next

So often, it seems, we keep looking for what we think we want instead of being grateful for the things we have.
This morning, I wanted to watch a movie as i ate breakfast.
Not just any movie - oh, no.
I wanted to watch "Groundhog Day".
Surely it would be in the listings, right? February 2nd had been on Friday, so it would make sense that it should be available as one of he 'free' On Demand movies... right?
I scrolled and scrolled and scrolled, to no avail.
Plenty of Christmas movies were available... but no "Groundhog Day".
How about a New Year's Eve flick or a Halloween-themed offering?
No, and no. Only "Groundhog Day" would do.
Oh, look! A concert film about Tom Petty! And there's one on the Foo Fighters!
Perhaps another time, okay?
No. I only want to watch "Groundhog Day".
It wasn't there; I'd wasted more than thirty minutes looking in vain.
Sigh.
I settled for "Mission Blue", the ocean-centered documentary featuring Sylvia Earle. Sure, I had already seen it, at the 2015 Gray's Reef Ocean Film Festival, but I had decided it would do nicely, as this year's GROFF begins on Friday.

Fast forward to tonight.
When I had finally thrown myself out of the warm Science Center and toward home, all I knew was I would have pizza for dinner.
A quick perusal of the offerings on the telly revealed naught of interest.
I flipped over to the On Demand movies... and decided to go with the Nicholas Cage thriller I'd spotted earlier today, right near the top of the list.
I am so glad I did!
"Next" features him in Las Vegas as a magician... only he's really a psychic.
A two-minute psychic, like in that car-financing commercial.
Here's the hitch: it only works for forecasting events which will directly effect him.
But the FBI doesn't know that little caveat. They want him to help them find the terrorists with a nuclear bomb before the blasted thing goes off.
(Get it? An inside joke, from me, to you - you're welcome!)
To complicate matters, the terrorists have noticed that the FBI wants him and decide they do, too, lest he prove able to foil their plans.
Enter Liz Cooper. The psychic doesn't know who she is, only that he will meet her one night, at 8:09 PM, in a diner while he is sipping a martini. Since he doesn't know which day, only the time and the place, he has to patiently keep showing up there until she does, too.
And, one evening, she finally does.
I was then treated to him playing out several scenarios for meeting her, each failing within the 2-minute window he could foresee, and I thought to myself...
i thank You, God.
I had wanted "Groundhog Day" and instead received something similar, but different.
I should have clicked on it earlier... but I was given a second chance.
Life is good, as Bruce Nolan would say.
(smile)