6/30 & 7/1

 6/30

Another month is over.  

I watched a couple of DVDs from the library at the cabin this trip.  The first was THE MAN FROM UNCLE, which was a vastly underperforming Guy Richie movie from a few years back that I thought was pretty excellent when I saw it in the theater (yeah, it actually played in the theater).  To my surprise, it was even better the second time, and I will unequivocally list it as my favorite Guy Richie flick.

My cousin Ryan had told me that the CRUELLA movie was enjoyable, so I picked it up.  There were parts that were good, sure, and I liked that it took place in, what was it, 1974?  Also, I've never considered 101 DALMATIONS a masterpiece of cinema, so that helps.  And it didn't make me wish that I was dead, and that the Disney empire would burn to the ground like MALEFICENT did, so there's that.

I also watched CHAPPAQUIDICK, about the car accident in 1969 that seemingly undid Ted Kennedy's political career (except that he served in the Senate for, like, forty years after that).  It was pretty unpleasant, but was meant to be.

They say that those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.  Well, I just heard that Paramount has made a prequel to ROSEMARY'S BABY . . . and for a moment, I was excited about it.  Let's see if I still have that Picard facepalm image . . .

Writing or Exercise: Exercise

7/1

Today, it was ninety-eight degrees outside.  There's no point to me saying this--I'm not complaining, just commenting.

I came back to the library today.  If I can write 300 words, I will consider it a success.

I'm sure I got double that.  I was writing the crucial scene of finally understanding what the voice is whispering, and I ended up writing a whole bit I had not intended, and was still going strong when they announced that it was time for all good monkeys' tails to fall off, had I lost mine yet?

I went home and had a good long chat with Big Anklevich, who gets off work around the same time I leave the library*.  Then my nephew (14) asked me if we could watch the Adam Sandler movie THE HUSTLE tonight (I'd been telling him we should watch it for weeks now, but there's always one of his parents around, and I didn't want to get in trouble, since the movie's rated R). 

But I needn't have bothered.  His mom was in the room, doing something on her laptop, and told us we could watch it, and told the eleven year old he could too, so we did.  

HUSTLE tells the story of a basketball recruiter (played by Adam Sandler) who, at whatever age Adam Sandler's supposed to be, pins all his hopes and family's future on a Spanish amateur player that he brings to Philadelphia for a shot at the NBA.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, despite not being a sports guy.  

My nephew, however, impressed the hell out of me by constantly telling me who all the players were (whether they were playing themselves or not), even if they're only shown for a second or two.  I don't know how he did it, except to say that if there was a movie like this that took place at a Star Trek or Star Wars convention, I guess I could name every "celebrity" cameo that there was.  Still, they're not going to make a movie that takes place at one of these cons, though I'd enjoy writing one about a murder investigation at a Sci-Fi convention, and the suspects are all ex-cast members of a classic genre show.**

Writing or Exercise: Writing

*Okay, that's a lie.  I ALWAYS call him when he's still working on the show, sometimes right up against the wire.  The poor bastage.  But the fault isn't solely mine: he could refuse to answer, right?

**Spoiler: It was Walter Koenig that did it.  And of course you know why.