summer kids film festival: wrap up

The Summer Kids Film Festival began for me on June 12.

That's when I watched "Despicable Me" and "Shark Tale", starting things off with a double header, courtesy of Peacock.

I'd planned to see that first one with my first niece and her two little blondes, plus Michael's twins, but they weren't done with school after all.

That's okay, as it allowed me to watch, for free, at home, the first offering of the NCG Summer Camp 2024 (NCGSC) and the second film of the Tybee Post Theater's Summer Of Sea Adventures (SOSA).

Thus, I have two done, out of 24 possible from the Chatham County cinemas offering Summer Kids movies.

(I'm including the AMC Summer Movie Camp [AMCSMC] listings, even though none of them will be screening in Savannah this year.)

That's a good start!

(smile!)

The next week I again watched the movies at home, as Peacock gave me NCGSC's "Shrek 2" and Comcast rewarded me a while back with SOSA's "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water", so I again saved the $12 I'd have paid for both tickets.

The third week saw me seeing double on the two films!

 

I actually went to the NCG cinema twice to see "How To Train Your Dragon" - I do so love that Viking movie!!! - and then I watched SOSA's "Surf's Up" twice (courtesy of a Comcast $1 Movie Night reward) because that surfing teen penguin was just too cool!!!

Seriously, I highly recommend it!

I even told my HVJ friend Robb Worthington about it, on fb, as he is constantly posting about his wave-riding jaunts over in England.

(smile!)

I finished out June with the NCGSC blast from the past: "The Land Before Time".

I'm so glad Christina and her girls came to town for that, too!

Total SKFF flicks for June were 7 out of 24.

Onward!

I stepped up my game for July, thanks to Peacock having many of those listed in the AMCSMC, which allowed me to watch 5 of their 8 selections.

Those were: "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" as part of the 4th of July weekend; "Despicable Me 2" and "Despicable Me 3" back to back for a needed distraction; with "Migration" and "The Secret Life Of Pets" bookending that double header.

That was good, as the only other one from the AMC list was "Sing 2", which was seen with the first niece and the two blondes on our Kissimmee vacation.

What about the other two cinemas' flicks?

I finished up the four on the NCGSC in July as well, seeing three of them "live" at the cinema, though solo: "Trolls Band Together" (seen last fall as well), "Abominable" (not seen since five years ago), and "Kung Fu Panda" (which always, always, makes me smile).

The one missed while we were on our Kissimmee vacation was "Migration", the one about ducks flying south.

I know there must be a joke in there somewhere...

since we had all gone south, too...

but I just can't get the pieces together quickly enough.

Anyway, I watched it upon our return, courtesy of Peacock.

(smile!)

That leaves only the SOSA films, doesn't it, and those were seen from three sources.

"Finding Nemo" was screened at the Lucas, so that's where I went.

"James And The Giant Peach" was seen as a summer camp musical at SavChTh.

 

Then, as the lone SKFF movie seen this month, "Muppet Treasure island" was watched for $1 as a Comcast 'movie night' reward that was about to expire.

For those keeping tally, that was 7 in June, 12 in July, and 1 in August.

That sum makes twenty films in my Summer Kids Film Festival!

There were only four that I missed, but that's okay - there's always next summer!

(smile!)

bday party of 3 amigas!

What was the evening highlight for Barbara, the birthday girl?

 

Was it

A) dinner at a new restaurant?

B) an unexpected dessert?

C) seeing "Mamma Mia!" on the silver screen at the Lucas?

D) dancing to "Waterloo" during the end montage?

E) hanging out with two amigas?

 

Ah, so much of that was on the menu tonight... and this little joke, too!

(smile!)

 

Let's start with dinner, shall we?

That was at Toast! All Day, right there on Broughton Street.

We beat the dinner crowd, so we had Semaj, and most of the restaurant, to ourselves.

Hooray!

I had delicious toasted rye bread - yum!

Boo dined on the Meeting Street meal and Sandy chose the same as she had back in January.

And guess what?

We each ate every bite!!!

That calls for dessert, right?

Most def... and even more so for a birthday celebration!

No cake, but we did have ice cream!

Leopold's had something to tickle the taste buds of each of us.

Sandy had strawberry something, Boo selected the Pistachio and had it in a waffle cone, and me...

I've found a new path to follow there.

Yes, the vegan peanut butter chippy - with its cute name and coconut cream base - gave my mouth such a treat!

Plus, we had a vertical rainbow follow us there!

(smile!)

Then we three bopped over to the Lucas around the corner!

I'd bought the tickets on Sunday, so at least we didn't have to be concerned that the SCAD students would cause a sell-out.

However, we did need to hustle to seats before they snapped up all the good ones.

And lookie where we sat: the third row!!!

And, oh, how hard it was to stay seated for all those songs!!!

"Mamma Mia!" is a true musical, with all the lyrics written decades ago by the Swedish band -

how did ABBA know they could be used to tell a story???

Just marvelous!!!

And let me tell you this:

as soon as the story was done -

and Meryl, Christine, and Julie 

came onscreen with their jumpsuits 

and high-heeled boots, 

doing an encore of "Dancing Queen" -

I jumped up to dance and so did Barbara -

and so did most of the audience!!!

My, oh, my!!! 

And when Meryl asked if we wanted more,

we all shouted 'YES!!!"

and all stayed up dancing, 

throughout the theatre, 

for all of "Waterloo"!!!

Happy birthday, Barbara!

(smile!)

mine! mine! mine! mine!!!

Hahahaha!

I must say, I am so glad I came to the Lucas Theatre today for this screening!

Not only was I in the company of so many children seeing this movie for the first time, but I was there for the loud clapping of gratitude as the movie ended!!!

Such joy!!!

"Finding Nemo" is due to be played at the Tybee SOSAFF, but I was treated to it for half the price and quite possibly twice the fun!

In the lobby, there was a photo booth and, of course, when the young woman there asked if I'd like to hold the clownfish and have my photo taken, I went for it!

I do hope a lot of the -other- children did, too.

How lovely it was to be reminded of this story from 1996, about the little fish with the 'lucky' fin and his father's gallant quest to find him. 

I'd guess that quite a few of the fathers of young ones there could relate, whether they had been old enough to see it when it first came out or not.

My wager would be on the "or not", given the movie is 25 years old.

Can you believe that???

This Pixar film is a quarter of a century old... wow.

One of the film professors at SCAD gave a little talk beforehand, to impress upon us how far ahead this work was at the time, especially the water scenes.

But my favorite pre-movie bit was "Partysaurus Rex", an 8-minute short!!!

Very cool way to spend a very hot afternoon!

what i want versus what i need

Choices.

That's what today was all about.

Choices about doing what I wanted to do as opposed to doing what I needed to do.

Choices about being where I wanted to be or being where I needed to be.

Choices.

 

What I really wanted to do tonight was go to the Lucas Theatre with mi amiga to see one of my favorite movies up on the silver screen in my favorite venue.

Yes, that's John Travolta and Uma Thurman.

The Lucas is having a Soundtrack of Summer movie series and "Pulp Fiction" was this week's jewel.

I had looked forward to seeing it again for at least a month!

Last week, Barbara had pushed for me to go with her, as she has not seen it in a cinema.

However, there was a hiccup.

The Post 36 meeting had been rescheduled to the 27th so the kitchen remodeler could meet with us at Two Firsts Club.

The American Legion meeting is always on the third Thursday of the month, with rare exceptions.

This was one of those occasions.

Now, what to do?

I knew that for Post 36 to make any decisions, we must have a quorum, so I needed to be present.

As a newly-elected officer, I had a responsibility to the others to be there.

And so I was.

I'm glad I chose where I needed to be over where I wanted to be.

That's not to say I don't enjoy these meetings...

I most certainly do.

I enjoy sharing dinner with them and hearing talk about what is going on at other American Legion posts and in the other groups they are in.

I also enjoy the rituals of the meetings, with us singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and saying "The Pledge of Allegiance" and our prayer for those still listed as MIA and POW.

But tonight, knowing I had another option that I would have liked to attend, I somehow had more appreciation for where I was.

Doug, he's the one behind that gorgeous bar, declared us all "inaugural members of the Two Firsts Club", which was pretty cool!

That means Jay, Joe, Doug, me, Michael T, Bob, Billy and Roy are special.

(smile!)

And just where are the kitchen specialists?

Well, they had a change in schedule, so they met with Doug last night.

Really.

That's okay, he came with questions from them, then asked us if we had suggestions.

I did: get a list of the kitchen equipment in James Putney's storage - all from his sister's now-defunct restaurant - so the specialists would know what we already have.

Oh, yes, very nice, Doug even wrote that down!

Good.

I was meant to be here.

Right place, right time.

And had I mentioned Hiccup?

(smile!)

There he is, on the left, looking over the new and improved version of Berk.

No, not the buildings... the pet dragons!

I'm so glad to have seen "How To Train Your Dragon" one more time!

Georgia Power had the electricity off when I woke up, so I took myself to the NCG SCFF and had popcorn for breakfast.

Now, that was definitely something I wanted to do!

Then I went to the Purple Planet and also consigned some items to Home Again before bouncing off to the AMC Fan Event of "A Quiet Place: Day One".

Wanted to, wanted to, and wanted to: check, check, check!

Now, I'm going to do something else I want to do: watch "Surf's Up".

That's the film listed for Tybee's SOSAFF and I can't recall ever seeing it.

It came out in 2007, when I wasn't watching so many animated flicks.

This one has a 17-year-old surfing penguin named Cody from Shiverpool, Antarctica.

Seriously!

And I get to see it for just one dollar, thanks to a reward from Comcast, instead of having to pay a sawbuck down at the Tybee Post Theatre.

Hey, hey, hey!

Later, dudes and dudettes!

(smile!)

mushnik and son???

"I thought you went to see "Little Shop Of Horrors" tonight. Did you change your mind?"

As if!

"G'friend, that's from "Clueless", not that musical."

Oh, I am so sure!

"And now you're a "Valley Girl"? Is that it?"

Hey, I'm just going for a little perspective here. I'm just setting the mood for this musical, a'ite? After all, it was an update of the 1960 film, a time warp into the next generation's post-"Rocky Horror Picture Show" zeitgeist.

"I definitely catch your drift. Sail on!"

Yes, let's! As you may recall, I was destined to be there tonight! Right place, right time! I arrived right about thirty minutes before the show, amazed to find there were still tickets. Hooray! I was even able to snag one of my favorite seats - that would be L-24, right behind the wheelchair access space - with plenty of room to stretch my legs and dance. Hooray!

"Wow! The SCAD students had not already snapped that up?"

They swarmed in 15 minutes later. They all had free tickets, as this production was by the SCAD School of Film and Acting. This was definitely a sold-out show, as Foreigner would attest! The show was even delayed by 10 minutes so all could find seats.

"You were so fortunate to be at the Lucas at all!"

You're telling me! I made sure I warned those around me that I'd be dancing in my seat and singing along, and they assured me that would be fine. Which was great! I had forgotten that there were six songs that were not in the movie... and those were part of a plot line also absent from the movie... and led to an ending totally unlike that of the movie! Pretty incredible! That's okay. Remember, I was there for "Suddenly Seymour", and that was spot on!!! Kudos to Allen McBride and Eva Daskos!

"That's them in the photo? Nice! And I see the 'Greek chorus' girls in the bottom corner of that second photo and the upper corner of this one. How many clothing changes for them?"

Only two. They stayed in the same wardrobe until near the end of the second act. That's when they got dolled up and glamorous! And before I forget: Micah Engle brought the house down as the dentist!!! Seriously!!! Every time his character came on, the students in the audience just erupted with applause. Justifiably so, too!

"Very nice! Names to look for in Broadway shows some day!"

Speaking of dolled up, this is the Davenport House at night. Somehow, I'd overlooked its night lights on my returns to Columbia Square.

asbury, asbury, and a push from the universe

This is the reason I came to church this morning!

This is future math major, Samuel Povie, with Reverend Billy Hester, and a young woman I haven't seen for a while.

The appreciation to all the graduates was then and I knew I'd get to see Sarah Povie again.

She's home from college, having received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Sport Medicine, on top of her proficiency with the cello.

I am so proud of her!

Amazingly, she had wanted to see me, too: she's already received the check from me!

Her next course of action is a Masters in Nursing, in Augusta.

I made sure to tell her about Renee Fleming's book advocating music as therapy and she was quite interested in learning more about it.

However, that won't be right now.

They leave tomorrow for a Mediterranean cruise!!!

It's papa Doug's retirement gift to the family, as this was his last year teaching!

I'm so happy for them!!!

I also followed a Flounder's advice and spoke to Chris Kinkade about me acting in the Vacation Bible School again.

I also asked about his carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand and we compared scars.

Very nice!

(smile!)

This is the reason I was back at Asbury Memorial Church this afternoon.

Even though a sudden, and severe, thunderstorm came up, I drove there!

So, why did I brave that weather?

And why are these folks wearing ballcaps??

Indeed, just who are these people???

Ah, all good questions!

They are the members of I Cantori, and their annual concert was here this year.

Titled "Baseball, Birds and Boats", it naturally brought me running.

As I told member Ray Ellis (AsbMemCh's choir director), "You had me at 'baseball'!"

He agreed!

(smile!)

The conductor, Robert L. Harris, had specially chosen these from the American Songbook as they were his favorites.

Some were quite silly - "Polly-Wally-Doodle", "Coffee Grows On White Oak Trees" -

some were quite religious - "Lord of The Dance", "I Think I Heard Him Say" -

some were quite familiar - "How Can I Keep From Singing", "Beautiful Dreamer".

Some were even about hair color - "Black Is The Color", "Gentle Lena Clare"!

But the ones at the end of the program were the source of the program's title.

Those were "Little Bird, Little Bird", "Row, Row, Row", and, as the grand finale that warranted the headgear addition, "Take Me Out To The Ballgame"!!!

Woohoo!!!

I'm so glad I threw myself out into the rain!

(smile!)

And I'm so glad to be keeping Dane company!

Tony and Laura have the DISH, giving me access to different channels, like TCM.

Surprisingly, they had "Little Shop Of Horrors", and not the 1960 version.

I don't think of this musical version as a "classic movie", but apparently 1986 is long enough ago to qualify.

Love this scene from "Suppertime", with the three teens marching by in their heels and shimmery dresses as Seymour is giving Mushnik plant-feeding tips.

Bwah ha ha!!!

So, why is this a push for me?

"Little Shop Of Horrors" will be at the Lucas Theatre next weekend!!!

I wonder if that means it's off Broadway again?

I'm fine with that, as long as I can see it here, just as I did in 2015.

SCAD has it this time, as I saw on fb, and I was interested, but expected the tickets to be very expensive, as was their last production there.

Now, I know I have to be there!!!

I'd ask mi amigas, but they don't seem to be interested in plays these days.

That means I can see it on Thursday night, its opener!

I wonder if any of the cast will recognize my laugh?

(smile!)

and then there were five...

At first, the Lucas Theatre stage held only two bluesmen.

This concert of SMF35 was titled "Muddy And Wolf Revisited: A Tribute To Muddy Waters And Howlin' Wolf" and was one I'd wanted from before the very first day.

Fortunately, someone who'd snagged one of the volunteer positions had bailed, so I had snapped up the gig!

Never lose faith!

The North Mississippi Allstars were the two starters.

That's Luther Dickinson on the guitar and doing most of the singing.

His brother, Cody, is the man on the drums, keeping that bluesy beat bangin'.

Take a listen here, as they jam away on Rollin' and Tumblin', a Muddy Waters tune.

They were up there solo for awhile, getting the crowd moving.

 

Then two more blues players came up, off to either side of the two brothers.

Over on the left is Joey Williams, the bassist for the Blind Boys of Alabama.

I always credit them with introducing me to "Amazing Grace" sung to the music of "The House Of The Rising Sun", back at a past Savannah Music Festival - oh, yeah!

[Here's a more recent video of that, with Joey on the bass and singing, too.]

On the right is Danielle Nicole, also on bass, and singing with that rasp in the voice that all good blues singers possess.

She put it to fine use on "Spoonful", a song made famous by Howlin' Wolf.

Then she belted out "I'd Rather Go Blind", which can be heard here.

 

So, we had two, then added two more... time for the fifth!

Once Bobby Rush took the stage, he was all over it!!!

It was immediately obvious why the others had their time first, because all eyes were on the 90-year-old blues veteran as he grabbed the spotlight and held it tight!

Not that he was greedy about it, as he kept interacting with the younger ones on stage.

It's just that he was constantly, constantly, constantly in motion!

He didn't stay up on the stage, either - oh, no!

Like Renee Fleming had done, he called for the houselights to come up so he could see us.

Unlike her, he then came down into the house, joking around with the folks up in the Gold Circle seats, then heading up the aisle with his harmonica for a closer look at the crowd.

And the crowd went wild!!! Wow!!! 

Kermit the Frog would have been beside himself with glee, as I was!

Surprisingly, I did have the presence of mind take advantage of a rare opportunity.

I managed to snap a couple of shots of the photographer - outlined against that decorative wall - trying to catch frames of the nonagenarian - standing up left of center stage - as he literally bounced from fan to fan, like a large, graceful, dark butterfly trying to grace as many flowers as possible.

Recognize that man behind that long lens of the camera?

That's none other than Frank Stewart, the fellow with the exhibit at the Jepson!

He really hadn't recognized me at the museum, but he's made sure to talk to me at every one of these concerts that he's worked!

(smile!)

And Bobby Rush?

The man played almost thirty minutes longer than scheduled!

He especially had fun with his Grammy winner, "Porcupine Meat", even getting the crowd involved with the refrain!

My many thanks to whoever it was that gave up their slot so I could be here!

(smile!)

Pedro estava na casa do Teatro Lucas!

This time, he and I talked!

Yes, I speak of Pedro Segundo!

Yes, he had seen me dancing and was very pleased!

Yes, he appreciated me calling him a percussionist and admiring all his non-traditional music makers!

Yes, he even gave me a hug!!!

Yes, I was thrilled!

Yes, this is a definite perk of being a volunteer!

(smile!) 

I was at the Lucas for the first of two SMF events that featured Renée Fleming, world-renowned soprano opera singer, now 65 years old.

I had very much looked forward to this one, and not just because it's in my favorite venue.

Her concert was to have a film from the National Geographic running in the background while she sang verses from a wide range of songs - wow!

I had not realized that "Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene" was an album released by her in 2021, not curated especially for this concert.

The film clips must have been chosen to impress the images she wanted of humanity's effects on the world.

I much preferred the second half of her concert.

I caught about twenty minutes of her doing arias from various operatic roles, and those were quite nice.

However, I was called away to help in the lobby for a while, returning for the last two songs... and for the encore!

She had asked that the lights be brought up, then asked the audience to sing the chorus with her of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" - wow!

That was quite a moving experience.

Such a good way to pull everyone together!

minty start of autumn

 

It's just a week into autumn and the temperatures have shifted by ten degrees.

We now have low 80's for the highs and low 60's for the pre-dawn time.

I rather miss the hum of the fan at night, but cold feet are not my thing.

(smile!)

 

One of the best things about the chill in the air?

I don't have to use matches to light the stove anymore.

See, during the over-90 days, the air in the attic gets so hot that the fan up there turns itself on, pumping all that heat straight into the house!!!

Ack!

The only way to shut the attic fan off is to pull out the fuse in the electric panel.

Good that I have those fuses labeled, right?

But here's something crazy: that fuse also controls the electrical outlet for the stove.

Since the piezoelectric igniters are electric, I have to use matches every time I want to cook anything or heat something up.

That's not really an issue, as I have teapots full of matchbooks collected over the decades.

Sure, the strike pads on those matchbooks have gotten damp from humidity so often that they don't really work.

Not that I haven't struck upon a work around for that, but it does slow me down.

Not anymore!

And there's a bonus: the light on the stove works, too, as does the clock!

Hooray!

So, happy autumn to me!

(smile!)

 

Oh, one more thing that's special for me today: it's my first mintiversary!

That's right!

It's already been a year since I chose Ryan Reynolds' company over T-Mobile, the one I'd been with continuously since October of 2007.

That means I was with them for 14 years, with never once an anniversary email.

I rather like getting that mintiversary email today!

I realize that the two companies reached some kind of merger in March, but I trust that Mr. Reynolds will continue to take care of me in his touchy-feely, minty fresh, way.

I like that.

For instance, only mint has ever told me how many minutes I talk on the phone.

Apparently, I'm "rather chatty" as I did that for 3,531 minutes from 09-28-22 to 09-28-23.

That's almost 300 minutes per month, y'all!

Far more than I'd thought, that's for sure!

Here's another number mint tracked for that year: 8,010 text messages.

Yowzah!!!

No wonder mint admitted to being "a little jealous" of that.

And, while I do text far more than I call, I also send a crazy amount of photos through the ether and those all count as emails, too.

Well, they also count as data, contributing to the 1.8 GB I've used of that.

To put that into perspective, lest someone think I've relented to using my Alcatel as a smart phone, I'm allotted 5 GB for data monthly.

Over the course of a year, that would be an allowance of 60 GB... and I used 1.8, which is just 3% of what I was granted.

Good for me!

Thanks, mint, for that refreshing outtake!

(smile!)

Oh, speaking of places reviewing my year with them, kiva sent me an email today, too!

My anniversary - kivaversary? - month with them starts in July.

For the time between 07-01-22 to 06-30-23, I made 6 loans, of $25 each, to either individuals or groups in other countries.

Here's the truly amazing part: those loans cost me nothing.

That's because I'm recycling the funds repaid to me from those who benefited from previous loans over the 11 years that I have been Fliss, Nerdfighter.

Moreover, the $24.25 that I have "donated" to kiva for loan processing fees has all been monies recouped from paid past loans.

What a grand cycle of giving, enabling those who have received loans to pay it forward!

As it happens, I've had sufficient funds for another loan for about a month.

Maybe I will find one this weekend to honor my stepmom, Bonnie, for her birthday...

yes, I do believe she would like that.

(smile!)

Now, time to get ready for National Silent Movie Day!

That's news to you?

Truth to tell, it was news to me, too.

But my favorite venue of all time, the Lucas Theatre, is celebrating that very thing tonight.

With its mighty Wurlitzer restored and gleaming, and Ron Carter stroking its keys and tapping its pedals, the Lucas presents "Safety Last!", a film that's now a century old!!!

How 'bout that?

I'm quite excited!!!

That will be a "first" to add to my list.

(smile!)

day 4 of i miss my car: on a kayak with jazz

How wonderful to be at one of my favorite venues again.

I do so love the Lucas Theatre.

Surprisingly, a volunteer I knew was there!

When I asked Cindy Goldberg if they were allowing us to volunteer again, she told me she "just showed up!" and they put her to work.

How very cool to know!

I was there with the J-Dawg for "Miles Davis: Birth Of The Cool", the movie offering for this year's 41st Annual Savannah Jazz Festival.

The 2019 film followed the jazz trumpeter throughout his career, documenting his constant quest for change and innovation in his music.

As I told the bfe afterward, "there was no such thing as hearing his greatest hits at one of his concerts, he only played his new songs."

That was echoed by his son, Erin Davis, as well as his nephew, Vince Wilburn, Jr..

The family didn't hear his albums being played, only those by the latest musicians that Miles Davis found interesting and inspiring.

James Brown's youngest daughter happened to be in the audience and she said that wasn't the case in her family, as the 'Godfather of Soul" had his own music playing all the time!

Here's the post-movie panel: the Savannah Jazz rep on the far left; director Stanley Nelson by his side; Miles' nephew, Vince, in the middle; Miles' son, Erin; then a SCAD professor.

I appreciate that they had the lighting set for the darker-toned men this time.

Most of the questions from the audience were addressed to Vince and Erin, of course, but there was one I found interesting that was asked of the director.

A film student wanted to know how long the documentary took to make.

Stanley Nelson was honest: documentaries usually take five to ten years, sometimes more, because the writers and directors keep having to fund raise to continue.

He was able to complete the film in one year, as two parties came forward to totally back it.

Wow.

So, I checked his credentials when I got home.

Holy cow, the man is a MacArthur fellow!!!

Once upon a time, I wouldn't have know what that was, but thanks to "The Big Bang Theory", I know that "Genius Grant" carries a purse of $500,000 to the recipient.

He received that in 2002, when he was 51 years old.

Wow.

He has also premiered ten documentaries, including this one screened here tonight, at the Sundance Film Festival over the past two decades.

How about some perspective on that?

Stanley Nelson is the only director to have ever had that honor.

Wow.

What an interesting night this has been!

I had bought the tickets and the bfe bought us dinner.

We dined at Kayak Kafe on Broughton, a place new to him.

Bonus points to me for recommending it!

I had the Vegan Tater Tots Nachos, which were quite good!

I forget what he had, but he included tater tots as a side.

(smile!)

two meetups in one day!

Actually, that's not entirely true, though I did have two outings today.

(smile!)

The first was with my nephew, Noah, with us off to see another Big D summer adventure flick before he has to go back to Missouri.

This time, it was "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning", with me catching up on the few minutes of footage missed for a pee break the first time around.

In fact, I was able to take two pee breaks this time, because I knew when to go.

(smile!)

But you know what the teenager had to say?

"I've seen three movies this summer and every one of them had a cliffhanger at the end.

I don't like this trend at all."

I can't say that I blame him.

Cliffhangers are fine for TV shows, but not for movies, when it may be a year or more before "the rest of the story" comes to light.

For those who remember, I borrowed that phrase from Paul Harvey.

I always liked his radio show.

(smile!)

 

I'm so glad Noah had the chance to hear a real jazz concert while he was in town!

I had passed along the information about Spyro Gyra being at the Lucas Theatre this month.

And here's a photo snapped by his proud mom of her saxophone player getting to meet, and get the autograph of, Jay Beckenstein, who has played sax for the group since he and Jeremy Wall formed the group in 1974.

Pretty cool!!!

I had been introduced to their music back in late 1980 by a guy I was dating, Russ LeBarre.

He's the one I was with in New York City in February of 1981, when we went to the top of the World Trade Towers, watched trading at the New York Stock Exchange, and saw the play "Lunch Hour" on Broadway - what a rush to see Gilda Radner and Sam Waterston up on the stage!!!

After that, we had gone to Gray Rocks Inn, a now-gone ski chalet that was near Montreal, Quebec.

It was the second time I'd ever been skiing and the teacher was so patient with me!

Still, by the end of the few days we were there, I was even getting on the T-bar and riding up to the slope above the kiddie one.

What an adventure that had been!

Last November, I finally used the 41-year-old bar of soap from that trip to Canada.

I'd kept it in the drawer with my panties, to lend its gentle scent to them.

Even so, I've been trying to eliminate things that will hold no meaning to others, so I finally used it.

It lathered up just fine, too!

(smile!)

That movie today with Noah has closed out my A*List for the week as well.

I've already spoken of the one this afternoon, plus the Saturday family fun, both of which I'd gladly recommend.

So that just leaves the one seen Friday.

You'd think with a name like "Joy Ride" that it would be funny, right?

Ah, but you would be so wrong.

It was a movie desperately in search of genre, resulting in it being little more than a series of bad skits linked clumsily together.

Ack.

Let's see, what am I missing... oh, yes, the dinner tonight!

It's my first with Coastal Atheists and Secular Humanists, aka CASH, a group that Cedric and Bonnie Blue once belonged to (and may still).

The Sandfly location of Your Pie had been chosen, mostly because of its outdoor seating area and vegetarian options.

That was all fine with me!

Pizza for dinner? With limoncello sorbet for dessert?

Yes, yes, YES!!!

Celeste, the group leader, was the only one signed up to attend and she turned out to be a little older than I'd expected, but probably only in her mid-40's.

Later, Vicky - an Air Force veteran, now in her 50's and retired - and Esther - a younger woman, perhaps late 20's - both joined us from Effingham County.

What a nice range of ages!

I think I'll invite Sandy to join in the next time I go.

These dinners are weekly, though not on the same week day each time.

Who knows?

Perhaps I may run into Bonnie and Don at one in the future!

(smile!)

Now, I'm going for a fourth Tom Cruise movie, "Mission Impossible" from 1996, this one also courtesy of Comcast and gifted to my growing library with them.

The first had been "Rocketman", about Elton John, with Taron Egerton doing a simply fabulous job in this "jukebox musical" autobiography!

So, this action flick that started the MI movie franchise 27 years ago, is the second movie Reward they've given me this summer.

I'm looking forward to seeing if I remember any of it from way back then.

(smile!)

Last night, I indulged at last with the $1 Weekend Movie.

I chose another "MI" film -"Monsters, Inc."!

Hahahaha!

It's  nice 3-day rental, too, like the Disney/Pixar one last weekend.

I do so love this sweet tale of friendship!

I do so love the story of Sully and Boo!

I do so love the thought of laughter generating more energy than fear does!

And I do so love that I get to enjoy it with my breakfast for the next two days!!!

Plus, here's something it has in common with the "M.I." movie seen with Noah: both have bad guys that can disappear right before your eyes!

Magic!!!

(smile!)

couldn't get a ticket/ was a sold-out show

Note to self: get over this aversion to paying for parking downtown.

If I had been in line when the box office opened at the Lucas, at 6 PM, I most likely would have gained entry to "The Mighty Wurlitzer Comes Home".

That would have cost an extra dollar at the meter, but still been cheaper than the fees (an exorbitant $4 for a $10 ticket) charged to purchase online.

 

Still, I was out front as the vaudeville team entered...

and when the showgirls paraded in!

Very nice!

 

I was still there, under the marquee lights, when those sparkly silver dresses came prancing back out again, accompanied by the stylish ushers!

How lovely of that young man to turn and pose for me!

I wish the vaudeville player had, too, but...

what a winning smile this guy had!

 

I followed them around the corner, snapping pictures as they headed back toward the stage door and out of sight.

There's a scene not seen often in an alley!

Such fun, even though I'd missed the show!

i thank God for my imagination!

By the time all the fun watching the various troupes in the alley was over, I still had time on the meter, as I'd paid the full limit up to 8 PM - after all, I'd thought I'd be inside the Lucas.

So, I still had twenty minutes to go.

You know what I did on this lovely spring day, right?

I went to Ben & Jerry's!

Chocolate chip cookie dough, nondairy, was my reward for this trip downtown!

Well, that, and sitting to eat it in Columbia Square, to listen to the burble of that little green fountain.

Bliss!

the importance of being sedaris

I'm not sure why, but I have a pretty good guess.
House-clearing has unearthed some items in plain sight which I haven't touched in years.
In particular, I've revisited several of the journals I'd kept in the past, prior to this shore.
The oldest is from 1977 and is one given to me as a bon voyage present to record my adventures in the Navy. Reading it reminded me that I was glad Mama had not known about the racy escapades in that book.
(smile)
Another had chronicled the journey taken by my first husband and I across Central America. That is, our driving trip from Pensacola, Florida, USA, to Galeta Island, Canal Zone, Panama. While I had been sure that the journal existed, I hadn't remembered that Keith and I had taken turns each day in recording our adventure. How strange to recognize his handwriting and hear his voice in the words! Also, how interesting that things had not been quite the way I had recalled. That made it quite evident that everyone puts their own spin on events. No wonder the police have such difficulty obtaining a cohesive account from multiple eyewitnesses, right?
The most recent was from 2005. So nice to read about a visit with Mother Pat and a visit with Daddy, both still in fine health that year. There was even a very good visit with my "little sister", Susie Boyd, in which she told me that I was the first person who ever accepted her as she was, instead of trying to change her. I loved being reminded of that!
But with all of these journals, only about half of the pages were used. At some point, usually a few months in, I would stop writing. Most likely life had become too busy. I know with the last one, the final entry had been in September of 2005, when I was back to teaching at night while working full-time with Smitty. For the trip to Panama, our arrival there had led to the cessation of the chronicle.

What does any of the above have to do with the post title?
Well, "An Evening With David Sedaris" had found me as a volunteer at the Lucas Theatre. Sometimes, I am there for an event simply because they need ushers, but this was not such an occasion. I had specifically requested to be there. I knew the man by name only and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about.
And so I did.
I'd not realized that he was a writer like me, recording observations and feelings and thoughts. The difference is that he was reading aloud the words he had written in his journals.
That's it, that's the total sum of his actions.
He had brought several of those writings to share and it was just him, a podium for the papers, and a microphone.
Some segments were rather humorous and had the audience laughing along.
The ones dealing with his dying father weren't quite so, but certainly reminded me of the hospital waiting room conversations on multiple mundane topics with my family members when my stepdad was dying.
That's when I understood what radio host Ira Glass had recognized in a Chicago night club in 1992, when the 36-year-old journalist manned the mike. A good story is a good story, period, especially when that story is true and relates to the human condition.

I hope my bits of flotsam and jetsam have some meaning on the distant beaches where the ether tides take them.