Waitress

We watched the DVD "Waitress."

Synopsis


Jenna (Keri Russell) is trapped in an unhappy marriage with a controlling, jealous husband and the last thing she wants is a baby, so when she discovers she has fallen pregnant, she’s terrified of what the future holds. In an effort to escape her husband, Jenna saves what money she can by working at Joe’s Diner where she creates amazing pies which she names after circumstances in her life like “I-Don’t-Want-Earl’s-Baby Pie”; “I-Hate-My-Husband Pie”; and “Falling-in-Love Pie”. Jenna finds support in her friends Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly), working southern women trying to make the most out of the little they've been given in life and Old Joe (Andy Griffith), who owns the pie shop where Jenna works. Things seem hopeless for Jenna and dreams of a better life lost until she meets gynecologist Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion), a good looking man who treats her with love, generosity and simple kindness. He’s handsome. He’s kind. He’s neurotic. He’s married.

House Bunny

We watched the DVD "House Bunny."

Synopsis

Finding family. Shelley Darlingson was raised in an orphanage, finally happy when she blossoms into a fox and moves into the Playboy Mansion. Unfortunately, she's summarily expelled on her 27th birthday(she's now too old). In desperation she takes a job as house mother for a sorority of misfits losing their house for lack of members. They have but a few months to find 30 pledges, or a sorority of mean girls will take over their place. Shelley figures that girls will pledge a house that boys find interesting, so she sets out to make the Zetas alluring, not act too smart, and host great parties. Can she succeed, and what about her own makeover? Sabotage is everywhere, plus it's hard to be one's self.

Cross

I finished reading "Cross" by Ken Bruen.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Cross (kros/ noun, verb, & adjective) means an ancient instrument of torture, or, in a very bad humour, or, a punch thrown across an opponent's punch. Jack Taylor brings death and pain to everyone he loves. His only hope of redemption - his surrogate son, Cody - is lying in hospital in a coma. At least he still has Ridge, his old friend from the Guards, though theirs is an unorthodox relationship. When she tells him that a boy has been crucified in Galway city, he agrees to help her search for the killer. Jack's investigations take him to many of his old haunts where he encounters ghosts, dead and living. Everyone wants something from him, but Jack is not sure he has anything left to give. Maybe he should sell up, pocket his Euros and get the hell out of Galway like everyone else seems to be doing. Then the sister of the murdered boy is burned to death, and Jack decides he must hunt down the killer, if only to administer his own brand of rough justice.

Lois Timmons Wake

My brother drove my dad and me down to Flora so we could go to the wake of one of my dad's best friend's wife's wake. We really surprised everyone. She was like an aunt to my brother, sisters and I. They attended a lot of the family events until they moved down to Flora. It was a four hour road trip.

Tropic Thunder

We watched the DVD "Tropic Thunder."

Synopsis

A film crew is in Southeast Asia filming a Vietnam-war memoir. It's early in the shooting, but they're already behind schedule and over budget. On the day an accident befalls the novice director, the cast and crew are attacked by a gang of poppy-growing local drug dealers, except the cast and crew don't realize these aren't actors who are stalking them. The thugs kidnap Tugg Speedman, an actor whose star seems on the decline, and it's up to the rest of the ragtag team to band together long enough to attempt his rescue. But will Tugg want to leave?

Chuck McGregor's Wake

We went to Chuck McGregor's wake after the picnic. His son went to Our Lady of Peace with my oldest son. My son saw a lot of his old classmates.

Cantigny

We had our annual Memorial Day picnic and of course it rained again.

St. A's Race

My oldest son came in first in the St. Alexander's Memorial Day 5-K. It was the first time he came in first in a 5-K. Awesome. I worked as a volunteer taking tags as each racer finished. We saw a bunch of old St. Alexander friends and Grandma stopped by after mass to congratulate Bobby. Racetimes

Track Sectionals

We went to the Track Sectionals. A lot of our guys will be going downstate.

Choir Concert

We went to my oldest son's last choir concert.

The Priest

I finished reading "The Priest" by Ken Bruen.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ireland, awash with cash and greed, no longer turns to the Church for solace or comfort. But the decapitation of Father Joyce in a Galway confessional horrifies even the most jaded citizen. Jack Taylor, devastated by the recent trauma of personal loss, has always believed himself to be beyond salvation. But a new job offers a fresh start, and an unexpected partnership provides hope that his one desperate vision—of family—might yet be fulfilled. An eerie mix of exorcism, a predatory stalker, and unlikely attraction conspires to lure him into a murderous web of dark conspiracies. The specter of a child haunts every waking moment.

Former Guarda alcoholic Jack Taylor remembers why he ended up in a Galway mental institution. He was watching Serena May, the Downs Syndrome child of friends Jeff and Cathy when he opened up the second floor window to allow some air inside the sweltering apartment he lost focus and she fell out the open window to her death. He also knows he was cold sober though he blames himself for negligence. He feels powerful guilt though he is freed from the institution but continues to avoid alcohol. Father Malachy surprises Jack when he visits him in his new digs as the two loathe one another. Malachy asks Jack to investigate the murder of Father Joyce. Meanwhile Ni Iomaire better known as Ridge, who picked Jack up from the hospital, asks Jack to find out who is stalking her. Finally Cathy requests that he locate her husband, amidst the homeless with a guarantee that if he fails she will kill him. With a new partner Cody, Jack begins his inquiries to help him forget his causing a wrongful death by neglect. The three cases take a back seat to the dark somewhat depressing changing Ireland where the Church is losing its hold to the new affluence.

Hancock

I watched the DVD "Hancock."

Synopsis

The powerful alcoholic and clumsy John Hancock (Will Smith) is the most hated person in Los Angeles, in spite of saving lives, he also destroys properties causing high cost to the city to fix his damages. When he saves the life of the Public Relations Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) from an approaching train, the executive feels in debt with Hancock and decides to change his image. He brings the anti-hero to have dinner at his home, and introduces him to his son and fan Aaron and to his wife, Mary (Charlize Theron.) But Mary does not want Hancock in her life.

The New Paradigm For Financial Markets

I finished reading "The New Paradigm For Financial Markets" by George Soros.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the midst of the most serious financial upheaval since the Great Depression, legendary financier George Soros explores the origins of the crisis and its implications for the future. Soros, whose breadth of experience in financial markets is unrivaled, places the current crisis in the context of decades of study of how individuals and institutions handle the boom and bust cycles that now dominate global economic activity. “This is the worst financial crisis since the 1930s,” writes Soros in characterizing the scale of financial distress spreading across Wall Street and other financial centers around the world. In a concise essay that combines practical insight with philosophical depth, Soros makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the great credit crisis and its implications for our nation and the world.

The Visitor

We watched the DVD "The Visitor."

Synopsis

A deeply moving drama. The Visitor is a simmering drama about a college professor and recent widower, Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins), who discovers a pair of illegal aliens who were the victims of a real-estate scam living in his New York apartment. After the mix-up is resolved, Vale invites the couple - a young, Syrian musician named Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and his Senegalese girlfriend (Danai Gurira)to stay with him. An unlikely friendship develops between the retiring, quiet Vale and the vibrant Tarek, and the former begins to loosen up and respond to Tarek's drumming lessons as if something in him waiting to be liberated has finally been unleashed. All goes well until Tarek is hauled in by immigration authorities and threatened with deportation. His mother, Mouna (Hiam Abbass), turns up and stays with Vale, sparking a renewed if subdued interest in courtship. However, the wheels of injustice in immigration crush all manner of hopes in post-9/11 America. Vale soon realizes that he has unexpected anger over Tarek's plight, and the positive changes to his personal life that emerged from a deep involvement with his friend and Mouna might be the only legacy he takes from this experience.

Sanctuary

I finished reading "Sanctuary" by Ken Bruen.

ABOUT THE BOOK

When a letter containing a list of victims arrives in the post, P.I. Jack Taylor tells himself that it’s got nothing to do with him. He has enough to do just staying sane. His close friend Ridge is recovering from surgery, and alcohol’s siren song is calling to him ever more insistently. A guard and then a judge die in mysterious circumstances. But it is not until a child is added to the list that Taylor determines to find the identity of the killer, and stop them at any cost. What he doesn’t know is that his relationship with the killer is far closer than he thinks. And it’s about to become deeply personal. Spiked with dark humor, and fueled with rage at man’s inhumanity to man, this is crime writing at its darkest and most original.

Coffee & Cigarettes

We watched the DVD "Coffee & Cigarettes."

Synopsis

A comic series of short vignettes built on one another to create a cumulative effect, as the characters discuss things as diverse as caffeine popsicles, Paris in the '20s, and the use of nicotine as an insecticide all the while sitting around sipping coffee and smoking cigarettes. Delves into the normal pace of our world from an extraordinary angle, shows just how absorbing the obsessions, joys and addictions of life can be, if truly observed.

Dark Knight

We watched the DVD "Dark Knight." There's some distrurning scenes.

Synopsis

With just one year having passed after taking out Ra's Al Ghul's plan to have Gotham eliminated and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA the Scarecrow, and after the city was nearly plundered with his toxins, Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter-ego the Batman, continue the seemingly endless effort to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. James Gordon and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent. But a new threat has now emerged into the streets. The Dark Knight faces a rising psychopathic criminal called The Joker, whose eerie grin, laughter, and inhuman morality makes him as dangerous than what he has yet to unleash. It becomes an agenda to Batman to stop the mysterious Joker at all costs, knowing that both of them are in an opposite line. One has no method at all and seeks to see the world plunge into the fire he has yet to light. One represents the symbol of hope and uses his own shadow to bring the peace and order he has yet to accomplish doing.

Get Smart

I watched the DVD "Get Smart."

Synopsis

American Maxwell Smart (Steve Carrell) works for a Government spy agency in an administrative capacity. When the agency's head office is attacked, the Chief decides to assign Maxwell as a spy and partners him with sexy Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) much to her chagrin. The duo nevertheless set off to combat their attackers by first parachuting off an airplane and landing in Russian territory - followed closely by a over seven foot tall, 400 pound goon, known simply as Dalip. The duo, handicapped by Maxwell's antics, will eventually have their identities compromised, and may be chalked up as casualties while back in America their attackers have already planted a bomb that is set-up to explode in a concert.

Catwoman

I watched the DVD "Catwoman" with Halle Berry.

Synopsis

Catwoman (Halle Berry) is a shy, sensitive artist Patience Philips, a woman who can't seem to stop apologizing for her own existence. She works as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a mammoth cosmetics company on the verge of releasing a revolutionary anti-aging product. When Patience inadvertently happens upon a dark secret her employer is hiding, she finds herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy. What happens next changes Patience forever. In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes Catwoman, a sleek and stealthy creature balancing on the thin line between good and bad. Like any wildcat, she's dangerous, elusive and untamed. Her adventures are complicated by a burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), a cop who has fallen for Patience but cannot shake his fascination with the mysterious Catwoman, who appears to be responsible for a string of crime sprees plaguing the city.

Intermission

We watched the DVD "Intermission."

Synopsis

Intermission is an urban love story about people adrift and their convoluted journeys in the search for some kind of love. When the desperately insecure and emotionally inarticulate John (Cillian Murphy) breaks up with Deirdre (Kelly MacDonald) to 'give her a little test' his plan backfires leaving her broken-hearted and him alone and miserable. Through chance and coincidence, their break-up triggers a roller coaster ride of interweaving escapades in the lives of everyone around them. Intermission presents a slice of life, the passage between breaking up and making up, exploring how our lives intersect, and the power we all possess to affect the lives of those around us.

Muriel's Wedding

We wayched the DVD "Muriel's Wedding."

Synopsis

Muriel Heslop, a young girl in her 20's, lives in Porpoise Spit, Australia. She is surrounded by an uncaring family and people she thinks are her friends — the popular girls who think that Muriel is not “on their level”. To escape her depressing life, Muriel listens to the music of ABBA and dreams of getting married. To her, getting married signifies she has become a success — and that is something she needs in her life. When her parents give her a check (which she tells her mom to make out to “cash”) to buy supplies for a new job, Muriel steals their savings and goes on a holiday to Hibiscus Island. There she meets Rhonda, a lively, vivacious person who helps her come out of her shell. Muriel decides to move to Sydney to be roommates with Rhonda and start her own life, which includes a name change, a wedding, and a few twists and turns. Along the way, she learns about life, love and friendship. Muriel's Wedding is a humorous and touching story of one girl's journey as she realizes that she can be who she is and succeed for herself, without having to prove so to anyone else.

T.G.I. Friday's

The family went to dinner at T.G.I. Fridays in Darien for our anniversary. There was also a special surprise on the table. We had a wonderful dinner.

Oh Johnny

I finished reading "Oh Johnny" by Jim Lehrer.

ABOUT THE BOOK

"Call me Johnny. Oh Johnny Oh. That’s what my mom calls me. You can call me anything. But mainly call me a ballplayer. A center fielder. I’m good, and I’m going to be even better.” A talented athlete, Johnny Wrigley firmly believes that someday he will play major league baseball. But on the way to his dreams, Johnny finds his life unexpectedly taking a detour. In April 1944, Johnny is a newly minted marine on a troop train heading west for California, where he will be shipped overseas to fight in the Pacific Theater. At a brief stop in Wichita, Johnny gets off the train and falls in love. She’s giving apples and cigarettes to the marines, and she is the most beautiful girl Johnny has ever seen. In a storeroom at the station, they share an intimacy that Johnny will treasure for the next two years at war—and beyond. As a flamethrower operator on the suicide squad in Peleliu, Johnny sees the worst of battle. Scores of his fellow soldiers are killed around him, but memories of Betsy Luck (the private name Johnny has given his Kansas love) keep him safe. Yet nothing prepares Johnny for the combat in Okinawa—and the terrible events that will haunt him forever. Two years later, Johnny is back in Wichita, searching for the girl he wants to marry. But fate has different plans for Johnny, his long-dreamed-of baseball career, and the girl whose memory helped him survive. Full of rich and vivid descriptions of Johnny’s experiences both as a marine and as a ballplayer.

The Snapper

I watched the DVD "The Snapper."

Synopsis

Set in Ireland, Sharon Curley (Tine Kellegher) is a 20 year old living with her parents and many brothers and sisters. When she gets herself pregnant and refuses to name the father, she becomes the talk of the town. The Curley family is a poor but eccentric and loving Irish family. Oldest daughter Sharon announces she is pregnant, but refuses to reveal the identity of the father to anyone. Her father, Dessie (Colm Meaney), is supportive, but begins to chafe at the derisive gossip aimed at his family and his daughter. This leads to a confrontation between the two that is, like the rest of the movie, simultaneously funny and sad. The family waits in the hospital as Sharon gives birth to the snapper (Irish slang for an infant).

Cadillac Beach

I finished reading "Cadillac Beach" by Tim Dorsey.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Certifiable nutcase Serge Storms and Lenny, his spacey marijuana-addicted sidekick, are back again in Dorsey's sixth screwball crime-spree novel, this time on the trail of a stash of missing gems. As the novel begins, Serge escapes from Chattahoochee, Florida's state psychiatric hospital, and heads for Miami, obsessed with the idea of clearing up the mystery surrounding his grandfather's alleged suicide, which is tied to the legendary dozen diamonds still missing after Murph the Surf's infamous 1964 jewel heist from the Museum of Natural History. Serge's ambitious crusade gets off to an ill-omened start when he awakens the interest of both the mob and the Feds after getting into a graveside altercation with Tony Marsicano, the mob boss who was alone at the deathbed of Rico Spagliosi, a deceased fence reputed to have a part in the jewel heist. In a typical display of off-the-wall buffoonery, Serge starts a specialty Miami tour service, and his first booking is a group of drunken salesmen who, out to play a practical joke on a colleague, mistakenly kidnap Tony, with dire results. Sporadically moving back and forth between time present and nostalgic flashbacks to Miami Beach in the 1960s, the novel chronicles the methodical murders of Serge's grandfather's old cronies as Serge tracks his grandfather's movements at the time of the infamous gem heist and the return of the most famous of the stolen stones. Studded with psychosocial observations and dopey gags, this latest episode of Florida's hottest helter-skelter, hallucinogenic freak show will delight legions of Dorsey fans. - Publishers Weekly

Track Meet

My oldest son ran his fastest 3200 yet - 10:01 against some good competition. He came in fourth and got another medal. He also ran the 1600 later in the meet and had a good time of 4:52. His team came in third against some good competition. We had Al's Pizza after the meet.