Mostly film day
Today I went to see Avatar, which I definitely enjoyed. I gather there are aspects that some folks find problematic. *shrugs* It's fiction. Personally I liked the fact that it was made clear that coming in and trying to take other thinking beings' stuff (i.e. colonialism) is morally unacceptable; I was happy that with a few exceptions (those who had shown respect for the Na'vi), the earth people got either killed or deported by the end. Also liked having several very different kinds of strong women (of both species). The spiritual stuff, predictably, left me cold, but I could take it because it was shown as having a biological/scientific basis. There were some things that made me go bzuh?, and I can't see it being my fave movie ever or anything like that, but I liked it quite a bit. I don't tend to want to analyze films (or books) very much; there's a reason I didn't ever study literature in a serious way, so if I like something, that's good enough for me.
Also watched parts of two other, very different films; finished Dreamgirls which I'd been about half-through (and had only seen once before IIRC). And SO and I watched the first half of Babette's Feast during dinner, which is one of my all-time favorites, in fact.
Made lasagne for dinner; froze part, and we have plenty for 2 more dinners of that and 2 more dinners of potstickers, which will get us through Wednesday and SO goes off to a meeting Thursday, so probably no more cooking this week except a few veggies till he's gone (when I plan to make toad in the hole, just for me).
Tomorrow, some grocery shopping (not much, but need things like milk and lunchmeat and juice). Should also start working on work/teaching stuff again. And I'll probably talk with my maternal unit since we usually do on Sundays.
I did actually mention that SO and I went to see Invictus, of which I only knew that it was about Nelson Mandela somehow. I hadn't realized the focus was actually rugby, and that it was one of those inspiring sport films, but it was better than most such IMO. Plus both Freeman and Damon were excellent - I was especially impressed by Damon's job with the accent. All the actors were very good in fact; I liked the character of Brenda (Mandela's assistant) a lot, she was never afraid to say what she thought.
Sherlock Holmes I also enjoyed, as previously mentioned; not having any familiarity with the source material might have helped there (since I gather a lot of Holmes fans have issues with this portrayal), but again, having a strong female character (Irene) was a plus for me (and even Mary was no pushover). The total slashiness between Holmes and Watson was fabulous. *g* I got sufficiently sucked into the world as to forget what actors were playing the parts, which to me is a mark of success. Plus, I have a weakness for Victorian London, though I've never formally studied it.
There are still several films in the theaters here that I'd like to see... might be possible. We'll see.
The New Year's Eve show by the Flaming Lips was good. Having ever heard only a couple of their songs was a drawback, but being in the nosebleed seats was a plus as it was only moderately too loud. I wore a U of MN sweatshirt (avoided wearing a coat b/c I didn't want to have to deal w/ it), and as we waited in line for entry, it turned out that the couple behind us were actually from Minnesota and had come down specifically for the show (standby - one of them had some airline connection so could fly v. cheap). A good time, and at $20 each, not even too expensive.
On the negative side lately, I managed to catch my right index finger somehow in the car door lever in SO's car and cut it rather badly - naturally doing so right before I was going to make the potstickers. *eyeroll* I swear, I really am three sometimes when it comes to injuring myself.
But on the positive, I took down the holiday decorations today - de-ornamented the tree, etc. and packed everything up. Called on SO to help get the tree out of the stand and haul it outside, and then he insisted on sweeping up the needles, but otherwise I did the rest. Which was fine; I really wanted it done today. Three weeks is plenty long enough. All that's left is the outside lights on the two bushes by our front steps. SO put those up and I think I'll let him decide when to get them down.
Also watched parts of two other, very different films; finished Dreamgirls which I'd been about half-through (and had only seen once before IIRC). And SO and I watched the first half of Babette's Feast during dinner, which is one of my all-time favorites, in fact.
Made lasagne for dinner; froze part, and we have plenty for 2 more dinners of that and 2 more dinners of potstickers, which will get us through Wednesday and SO goes off to a meeting Thursday, so probably no more cooking this week except a few veggies till he's gone (when I plan to make toad in the hole, just for me).
Tomorrow, some grocery shopping (not much, but need things like milk and lunchmeat and juice). Should also start working on work/teaching stuff again. And I'll probably talk with my maternal unit since we usually do on Sundays.
I did actually mention that SO and I went to see Invictus, of which I only knew that it was about Nelson Mandela somehow. I hadn't realized the focus was actually rugby, and that it was one of those inspiring sport films, but it was better than most such IMO. Plus both Freeman and Damon were excellent - I was especially impressed by Damon's job with the accent. All the actors were very good in fact; I liked the character of Brenda (Mandela's assistant) a lot, she was never afraid to say what she thought.
Sherlock Holmes I also enjoyed, as previously mentioned; not having any familiarity with the source material might have helped there (since I gather a lot of Holmes fans have issues with this portrayal), but again, having a strong female character (Irene) was a plus for me (and even Mary was no pushover). The total slashiness between Holmes and Watson was fabulous. *g* I got sufficiently sucked into the world as to forget what actors were playing the parts, which to me is a mark of success. Plus, I have a weakness for Victorian London, though I've never formally studied it.
There are still several films in the theaters here that I'd like to see... might be possible. We'll see.
The New Year's Eve show by the Flaming Lips was good. Having ever heard only a couple of their songs was a drawback, but being in the nosebleed seats was a plus as it was only moderately too loud. I wore a U of MN sweatshirt (avoided wearing a coat b/c I didn't want to have to deal w/ it), and as we waited in line for entry, it turned out that the couple behind us were actually from Minnesota and had come down specifically for the show (standby - one of them had some airline connection so could fly v. cheap). A good time, and at $20 each, not even too expensive.
On the negative side lately, I managed to catch my right index finger somehow in the car door lever in SO's car and cut it rather badly - naturally doing so right before I was going to make the potstickers. *eyeroll* I swear, I really am three sometimes when it comes to injuring myself.
But on the positive, I took down the holiday decorations today - de-ornamented the tree, etc. and packed everything up. Called on SO to help get the tree out of the stand and haul it outside, and then he insisted on sweeping up the needles, but otherwise I did the rest. Which was fine; I really wanted it done today. Three weeks is plenty long enough. All that's left is the outside lights on the two bushes by our front steps. SO put those up and I think I'll let him decide when to get them down.