, #7, and #8: Friday Four for Four? (Continued)

After Last Train Home, Friday's second documentary, Human Terrain, was a bit of a disappointment. The end result of trying to blend (at least) three subjects into one was disjointed. I would have appreciated a film that more fully investigated the military's Human Terrain System*, wherein soldiers are trained to understand the language and culture of Iraq's and Afghanistan's citizens. (You decide whether the goal is to reduce casualties and "win hearts and minds," or to gather intelligence. Or both.) I also would've appreciated a film that more fully investigated the controversial role of anthropologists and other social scientists in the program. However, the film veered off to focus on a particular scholar-humanitarian embedded with U.S forces, Michael Bhatia, and the allotted 75 minutes didn't do justice to the subject matter or to the memory of Bhatia.

I was expecting a much better film than Human Terrain. It could've easily been a four-star movie; I was being generous to give it three stars.

Suffering from a severe case of self-pity after having been dumped by his girlfriend, the title character in Harmony and Me just sorta floats along from one daily situation (work, piano lessons, a wedding, a funeral, etc.) to another. Mostly, these situations, and the film itself, serve as a vehicle to highlight the quirky characters, including Harmony's obligatory dysfunctional family. It worked for me. Four stars.

Our first from the "Wisconsin's Own" series, Feed the Fish, followed a best-selling children's author in a writing slump and his best friend from sunny California to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the annual Polar Bear Plunge. We encounter yet more quirky characters--who seemed like real Wisconsinites to me ;)--in this heartwarming fish-out-of-water, buddy/male-bonding, and romantic comedy combination. I left the theater with a smile. Four stars.

*Especially if the film had spent more time talking with and filming the troops, rather than the military mucky-mucks touting the program.

Friday's Film Ratings (outta 5):
Last Train Home ****
Human Terrain ***
Harmony and Me ****
Feed the Fish ****

Films #5, #6, #7, and #8: Friday Four for Four?

I wasn't sure we'd be able make it, but four movies in one day wasn't hard at all. Filmwise, it was a great day, with three out of the four films earning a solid 4 stars from me.

Adults: Is life hard? Does your job suck? Do your kids not understand you? Are they ungrateful?
Young people: Is life hard? Does school suck? Do your parents not understand you? Are they unloving and distant?

For a little perspective, anyone who answers "yes" to any of those questions should see Last Train Home, a documentary focusing on one family during the annual exodus of most of China's 130 million migrant workers back to their home villages and farms. I don't have words to describe the working and living conditions of Mom and Dad, who toil in a city factory night and day to make oversized clothing for export.

Train starts with a most effective opening scene, in which thousands of migrant workers mob a train station in the rain. Shot from above, the scene is dark and gloomy; everything is in somber shades of black and gray, except for a smattering of umbrellas in vibrant Crayola colors. Lucky migrant workers wait days for a train home. Unlucky workers wait a week. Even unluckier ones try for weeks to get tickets and never make it home. Desperate to get home, the workers push, yell, cry, faint, and swear, while the police, also shoulder to shoulder, try to keep order.

When the parents finally make it home after days of train, bus, boat ferry, and foot travel, it's no surprise that they're strangers to their kids, and interactions with them are strained. After all, they left their infant children to be raised by Grandma and Grandpa, and they only make if home once a year. (Again, if they're lucky.)

I could go on, but I'm not going to. I'm tired and still have a lot more movies to think about and watch. Train is a thoughtful, powerful documentary. See it.

Friday's Film Ratings (outta 5):
Last Train Home ****
Human Terrain ***
Harmony and Me ****
Feed the Fish ****

Films #3 and #4: Mixed Bag, Part II

With The Host, we hit the first sour note of the festival. According to the festival film guide, this monster movie "juggles sci-fi thrills, slapstick comedy, and subtle political critiques." Although there are hints of all those elements, the film doesn't really deliver on them.

It wasn't really bad--by which I mean we didn’t walk out of it (last year’s RR) or wish we had (Idiots and Angels). Mostly, I was let down because of my own expectations. I was expecting a funny monster movie--one along the lines of Tremors, perhaps--and while there were some funny moments, especially at the beginning, the movie got dark early and stayed dark. As for the "political critique," the U.S. government poisoning the world and butting into another country's business has been done better, as has government-created public hysteria and paranoia.

The film works best as a sci-fi monster flick. Resembling a giant catfish with legs and a long whip-like tail, the monster's quick, acrobatic, and quite frightening. It runs, dives, swims, and swings from bridges. The opening crowd chase scene, during which the monster snatches a middle-school girl with his tail and dives into the Han River with her, is one of the best I've ever seen. After this event, the authorities evacuate the area, and the girl's squabbling, dysfunctional family--father, grandpa, aunt, and uncles--who believes she's still alive, breaks into the quarantined area in search of her.

The Host worked for me up to a point. As a comedy, briefly. As a monster flick, a little longer. I'm not sure where or how it lost me.

SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER-SPOILER

Maybe it was when the grandfather died. Maybe it was because it went on too long. For sure, it lost me when the brave little girl was killed. Bad idea. You just can't kill a child in a movie, especially toward the end when we're sure she's gonna make it, and expect not to lose a star.

END SPOILER

Could've been a solid "3" for a monster flick, but it lost 1/2 a star. And you know why.

Thursday's Film Ratings (outta 5):
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls ****
The Host **1/2

I've Declared a Winner

We just got out of A Matter of Size. There's no way we'll see a better film before the end of the festival.

Neglectful Parenting

Uh oh. Somebody was too busy traipsing around town at the hoity-toity film festival to keep an eye on her seedlings downstairs, and it appears they might have died from dehydration.

Films #3 and #4: Mixed Bag, Part I

For the second--but "opening" night--of the WI Film Festival, we teamed up with Auntie Susan and Uncle Jim to dine, drink, talk, and watch two very different movies, a New Zealand documentary and a South Korean horror film.

The official kickoff to the festival, The Top Twins: Untouchable Girls, is funny, sweet, and inspiring... I could throw in a lot of other adjectives, but I'll spare you. I'm still trying to figure out how to describe the film, and why I liked it so much*.

Linda and Jools have spent (literally, Dave) their whole lives living, working, and playing together, and they have a special relationship that most of us can only dream of. Although their bond is so strong, it's not to the exclusion of others--they also form close relationships with lovers, family members, and friends. The twins' lives would seem to be hectic and disjointed--they're singers, farmers, comedians, and activists--but they have found a rare, calm balance to life. Watching them--and the people who know them--love, peace, joy, and good humor radiates from the screen.

Susan's reaction to the movie was "I want a twin, a twin just like one of them." I can't imagine anyone walking out of the theater who didn't feel the same way. I was charmed. I fell in love with the twins. You will too.

Today's films: Last Train Home, Human Terrain, Harmony and Me, and Feed the Fish.

Thursday's Film Ratings (outta 5):
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls ****
The Host **1/2

*The only bad thing I have to say about the film--and I'm reluctant to do so--is that I missed quite a bit of the dialogue (and song lyrics) because of the New Zealand accents. The fault is mine, not the film's or the twins'. I could've used subtitles.

Films #1 and #2: Rire

Last night kicked off the four day 2010 Wisconsin Film Festival, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday. If you can count, you'll note that's five days, not four. The festival has been so popular that the organizers decided to screen more movies, so although tonight is the official opening night, last night was added as a "bonus" night. And are My Dearest O and I ever lucky it was.

Rire means "to laugh" in French, and laugh we did. (In English, not French.) After dinner at Coopers Tavern with my co-worker, Carolyn, we all headed over to the Orpheum main theater for a double-feature, Fathers and Guns (De pere en flic) and OSS 117: Lost In Rio (OSS 117: Rio Ne Répond Plus), two ridiculously funny French language films. If you think the words "ridiculously," "funny," "French language" and "film" don't belong in the same sentence, you're dead wrong.

The first film, Fathers, is a Canadian buddy cop movie, the buddy cops being father & son. Dad Cop is an impulsive, overbearing instant-hero-in-any-situation, whereas Son Copy is the thoughtful touchy-feely nerd who chokes when it's most important. In the pursuit of the bad guys, they go undercover, infiltrating a father/son reconnection therapy group in the great outdoors. There were a lot of ridiculous goings-on with the fathers and sons, and I don't think there was a scene in the whole movie that fell flat. Dad Cop and Son Cop are both complete smart-asses, with funny, witty dialogue, which made the movie for me. Check this one out.

The second film, OSS 117, kept us laughing way past our bedtime. If you've seen the first OSS film, Cairo, Nest of Spies*, you'll know what to expect. (If you haven't, go rent it. Now! You might even be able to get it free at the library.) In this spoof of 60's spy movies, the hero, Hubert de la Bath, bears a great resemblance to a vain, clumsy Sean Connery Bond**. There's one gag after another, each funnier than the one before. OOS achieves what I suppose "Austin Powers" was trying to achieve. The audience laughed, laughed, laughed. Who knew the French could be so funny?

Tonight's films: The opening night special presentation, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, a documentary about the New Zealand yodeling lesbian twin comedy duo, and The Host, a South Korean Toxic-Chemical-Created-Monster-a la-Godzilla movie from the festival's featured director, Bong Joon-ho.

Cheers,
-b

*I don't remember Cairo being anywhere near this funny.

*Beware, you sensitive folks who might be offended by some of the terribly inappropriate politically incorrect humour, which serves to highlight what a self-centered jerk de la Bath is.

Wednesday's film ratings (outta 5):

Fathers and Sons ****
OSS 117: Lost in Rio ***1/2