Oscar Recovery Day

Best Friends

Yesterday was spent in full recovery mode after staying up way too late for Oscar related activities. As tough as my day was it paled in comparison to what I’m sure a certain Price Waterhouse accountant was going through. No more red carpet for that young man. I find it hard to countenance that today is the final day of February. I know it’s the shortest month of the year but Someone seems to have snatched the month away while I wasn’t watching. Time does speed up as you get older so I’ll have to file it away as another indicator. If a month has to go quickly it might as well be February with the attendant cold and snow. Of course it could all boil down to how busy life has been around me, just guessing.

Wife's Family Gathered Yesterday

My wife was involved in her own kind of speed timing yesterday for which I was intensely jealous. Panama is in the middle of its Carnivale season (their version of Mardi Gras) and yesterday she was at the Cousin of the Legendary Laugh’s house for a Carnivale party. I’ve chronicled some of my experiences at parties at that house which sits aside the Pan-American Highway. I’ve had some of the best times in my life there surrounded by my wife’s incomparable family. As usual there was a lot of laughing going on and a ping pong table has been added to the mix. I’m going to import my favorite ping pong ringer, Keene Friend, for some future visit.

I stole a march on dateless date night this week and went out to the movies last night. I went to see Collide which boasts two best actor Oscar winners which, given the complete lack of advertising for this movie, should have told me something. The film is very confused internationally with two Brits playing young American ex-pats, Sir Anthony Hopkins as a German villain with no discernible “Germanity” and Sir Ben Kingsley as a crazed Turkish gangster. You’d think a movie with that cast, despite the questionable geography, and including the breakout actress of the year, Felicity Jones, would be a sure bet. In the words of my favorite Sicilian criminal mastermind it’s – “inconceivable” that it is as bad as it is. There was no thought given to making the plot credible as they were apparently trying to give us a German version of Fast and the Furious. Jyn Erso should have stayed on Scarif. Pass on this.

A much more enjoyable experience was reading the second novel in the Stiger series, The Tiger, by Marc Alan Edelheit. I launched myself through this book as it never stops to take a breath with relentless close combat between Stiger’s legionnaires and rebels trying to take a fortress from him. He fights a long delaying action along a forested road using tactics straight out of the Roman legion’s playbook. The connection to that Roman legacy is hinted more at in this second book and dwarves join the already revealed elves to give it even more Tolkienish flavor. This book was right in my wheelhouse and Edelheit shows a real flair for bringing close combat to his pages. I couldn’t put it down. It won’t be for everybody but I could not have enjoyed it more. I’m already on to the third book.

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

Oscars Stumble at Finish Line

I’m feeling a little creaky this morning as I stayed up until the wee hours last night, as any self-respecting movie nut is required to do on Oscar night. I’m glad I did because I got to see a scene that will certainly go down in Academy Awards history for the sheer infamy of the moment. Someone at Price-Waterhouse is certainly going to be looking for a job today. That person sent Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway out on stage for the biggest award of the night with the wrong envelope.

The Classy Moment

I knew something was amiss when the cast of La La Land took the stage after their film was announced as Best Picture. There were numerous guys running through the cast taking away their envelopes from prior wins. Mid-way through his speech the La La Land producer changed tact and in what will go down as one of the classiest moves ever announced Moonlight as the actual best picture winner. The awesome beauty of live television!

I liked the Oscar show. Jimmy Kimmel was an adequate host but seemed a little overwhelmed with the job. The show got off to one of the best starts ever with a rousing rendition of one of the nominated songs that had the entire place dancing. Kimmel did have his moments with some shrewd skewering of the president and an absolutely hilarious moment when he arranged for an unsuspecting group of Hollywood tourists to be escorted into the hall to meet the biggest movie stars in the world.

Viola!!!

Viola Davis had the best acceptance speech of the night. She literally vibrated with class and power in defending her profession. The speeches overall were pretty good and in a big surprise didn’t wander too much into the political arena. I’m sure the troglodyte element of the our president’s supporters were freaked out with two black acting awards including one for a practicing Muslim and Moonlight’s LBGT love story taking home best picture (belatedly as it was).

Denzel Performing an Impromptu Wedding for Tourists

As soon as the show as over I made a quick call to New Jersey to compare notes with my daughter and Wingman. They were similarly astounded at the ending that had just played out. In a huge upset I actually tied my daughter in the number of correct predictions. This is usually a contest she roundly trounces me. They enjoyed watching the show with some friends and reveled (back on east coast time) in having the show start after my granddaughter’s bed time which allowed them unfettered adult TV viewing; a truly priceless gift when there is a one year old in residence (no matter how charming).

Unfortunately in an effort to stay alert for the show I consumed way too much caffeine. I ended up getting 2 hours sleep after some serious tossing and turning following the show. I gave up on late night television and chronicled all the strange noises an empty house makes late at night that I’m usually sleeping soundly through. Of these types of experiences are ghost stories concocted.

My Wife, The bathing Beauty

She looks a Little Nervous (in hat on Right)

View During Boat Trip to Island

Their Destination

Graceful Unloading

The Family Command Center

A Little Warmer There

Sunset Chasing them Home

My wife spent the entire day on an idyllic Pacific island for an extended family gathering. They had a great day lounging on the beach. One of her cousins broke his collar bone by aggressively going after a fish who was a little too clever for his spear-gunning pursuer. Luckily his sister recently graduated as a doctor was also on the trip. My wife recounted her adventures which only served to remind me that I haven’t made my annual winter trip to Panama this year. I’m waiting for the closing date on our condo to avoid multiple trips such as I’ve had to make over the past few years. It looks like I’m going to miss out on the best time of year (and conversely the worse here) to travel there. So it goes.

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

Curbside Outing and Saturday Down Nice

Curbside Girls With the 2d Gen Yesterday

I spent a good portion of yesterday transferring the last remaining refugees from the first floor construction project back to their rightful place and out of the Man Cave where I will once again have space to accomplish the sedentary tasks late winter, solitary days call for (read puzzles). I was assisted in these effort by none other than the Keene Friend himself who journeyed down to help. We rewarded ourselves for our efforts with a Saturday appearance at the sun center of Frist Fridays – Brew City. The fabulous ladies of Brew City were confused but heartened by our appearance.

Keene Friend and I at Brew City Yesterday Afternoon

Simultaneously in New Jersey the Curbside gals were staging their own version of a reunion. The iconic shot above shows the Curbside Girls on a curb and accompanied by the second generation. One of the very best results of my daughter’s move east has been to re-connect with her close friends from Curbside days and their burgeoning population of progeny. They spent the day traipsing around a lake in a nearby park. They took the photo outside a restaurant of the same chain where they first named themselves Curbside whilst sitting on a curb. 

Around the Lake

The Bond is Passed Between Generations

My granddaughter continues to establish herself in her new home. She pulled a fast one on her parents last night. In a scene every set of parents experience, each thought the other one was looking after the young’un. She meanwhile had snuck into the bathroom and was lining the toilet with impressive layers of trash bags she found nearby. She’s getting tricky that way. She faked out her mother this morning on our FaceTime call. She was eating her breakfast and was rebuffed every time she tried to grab control of her mother’s IPad. She waited until my daughter walked away to get some blueberries and then stealthily seized control. I was falling over laughing at her antics.

Wife on Friday

My wife is on the mend in Panama after her stomach scare of Friday. She and her sisters were in the midst of planning a beach outing to a nearby Pacific island today. We were able to connect with her while Keene Friend was here and she roundly counseled him on his current health situation which he claims is improving despite evidence to the contrary. He’s as frustrated with his doctors as I would be when they’re asking his opinion on what should come next instead of making actual assessments/recommendations.

Back on Her Feet Yesterday

After some quality Man Cave time we were joined by Great Aunt and Soxfather and we all headed out to dinner. This was a lot more fun than even my great expectations sought. That’s what happens when good fiends get together. It was a night I certainly didn’t want to end and not just because they were all abandoning me at the end of the night. After dinner we reconvened back at my house and made the rare non-granddaughter related video call to my daughter and Wingman. Kind of the perfect ending to a very enjoyable day.

Kind of a Fun Crowd Last Night

Today is Oscar Day which will once again be spent in solitude but I’m as excited as any bona fide movie geek should be on this date. I’m guessing La La Land will garner a lot of wins since it’s basically a self-congratulatory story about their own profession and Hollywood is nothing if not seriously pretentious. Luckily, it’s a very good movie deserving of its accolades but I’m hearing from fellow movie geek daughter that Moonlight is making a strong closing. I didn’t see Moonlight but I hope Manchester by the Sea and Hidden Figures get some love tonight. Doesn’t’ matter – I’m psyched, even at the price of listening to the avalanche of anti-government rants I’m sure we’ll be called upon to endure.

Loves Her Daddy

First Bath in New House

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