Cinema Descent

New Jersey Paradise

Yesterday after my early morning return from Rhode Island I had an entire day to myself for the first time in a very long time. Typically, one would say predictably, a good portion of the day was consumed with movies. I’ve got a huge stack of backlogged movies from Christmas gifting and weekly releases I haven’t had time to watch yet. Going forward with the now empty house that will not be a problem. There are also several movies at the cinema that require watching, at least in my view of the world.

The Stack

I started addressing the stack and the cinema requirement yesterday. I think the strain of traveling and couch diving over the past few days caught up with me a bit as I feel a little fatigued and the onslaught of a cold. Luckily but certainly regrettably there is no young granddaughter around to infect. 

Emerging Lawn and Mailbox

I wrote last week with the huge amount of snow on the ground that we’d probably seen the last of the lawn until March. Then New England stepped up with another twist as the January thaw was re-allocated to mid-February. Temperatures “soared” into the fifties yesterday which produced a lot of melting. The mailbox out front which had been literally buried emerged along with the lawn edges and a vast array of Buddy’s “donations” out back.

Running Around with other 2d Gen Curbside

Ready Made Big Brother

It was even warmer down in New Jersey where my daughter and Wingman had the kind of day they envisioned when they decided to relocate back east. While they’re waiting for Tuesday’s closing date they’re housesitting for the neighbor of a friend of their realtor (I think I got that right). They spent the day outside in T-shirt weather as two of their closest friends and their children all played outside. I caught a whiff of the fun through a FaceTime call where the First Blog Reader was having too much of that. I think the little transplanted Californian had missed her outside time with the move to frigid east coast climes.

Wingman and his Crew

I went to see The Great Wall in the first of my cinematic forays yesterday. It’s a movie that’s taken a lot of heat for “whitewashing” by adding Matt Damon to a Chinese epic but for me it worked. It is a visually stunning film featuring the pageantry that Chinese cinema does so well. The Chinese are fighting off a horde of intelligent beasts that can only be killed by arrows through the eyes located on their shoulders. Damon and his buddy stumble onto the war as they wander ancient China looking for gunpowder. It was good to see Oberyn Martell back amongst the living as Damon’s fellow merc. I’m not sure I understood all the tactics the Chinese employed in the fight as there seemed to be a lot of charging of vast armies along the top of the wall without ever seeming to arrive. It was a nice thrill ride though and Damon depreciating humor melded nice with the very strong Chinese cast led by Tian Jing whom I guarantee we’ll hear a lot more from. She’s very, very good.

My other cinematic diversion yesterday was Patriots Day. I wasn’t sure if it was too early in the process for a film about the marathon bombings but Peter Berg once again dials up a very nice ode to the heroes of a real world disaster. Wahlberg limps, for some reason, through in his usual Mass-hole personae but the movie truly belongs to the effective and behind the scenes heroic hunt for the idiotic bombers. While Boston is highlighted the message for me was the way any American city would respond to this challenge. If you push, we’re going to push back. Some of the little known heroes were also given their time to shine like the tiny Chinese immigrant who bravely escaped the bombers’ clutches  which led to the ultimate capture and the Watertown police who ended up in a massive firefight including bombs. You want to say this is an important film which may sound pretentious but this was a very good story, extremely well told.

Meanwhile Down in Panama My Wife Surrounded by Beautiful PanaGals
Celebrating Graduation as a Doctor of Young Lady Standing on Right

The Proud FAmily

A Gathering of Cousins

As Usual a Lot of Fun- Wish I was There

My Mother in Law Captured by Some of Her Grandchildren

Today’s Soxfather’s Sister’s morale photo injection:

But First some pictures of your host for the pictures: