More movies!

Today was another movie day! We watched RocknRolla, a Guy Ritchie film about a bunch of gangsters and a painting. It's quite good; in many ways, it's like a heist movie. Well, it is a movie that contains heists and gangsters from different countries and has lots of funny lines. One thing I especially liked about this movie is that the storylines and characters are played out in parallel and then intersect at the end. The acting was perfect for this movie as well. If you get a chance, it's worth a watch.

This evening we watched Wolf Creek, a movie about three people who are driving through the Australian Outback who, when their car stops working, find themselves in the company of a bushman. Horrors ensue. I think I actually saw this movie in Edmonton a few years ago with a friend of mine. Back then, the fact that this movie was allegedly based on a true story threw me off because I couldn't see how anyone could have known what happened, based on what the movie showed.

If I ignore that little thing, then this is actually a pretty good horror film; it has lots of tension and realistic gore. It *feels* scary in places, and that's something that I haven't always been comfortable feeling.... which may also account for the reasons I didn't love the movie before. Clearly my tastes have become more refined, or else I've seen so many bad horror movies that I've grown to appreciate what a good one has to offer.

Saturday movie night

I know a lot of you might have been concerned when we didn't see a movie last Saturday, so I'm sure you'll all be relieved to hear that we're back to Saturday movies. At least for this week :)

We watched Timecrimes, a very good Spanish movie about a guy who ends up in a time machine and travels backwards an hour... after which he tries to change the events that happened. I don't want to give too much away as it's much better to find out what happens for yourself. The movie might feel a bit slow for the first bit but it's worth sticking with; it definitely speeds up and gets more interesting (and more head-spinning) as it goes on. There's hardly any gore in this movie.

We watched this as a dubbed movie with subtitles for signs and stuff only. The dubbing was fine (although a bit stilted, like almost all dubbing) and didn't detract from the movie at all, and the subtitles we saw weren't intrusive. This movie is definitely watchable when it's dubbed and should be easy to watched sub-titled.

The DVD for this movie includes the sub-titled short film/music video 7:35 de la manana, directed by the same fellow as the movie. In this short film, a woman walks into a cafe and strangely, no one talks to her. Then a guy breaks out into song and, with the forced help of the people in the cafe, sings and dances about how he's wanted to approach her. The film is funny and tragic all at the same time. Don't let the sub-titles put you off; each phrase is short and easy to follow. I highly recommend this short film - I even found it for you on YouTube and it's only 8 minutes, so have at it :)

This DVD had lots of trailers for other good movies, and so you can expect that we (or I, at least) will be seeing Splinter, Let the Right One In, and Special at some point. The first two are scary-ish and that last one looks hilarious (a guy thinks he's got super-powers? How can that not be funny?).

Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep

When Ian left this morning, he said something to me about how he expected that when he got home, I'd still be asleep.

That turned out to be true - I didn't get up until Ian got home around 6:30pm, so today was a lost day.

Ian knew I'd sleep the day because I took Ativan last night to calm my extra-woogly back, and Ativan often makes me sleep a lot the next day. At least the Ativan calmed my back... but sleeping the whole day away isn't something that I'd like to do all the time.

You can't make this stuff up.

We'd recorded Dog Day Afternoon a little while ago and we watched it this evening. It's a re-creation of a robbery attempt that turned into a media circus in 1972 with some of the names and other details changed.

The movie is very good - it appears to re-create what actually happened (albeit in a shorter timeframe) and to show how the people developed over the course of the event. It starts out sort of funny just because the situation is so funny, because it's clear that the guys didn't really know what they were doing, robbing a bank, and they definitely had no exit plan when faced with the might of the NY police force.

When the media shows up, Sonny (the guy who "planned" the robbery) manipulates them, and that's funny, too. From then on, the movie is less funny and more sad, and then is just tragic.

The movie isn't just about a bank robbery gone wrong (honestly, if the cops had just waited until they were out of the bank, there would be no movie), but about the media and its power. This is a movie about how media circus and television experience an event, and how much people wanted to be a part of it. This, at a time when 24-hour media didn't exist. It's compelling, and also appalling, and a foreshadow of things to come.

This is definitely a movie worth watching. The story, the lighting, the acting, and the cinematography are all excellent; there's nothing to detract you from this movie. Even the supporting cast are amazing and add to the story.

Oprah is not infallible

A lot of people out there are fans of Oprah. Oprah is an amazing woman, having overcome poverty and abuse to become a leader and spokesperson followed by millions. She has a presence in just about every medium and people follow her there, too. If she recommends a book, that book is a sellout. Same with clothing, jewelry, ideas, and medical theories.

I'm not an Oprah fan. There are people out there who follow what she says without thinking and I didn't want to be someone who did that. I've also felt wary about many of her medical and spiritual claims, but there was nothing that I could really put my finger on that bothered me.

Today I read an article that made sense to me and that clarified for me *why* I don't totally trust Oprah: I don't believe that she is necessarily doing good things for her followers. When she has science on her show that's later proven to be questionable, she doesn't go back and take another look at that science; it's left to stand as is in syndicated re-runs forever.

Even though Oprah says that she expects her followers to think for themselves and to seek medical advice, she doesn't necessarily encourage them to do that by not presenting more than one side equally. People who do things by instinct or tarot cards can't possibly know what's best for everyone... and instinct can be wrong. As can tarot cards.

Oprah isn't all bad; her words and images and the power of her followers can do more for good causes than anything else. But if you do want to follow what she says... think about it and definitely get medical advice.

Games night

For the first time in ages, we actually went out to play boardgames. There were tons of people there; it was great to see and talk and hang out with them.

Most of us played Container, a new game that Ian likes and bought a little while ago. It's an economic-based game where players produce, store, ship, and sell containers. As the game goes on, the players actually end up setting up a fine market-based economy and that shared economy can do the things economies can do, like go into inflation or recession; monopolies are also possible. The game seems complicated at first but it's not hard to play. It is a fairly long game; ours clocked in around two and a half or three hours. It was a lot of fun.

In sad news, a friend of mine isn't doing too well and I'm so sad for her. I knew that things weren't going that well because the cancer seems to be everywhere but now things are worse and she can't eat or walk or anything. I'm afraid that the end is near for her and I've been crying off and on all afternoon. I hope that her condition turns around... but if it doesn't, then I hope she doesn't suffer.

Cube Zero

Cube Zero was on tv tonight and so of course I watched it. If you aren't familiar with the movie, it's about people who are trapped in a 3-D maze of identical cubes (some of which are booby-trapped) and the people who watch them. It's not quite as good as the original Cube but it's still quite good in that we get to see some of the people who watch the people in the cube.

I think it's the idea of the cube that I like - that such a structure could be built. In the movies, this type of cube is definitely used for evil purposes instead of anything good - and realistically, what good could come of putting people in a 3-D maze of cubes? Why would someone do that? I can't imagine a rational reason for building such a structure.... but it's still an interesting idea.

Tomorrow is my last meditation class for the summer. I'm going to miss going to the class as I've learned a lot about how to relax and calm down (even if I'm not always good at doing the things I know to do). Stress is easy to find; peace, not so much. So even half-formed meditation skills are useful.

Finally, some sewing!

I finally got around to sewing the dress today and I'm quite pleased with the results. The waist is a little tight but that's because my waist is big in proportion to my bust and hips - middle-aged spread, I assume :( . Letting the waist of the dress out will be easy because it has four darts, each with 2" taken in at the waist, plus four seams along which I can make changes.

Aside from that one fitting issue, the dress fits perfectly and looks exactly like the picture. Looking at the dress on me, I decided to make two other small style changes: bring the neckline in a bit as I find it wide for me; and bring the skirt in a bit on the sides as I find it sticks out a bit more than I like. After that I have to test the matching jacket, but I'm fairly confident that the jacket will fit as well as the dress.

Once I'm finished the adjustments on the test garment and the paper pattern, I'll go ahead and draft all of the facings. Then I can pick out a fabric (hopefully from my collection of fabrics, but I'm not adverse to buying new fabric :) ) and sew an actual dress and jacket.

I'm very pleased with my work this time. For the first time, the grading is *perfect*. Not only that, but I sewed the test garment without having to rip out and re-sew any seams! These are both firsts for me, and I'm quite proud of myself, if I do say so myself. It's about time that my grading and sewing went right. :) Yay for me!

A very lazy Saturday

This must be a rare occasion: even though it's Saturday, we didn't watch any movies. Amazing, huh? :)

It's not like we did all that much instead; we got groceries, went for a walk, and Ian played video games while I watched. His latest game is Infamous, a game where a bomb has gone off in a city and somehow the protagonist ended up with electric-based power. The city is a mess of warring factions and the protagonist goes around trying to fix things. The game has lots of side quests and things to do as well as the main quest. The visuals are interesting as is the fact that the guy can climb like a monkey.

I like this game; there's lots of stuff to do and that the game can be played as good or evil. I also like that the main character doesn't have any conventional weapons, but only different things he can do with his power. Ian says that it's a fun game to play, and I think it's fun to watch him play. I don't play video games myself; I'm a back-seat video-game player. It's sort of like watching a longer, more interesting, and more interactive movie :)

Sleep, wake, sleep, watch movie

Believe it or not, I managed to not sleep all day. Not that I did much of anything today - I'd thought of going for a walk but I ended up having a nap instead. Which was just as well, I suppose, as a walk would've tired me out even more.

This evening we watched The Others, a fine Nicole Kidman movie about a woman and her two children living in a house where strange things happen. There's a twist at the end that makes the whole movie much more interesting and worth a second viewing. I'd actually seen it before but I'd say that it was even better the second time.

This is a period piece, set in England in 1945 in the most beautiful house ever. I suppose it was a summer home once upon a time; it's huge with lovely furniture and exquisite parquet floors. The clothes are gorgeous - even thought the movie is realistic and each character has a limited number of outfits - and correct for their time. Period movies that do things right are a joy to watch (especially for someone who likes vintage fashions, like me) because a person can really immerse themselves in the time shown.

Even if you don't like vintage fashion or period movies, the acting from everyone is superb. Nicole Kidman really carries this movie when she's on her own - which is much of the time - and the children steal the scenes when they're in them. Overall, this is an understated but very good movie, and well worth watching if you haven't seen it.

Pamidronate day

Getting my Pamidronate today went pretty smoothly, except for not being sent to actually receive my Pamidronate early enough. At the reception, they tell me to wait until I'm called, but in the chemo suite, they  always tell me that I'm supposed to go right back, as long as I'm going to be in the back area. The trouble is, I don't know whether or not I'm going to be in the back area. Today I had the bloodwork in the regular area and the Pamidronate in the back area.

So today I finally learned: when I sign in for either the bloodwork or to receive Pamidronate, ask if I should go right to the back. If I'm not going to be back there, then someone will come and get me.

You'd think that I wouldn't have to figure out a procedure like this... that things would just work there. I'd think that, too, but I know that the hospital attached to the cancer center is one of the worst in Ontario, so I've learned not to expect as much as I would anywhere else.

Aside from that, everything went smoothly. In between doing the bloodwork and getting the Pamidronate, I went for a walk. It was a lovely day and I walked around the area just to the west of the hospital. That area is quite nice with houses set back on well-maintained lawns and beautiful gardens. It was a peaceful place to walk and spend time; much better than sitting around in the hospital or cancer center.

Finally, some work on my dress

I cut out and marked my fabric today for my sample dress. For the sample, I'm using a lovely 1/8" periwinkle gingham fabric; it's actually quite a pretty and flattering fabric for me. I doubt that the dress will be perfect right from the get-go, but I'm hoping that it'll fit well enough.

The picture on the front of the pattern isn't quite right because it shows the dress ending somewhere around the knee, but in fact, the dress ends at the mid-calf. I was looking at the main dress pieces and they looked long but I couldn't figure out *why* they were so long. I'd shortened them by the right amounts. But of course I hadn't shortened the dress from a mid-calf to a knee-length dress, which is a separate alteration.

I have Pamidronate tomorrow but I'm hoping to get the dress basted together to see how it fits. Cross your fingers for it to work out. :)

Change is inevitable

I meant to make a yummy dinner with spaghetti squash (instead of pasta) and turkey meatballs (instead of the usual meatballs or ground beef). We've had this meal before and it's healthy as well as yummy; spaghetti squash makes a good substitute for real spaghetti pasta.

So I was all ready to make this and had bought what I needed ... and then I slept all afternoon so I didn't have time to bake the squash (it takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours). I was up early for Meditation class and I guess I was tired because... I don't know. I was tired.

There's a huge something going on over at the young survival coalition support board. For quite some time, I've felt uncomfortable posting on the mets board because non-mets people read and post there (sometimes inappopriately). Other people are coming to this realization. We mets people are being seen as "meany metsies" to some people, and when we post on the general, non-mets board, things go bad.

Some of the women with mets are not doing well... their cancer is taking over, and their days are numbered. Naturally, these women are not happy and are not providing the kind of patient support they'd provided before. But it isn't just that some women aren't being as kind, or as supportive; it's that there's much more animosity on the general board. Some of that comes from cancer fakers, and some of that just seems to be the changing landscape of the board.

Support boards change... and this board is *not* changing for the better. It's so tense there, and so hard to post. Some women are considering setting something up somewhere else, and I'd be happy with that.

Is there such a thing as too many movies?

Is it possible to see too many movies? I guess there are people out there that think that the number of movies I watch is a waste of time. But... I like movies. I like the stories, the cinematography, the sets, the costumes, and sometimes the actors. The more movies I watch, the more I appreciate the effort that goes into a good movie.

It's not like I watch every movie that is released. In fact, I don't watch all that many mainstream movies because I find them formulaic. I tend to stay away from most comedies - unless they're mockumentaries, dark comedies, or star Jack Black - because I find that they're not all that funny, as a rule. I don't watch romantic comedies because I find them formulaic and stupid most of the time. I also stay away from movies with bad acting because I like to immerse myself in movies and I can't do that if the acting is bad.

There are movies that I love, of course. My favourite movies are the ones that require me to think about what I'm watching; movies where I have to pay attention, and that I'll think about afterward because they raise interestng ideas and questions. These tend to be quirky movies; the ones that are subtle and non-mainstream (maybe even foreign movies) that might be played at the local independent theatre.

When I'm not in the mood to think too hard, I like to watch science-fiction-type movies, comic-book movies, and some action movies because they're fun. These movies generally don't require too much effort on my part but they're entertaining.

I also love to watch movies that are groundbreaking for one reason or another: animated movies showcasing new techniques; brilliant costume or set design; amazing CGI techniques; unusual sequencing; and things like that. If a movie includes something completely new, I want to see it to evaluate the new thing.

And of course, no matter what, I'm always in the mood for horror movies. Even the bad ones, because when they're bad they're usually unintentionally funny. But for the most part, the buildup of tension and final release in a good horror movie is cathartic; it can be a way for me to deal with more negative emotions.

So you see.... I love movies, and I love watching them. So I watch a *lot* of them :)

With all that said, I'm sure it'll be no surprise to you that we watched a movie today. We saw Drag Me to Hell, and we saw it in the theatre! It's not often that I get to see a horror movie in the theatre but I must say that a horror movie is much, much better in the theatre because you're totally immersed in the movie with the sound and the picture completely surrounding you.

Even a bad horror movie is better seen in a movie theatre but I'm pleased to tell you that Drag Me to Hell is actually a *good* horror movie. The story, cinematography, and music work together to create the tension and fear that a good horror movie needs. There are plenty of startles and jumps and a fine twist at the end. This is a movie that's definitely worth seeing if you like horror movies.

And as an aside, I loved the clothes that the protagonist wore. They were so smart and pretty and cute and stylish and gorgeous; I wish I was tiny like her so that I could wear clothes like that. And I loved the shoes she wore, too, but I know that there's no way that I get to wear shoes with a significant heel while I'm walking around with my cane. :( The clothes were still awesome.

Saturday is movie day

It's practically summertime so there are lots and lots of movies opening soon. One of these is The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 which opens on June 12. It's about guys who hijack New York subway train Pelham 123, hold people hostage, demand money, and escape - but how?. One regular transit dispatcher guy ends up involved. The movie stars famous people (Denzel Washington and John Travolta) and the trailers make it look really exciting and action-y. I'd sort of thought of trying to see it when it comes out, if it got good reviews.

What I didn't know was that this is a (second) remake of a 1974 film: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, starring Walter Matthau, which was showing tonight on the public tv station. It's a heist movie! Who doesn't love a good heist move? :)

And this is a good heist movie - actually, it's a good movie, period. It's suspenseful and engrossing, with some comic moments thrown to ease the tension. It was interesting to see how the hijackers used their knowledge of the New York subway system and its trains to pull off the job. If you're going to do any kind of heist, it's important to know just how everything works, yes?

The main question throughout is how the hijackers are going to escape and get away with the job. I'm not going to tell you whether they succeed or how it ends - even though the movie has been remade, I don't know whether they'll use the exact same story. They've already changed the title (words representing numbers are so old-fashioned; why not just the numbers instead?) and I hope that they don't change the actual story too much. Being the age that it is, I expect that they'll not only modernize the story to reflect the updated technology, but also add some new twists and turns and stunts. Maybe even an explosion or two.

As long the remake stays a heist movie, it'll probably be ok.

We just saw the *best* movie

First things first: my CT scan came back clear (or unremarkable) with no new mets and no changes in the existing spots, which means that I'm still stable. Yay!

We watched the most amazing, thought-provoking movie tonight: Synecdoche, New York. The story is about a theatre producer's life and his life's work, where he builds a replica of New York in an abandoned warehouse.

The movie is funny, poignant, and surreal... by the end, it's hard to know who is who and what is what. Everything hinges on the title, specifically, synecdoche, which can mean either something that refers to a part of that thing, or a part of a thing that refers to the whole of the thing. So there are layers upon layers upon layers in the movie (even for the characters!).

This isn't the kind of movie you can start and then walk away from; almost *everything* has meaning, one way or another. If you're going to watch this movie, then commit to watching it all the way through, pausing it if you have to leave the room or are otherwise distracted. It is a masterpiece of a movie, but it is also a movie that requires a lot of attention and can be difficult to watch. This is part of this movie's greatness.

We watched the movie with a few other people and we spent some time afterward trying to figure out what the whole movie was about and also some of the imagery. It's a wonderful film and one that I'll definitely see again (in part to see if I can understand the motifs and metaphors this time... I think this is a movie that needs to be seen twice). I highly recommend it.

Sleep, sleep, sleep all day

Once a week or so, I sleep all day. I don't exactly know why it happens, but when it does I just give in and sleep and sleep and sleep.

And that's what I did today. I was tired and it was raining and thunderstorming and so I slept all day. Well, all day until 4pm when Ian called, but if he hadn't called I expect I'd still be sleeping. It's not like I didn't try to get up, because I did, but I just couldn't make myself get up out of bed.

Because I was asleep all day, I wasn't able to call my oncologist to get my CT scan results. I'll call tomorrow and hopefully I'll get them then. If she's not in I guess I'll wait until Monday.

Listening to an author speak

Robert J. Sawyer, a well-known, fiercely Canadian, award-winning science-fiction author, gave a talk at Google today. He's just published a new book: Wake, first of the WWW trilogy, which is about the world wide web gaining consciousness, and so he was talking about consciousness.

Sawyer is a very skilled speaker - he has done CBC radio lectures, so I expected him to have a good voice, and he was also very enthusiastic and engaging. He was obviously very interested in what he was saying about consciousness and had researched it thoroughly, until he knew it inside and out. It was a very interesting talk, and so interesting and engaging that time flew by; I was shocked when I looked up and saw that he'd been talking for 40 minutes!

He talked about what it means to be conscious and how a consciousness could rise out of the web. He also discussed how difficult it was to write about this; as a conscious human being, how can we possibly conceive of an alien consciousness, and how would it develop, without turning that consciousness into an anthopomorphic being?

Ian and I both very enjoyed the talk; Ian actually got to talk to him in a small group before and after and got to know him a little bit. He seems like a really interesting person :)

A side-effect of listening to the talk was that I can "hear" his voice when reading his books. I've read a few of his books (including Wake) and while I've loved the concepts - they're extremely thought-provoking - I've had trouble with the voice that they're written in; some parts have seemed a bit stilted when I think he's been trying to convey an emotion. I don't read emotion in books very well, which goes along with not being able to "see" emotions very well on people's faces. For a long, long time, I couldn't figure out what people on movies were doing to show emotion; their facial expressions didn't make sense to me. I'm getting better at that.

Anyways, if Robert J. Sawyer stops by your city on this promotional tour, I'd recommend that you go and listen to him speak; it's interesting and well worth the time, even if you aren't a science fiction fan.

Tomorrow I call to get my CT scan results: I expect that the results are good, but of course I'm nervous about  getting them. I'll post the results here on my blog when I get them.

Summer TV

I'd been worried that there wouldn't be anything to watch in the summer what with all of the regular shows finished. Fortunately, there are new things to watch.

Like Canada's Worst Handyman 4, which is both funny and sad to watch. I yell at the tv a LOT when that show is on, both because the people on the show seem not to even be able to read basic instructions or think through the most basic design. One contestant was kicked off this week for saying something awful to the other contestants - I don't know what it was but it was bad.

One of the new shows is Mental which we watched for the first time tonight. It's about an unconventional psychiatric department head, in a House-like tradition. The first episode was ok but we'll probably wait and see how it is over the next few weeks.

Tonight also marked the start of Canada's Next Top Model cycle 3, only two weeks after America's Next Top Model cycle 12 finished. The drama and cattiness has already started! I'm pretty sure that the models get younger every year :) The challenge prize winners on this episode got to go off the coast of PEI to look at the baby seals. I was so jealous... I'd love to go there.

Getting some grading done

Believe it or not, I actually managed to grade the vintage pattern I'm working with today. Yep. Well, except for the small pieces like the facings and collar, as well as the gusset piece. The gusset piece actually acts as the undersleeve; the yoke and sleeve design doesn't leave enough room for the entire half-sleeve on each of the front and back. As well, the gusset gives the arm better range of motion.

Even though I finished the grading, I'm not finished working with the pieces yet. I'm not used to grading some of these pieces and I wanted to look at my work tomorrow with fresh eyes. Heck, even the pieces that I think I graded correctly could use a once-over. :) Still, I'm pleased with the work that I've done so far. Up until now, it's been taking me longer than this to get this far with my pattern. Who'd have thought that I could work this quickly? :) Now I hope that the work I've done is correct.