Movies - 5/19/2020

Based on the novel by the same name by Maria Semple, Where'd Ya Go, Bernadette? is a quirky dramedy. Cate Blanchett stars as the main character. She plays a mom who has cocooned her family in a house literally falling down around them, as she avoids people, places and things. Of course, we don't know why at the beginning of the story, but it gets juicy as it goes on. Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson and Kristen Wiig also star. It was good!

I watched The Chaperone on Masterpiece on PBS. It's loosely based on the life of Louise Brooks, who was a famous movie star in the 1920s. Elizabeth McGovern plays the chaperone hired by Brooks' mother to accompany her 15-year-old daughter to NYC to study dance. Haley Lu Richardson plays Brooks. Blythe Danner also stars. I enjoyed the show.

In other news, I've caught up with (binge-watched) the following shows. I recommend all of them:

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - Amazon

Grace and Frankie -Amazon Prime

Little Fires Everywhere - Hulu

Shrill - Hulu

Why Women Kill - CBS All Access 

Picard - CBS 

After Life - Netflix

MK out

Movie Monday - 5/30/2011

...and it's Memorial Day.  Hope yours is going well.

Katie Jarvis' real life is not too different from Mia's, the girl she plays in Fish Tank.  Michael Fassbender and Kierston Wareing also star in this film about a rebellious teenager who goes up against her mother for the affections of a man.  It was an interesting study of life in the British projects.  It was alright.

I've been hearing about the book, Water for Elephants, for several years.  I don't know why, but the title wasn't very appealing to me.  Since time is a premium resource, I skipped over it until recently.  When it was announced that the film was coming out, I knew I would have to read the book.  I finally did earlier this month.  It is a good story, about a vet student who finds out that his parents are killed in a car accident, is left with nothing, and decides to leave all he has known to to find some sort of job.  He ends up on a circus train, falls in love with a married woman and starts tending to the animals.  The film is an adequate adaptation of the novel.  I liked it.

I've watched Season 1 of The United States of Tara - Showtime's look at life with a family member with Dissociative Identity Disorder - formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.  It is quite entertaining, if I do say so myself.

Don't eat too many hot dogs...

MK out.

There's a New Game in Town...

...and it's called Clear the DVR.

Between the time my momma first went into the hospital and Saturday, when we returned home after the funeral, all my shows recorded in those two weeks as scheduled.  The DVR had only about 4% free recording space left.  Other than a hair appointment and a lunch date with a friend, I didn't really need to leave the house. I thought I would just sit on the couch, watch my shows and eat bon bons all week.  Between Monday and tonight, I watched:

2 episodes of Mike & Molly
2 episodes of Ruby
2 episodes of The Judds
2 episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City
3 episodes of Bethenny Ever After
3 episodes of Brothers and Sisters
3 episodes of Desperate Housewives
3 episodes of Glee
3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy
 
The DVR has lots of space now...like 46% free!
 
There were season finales involved...but some shows haven't ended for the season yet:  What's going to happen to Susan?  Will the Gleeks win Nationals?  Will Meredith's actions mess up the clinical trial?  Will Jill and Alex really become friends?
 
Stay tuned.
 
MK out.
 
[This post was written Thursday night 5/12 - but I wasn't able to go back in and make final revisions and publish it until 5/13 due to issues that blogger was experiencing.]

Back to the Island...

I haven't written my thoughts about the Lost series finale up to now, because I needed a little time to digest everything. There really is a lot to take in. To tell you the truth, I felt a little cheated at first right after watching the last episode. Then, I read a few blogs and thought about it some more. Overall, I am happy with how the show ended.

 I can accept that the Island has been there for a long time - The Egyptian artifacts were probably put there by real Egyptians a long time ago - about the same time that they were building pyramids and statues in Egypt. I don't really care how they came to the Island in order to do that.

I can accept that the Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. I don't need to know the scientific explanation about how that is accomplished.


I can accept that the Island has had protectors since time began. I can accept that Jacob created the devil in his evil twin (ET) - and that he desired to destroy him, but couldn’t by himself. I like the idea that he would bring people to the Island 1. to be candidates for protecting the Island and 2. to kill ET since he couldn’t do it himself. However, ET would end up corrupting the people and causing them to kill one another.


I can accept that the Dharma people were just another group of people brought to the Island to kill ET, even though they thought they had their own agenda.


I can accept that everything that happened on the Island happened.

I can accept that our Losties were the most important people in each others lives, and went through the whole experience with one another. It makes sense that they would wait for each one to die before they moved on to the next thing together.


I can accept the “Fate” vs. “Free Will” theme, as well as the “Faith” vs. “Science” theme of the show.


The people who seem to be having the most trouble with the ending are the “Men (& Women) of Science” that I know. They want concrete answers to how everything worked and why it worked. I am happy with believing that it did. After all, this show is science fiction. I find that when watching science fiction, one has to have a little faith that things work out the way that they do.


MK out.

Seriously Bummed

I have a list of things that are bumming me out right now:
1.  I have a headache.
2.  It is really hot.
3.  Lost is over forever.  I will write more about that topic later this week.
4.  I started a cute little top yesterday.  I had checked a gauge swatch and it was right on the money.  The gauge was determined on stockinette stitch.  There is very little straight stockinette stitch in this top.  I tend to knit a little "loose" so, I decided to go down a size.  I cast on, knit for about 2 inches and noticed that it looked a little wide.  I measured it and it was about 7 inches wider than the schematic tells me it should be.  Not convinced by the math, I measured it against the top I recently made that I wish wasn't so big on me...

I think I have to take out at least two repeats of the pattern.  Bummer.  I like the yarn - It's Mirasol wach'i - 100% cotton, but not too hard on my hands.  The needles are the new circulars by Signature.  I love them!  These are size 6.  I also bought some in sizes 5 and 7.  Love, love, love them.  Mwah!  ( I love that Teresa Giudice!)

MK out.

May Means...

…season and series finales!



I watch a lot of television. I TiVo my favorite shows. I either work out to them in the mornings or just watch them when I have time. Sometimes, it takes me a while to work through my recorded shows, but I try to stay current.


Lost is my penultimate favorite show. It is in its sixth and final season, and the series finale is a two hour extravaganza, which follows a two hour extravaganza of a review of the series, all on this Sunday night. I.cannot.wait. but I will miss the show.


I watch Grey’s Anatomy because ER is over forever, although Grey’s is not a good substitute. It is quite entertaining though, but not in a realistic sort of way. Scrubs was more realistic than GA in many ways. Still, I like it. Their season finale was on tonight, but I didn’t want to watch it live…I want to whiz through the commercials for this one.


Private Practice is a Grey’s Anatomy spin-off. The two shows sometimes have crossover episodes. I don’t like it as well as I do GA, but it keeps me watching in a train wreck kind of way. I wonder why the writers don’t introduce new characters to be love interests for these people, because they continually engage in incestuous relationships amongst themselves. They just don’t date outside the group. Ew. Anyway, there were no cliffhangers in the season finale. I think I’ll be able to wait until the fall.


I like watching Brothers and Sisters just because. It’s another show without a cliffhanging season finale.


Desperate Housewives is silly, but fun.


I watch The New Adventures of Old Christine because I just love Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She is an exceptional comedic actress. She just cracks me up.


Cougar Town….Yeah…I watch that one.


I do watch a few reality shows:
Kirstie Alley’s Big Life is just dumb. I don’t think I will be watching this show for much longer.


Tori and Dean – Home Sweet Hollywood – I like to watch this show because the kids are cute.


Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels – I really like this show and marvel at the fact Gene and Shannon managed to raise such well adjusted kids in their not very conventional lifestyle. I mean, seriously, how many people do you know whose fathers are rockers? See. My favorite episode from this season is the one in which Shannon had a tazer party and invited the mother of Sophie's like/love interest.  OMG.

The Real Housewives of New York City – They started out being the classiest of the Real Housewives franchise, but this season…They are acting so high school. There was drama from the first episode of this season. I am not as enamored with this show as I was in the beginning…I keep watching because it has turned into a train wreck and I.can’t.stop.watching. Last season, they added Kelly – and I still don’t like her. This season, they’ve added Sonja. She is interesting.


The Real Housewives of New Jersey – They started out as a train wreck and they made no apologies. OMG!!! Danielle is a drama queen pot stirrer. There…I said it.


Sunset Daze – This show chronicles the adventures of a group of seniors living in a retirement community in Surprise, Arizona. There is life after retirement.

MK out.

V...They're Coming

The original 1980s science fiction television series started out with a 200 minute mini series and a sequel about aliens known as Visitors, who came to Earth with an agenda. They offered to share their advanced technology in exchange for minerals and chemicals needed for their world. A photojournalist boards one of their ships and discovers that the Visitors are really reptiles disguised as humanoids who eat rodents and birds. He takes pictures of them secretly and plans to expose them to the world.

Can I tell you how riveted to the television I was, watching this show?

And guess what?...They remade it and the series starts tonight.

MK out.

Monday, Monday....

I made this square and sent it off to be incorporated with other squares from knitters across the country into a baby blanket for a special person. I will not reveal the name of that person yet.








I've been knitting a lot lately. Going to The Kid's baseball games, a few hockey games, and Mavericks game every now and then affords me with much knitting time. I only have to do the finish work on the sweater I've been making for The Kid for the last year. Gracious! I am ready to be done with it, and the season for wearing it is just about over. That's the way I roll, though. Always a season behind. I also have to complete the sleeves and the finish work on my Gathered Pullover sweater, and I will be done, done and done with it. I have several other little things OTN and will complete everything...all in good time.

Speaking of sports, the Mavs and the Stars are struggling lately. The Stars seem to get further from playoff contention with each game that they play. Oh well. They started off on the wrong foot with the Sean Avery situation. Key players with injuries just added to the struggle. It will be interesting which restricted free agents will return next season. The Mavs are doing somewhat better. The real story is The Kid's baseball team. They won their fifth district game tonight - more than the two prior seasons combined. They are 5-0 in district play, and 15-1 overall. Go team!

My guilty pleasures television shows are building up to their season finales. In the case of ER, it's the series finale to which we will be treated this Thursday night. I started watching that show with episode one, and have been a faithful viewer throughout its run. Grey's Anatomy had an interesting story line last week where a little old lady was on the brink of dying once a month, and her family members wanted her to die already! The interesting, yet unrealistic, thing about that scenario is that the woman was a full code; so, every time she arrested, they would shock her back to life. I kept telling the television set, "That would sooo not happen! That woman would be a DNR, and no one would be torturing her with compressions and 300 joules of electrical current." The television was not listening. Oh well. Private Practice - train wreck. And I cannot turn my eyes away from it! The real guilty pleasure, though, is The Real Housewives of New York City. Last season was the first, and we met Jill, Alex, Lu Ann, Ramona and Betheny (who is not married, and by definition, not a housewife, but it does not disqualify her from the show). So, Lu Ann is married to a French Count - Alex de Lesseps. That makes her a Countess, and she's mighty proud of that fact, too. I used to think that Lu Ann was the least pretentious, but I've changed my mind this season. The big question of the show last season was whether or not Alex's husband, Simon, is gay. Who cares? What we do know is that Alex and Simon are joined at the hip, and have two rather ill-behaved young sons. Simon has rubbed Ramona the wrong way, and that acrimony has carried over into this season. In fact, just last week, she told Simon that "he has no depth" right before a fashion show was going to start at Fashion Week. Ramona can be very intense, but I think she has a good heart deep down. I have to admire the fact that she is not hypocritical. She doesn't like Alex and Simon, and she doesn't pretend that she does. Jill and Ramona have had their share of spats. I think Betheny and Jill are my favorites this season. Then, there's a new girl this time around, Kelly. She is a single-mother of two girls. I have not decided how I feel about her yet. I have to say that I have never watched The Real Housewives of Orange County. I have watched a couple of episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta and I didn't much like it. The NYC show, despite its occasional train wreck and mean girl qualities, is far more entertaining in my estimation.

Finally - I've seen some movies and I want to tell y'all about them:
Russian Dolls is the sequel to the movie L'Augerge Espagnole. It is five years later, and Xavier, an aspiring writer, has yet to sell his first novel, and finds himself writing for a French soap opera. His love life has much to be desired, yet not for lack of trying. The first film was much better. This one left me bored in spots. Several of the actors from the previous movie return, including the most famous of the bunch, Audrey Tautou. Meh.

Jamie Lee Curtis and the voice of Drew Barrymore (among others) star in Beverly Hills Chihuahua, about a dog who is whisked off to Mexico and gets lost. Chloe, the dog who sounds like Drew Barrymore, is a pampered pooch, who wears adorable little outfits, courtesy of her owner, Curtis. (Hi Barbara W.) Curtis has to go out of town, and enlists her niece to watch the pooch. The niece and friends decide to head on down to Me-hee-co. They take the dog, and they lose track of her. The search for the dog/the dog's journey to get back home - It's the crux of the movie. It was cute.

The Kite Runner is hard to watch in some scenes, but it is a gut-wretchingly good film about two boyhood friends in Afghanistan. Amir and Hassan are inseparable since birth, but an act of betrayal and geographic distance ultimately separates the boys. Amir and his father move to the US to escape the brewing political and military problems. Many years later, Amir returns to his, now Taliban-run, homeland to attempt to write a wrong. I really liked it.

Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman star in Last Chance Harvey, about Harvey, a struggling jingle writer, who travels to London for his daughter's wedding. There, he meets Kate, a civil servant whose job it is to conduct a survey of plane passengers as they arrive at Heathrow and are heading off to pick up their baggage. It is a charming story of adult love. Kathy Baker and James Brolin also star. It was pretty good.

You must go see Sunshine Cleaning. Amy Adams and Emily Blunt play two down-and-out sisters who start cleaning crime scenes. Alan Arkin plays their dad. It was not as light and funny as the trailers lead one to believe, but it was really good. I loved it.

Whew! Are your heads spinning now?

MK out.

What I Will Do Over Summer Hiatus

Summer Hiatus??? Not Summer Vacation???

Yup, hiatus, because now all the good shows have screened their season finales, and we must wait all summer to see:
1. Who is that man that Susan came home to on Desperate Housewives?
2. Where did the island go to on Lost? And will Desmond and Penny live happily ever after?
3. Will Lindsey and new boyfriend (I suck with names sometimes) survive their long distance relationship on Women's Murder Club? - Hey, I heard a rumor that this show was cancelled. Is that true? Just when the chemistry starts clicking between the characters, they go and cancel it? Seriously?
4. Speaking of Seriously? Now that Mer and Der are back together, what will keep us watching on Grey's Anatomy?
5. Since Men in Trees was cancelled, how will Anne Heche come up with the $15,000/month in family support that she has been giving to her ex-husband and kids? Are there any shows left to wrap up any loose ends? Like - now that Patrick got his memory back, will we get to see him get back together with Annie as the coming attractions hinted after last week's show?
6. In Back to You, will Chuck and Kelly ever get together and raise their child and have more?
7. Who got on the ambulance in ER?
8. Who is the real other sibling in Brothers and Sisters?

In the meantime, I will be knitting and travelling and getting together with friends and watching a lot of movies...

What about you?

MK out.

Random Thoughts

1. Congratulations Giants! I really did not care one way or the other about the outcome of the Super Bowl...If the Raiders had won, they would've had a perfect season, and that is quite an accomplishment. I didn't mind the Giants winning since they beat the Cowboys, and I really like Eli Manning. Yeah, I'm a real football fan.

2. Go STARS! After losing two straight at home, the STARS set out on a 3-game away stretch in Western Canada and swept the series. Woo hoo!!! They are back home on Tuesday night hosting the Vancouver Canucks.

3. Lost is found! The fourth season started last Thursday night, and needless-to-say, I was thrilled. After 3 seasons of flashbacks giving us the back stories of many of the characters, season four is all about the flash forwards. Last season's finale indicated that some of the Losties were rescued, but after the other night we are left wondering who didn't get off the island. We know that three of the Oceanic Six are Jack, Kate and Hurley. There is much debate and speculation on the internet about who the other three could be...even on Ravelry, the knitting and crocheting community.

I'm tired...it's time to sleep.

Merry Karma out.

FO Saturday?

I really did try to have an FO Friday post yesterday, but I was having serious connection issues...

So.....(drumroll please)........

Here is my FO for the week:


The carseat blanky is drying on the blocking pad.










Recipe: I used this pattern .
I did not want to go back and knit a border afterwards; so, I CO 63 stitches and did 4 rows of garter. I kept the first 3 and last 3 stitches for a garter border and the worked the pattern with the stitches in the middle. I ended with 4 rows of garter.
Needles: size 13US
Yarn: 2 balls of Cabana by Reynolds
Finished measurements: 21X24 inches.
Would I make it again?: Yes, but probably using different yarn. Cabana is fine for straight knitting or even an occasional K2tog, but it doesn't have much give. It feels a little stiff sometimes.

Now, seriously - did anyone watch Grey's and er the other night? It was so nice to see n.e.w.s.h.o.w.s. I wish that the powers that be hurry up and give the writer's their cut and get over it. People have bills to pay. The public has shows to watch...

On Grey's, I liked how we saw a different side of Hahn and Christina. Meredith wasn't as whiney as she usually is, but I am really tired of the back-and-forth, we're-on-we're-off stuff between Mer and Der. Meredith has issues, but really, so does Derrick. Hellooooo, Der - if you really love Meredith, and you really want to build a house for the two of you, and you really want to give her babies and grow old with her....Do you really need to go to dinner with Rose? I guess it is the drama that keeps us watching...

With that, dear internets, I will leave you

MK out.

The Writer's Strike

I do have favorite television shows, and I've mentioned most of them before. The majority of them are guilty pleasures - Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, and Women's Murder Club and Ugly Betty. They are entertaining, but not that important in the grand scheme of things. ER and Men in Trees - may be guilty pleasures for some, but addictions for others. (I fall in the latter category.) True - most television shows are not that important in the grand scheme of things, but I say po-tay-to and you say po-tot-to.

This writer's strike thing is causing serious trouble for millions of Americans who can no longer get their weekly fix of entertainment. What are we going to do???

Luckily, I have 63 movies queued in my Blockbuster On-Line account.

On a serious note, I think that the writers have valid arguments. I hope that an agreement will be reached soon.

MK out.

October Goes Out With a Bang!

Dayum! It's the end of the month already, and I've barely posted about anything. Could it be that we were the favored GI group this month and everybody had to consult us about any body function related to the GI tract?

I hardly did any knitting. Here's a picture of my socks that I took a few days ago. I am up to the toe decreases now.

















I've hardly watched any movies either. Bummer city!

I have watched some tee vee shows. Grey's Anatomy - purely fluffical in the medicine department, but a guilty pleasure for entertainment. Private Practice - more medical fluff, but I really like the crazy characters. ER - I will watch that show until it dies. I started watching it with the first episode and I will not give up on it now. It's a little better in the medicine department, but it rather over-dramatizes stuff sometimes. Men in Trees - This show is about as close as you can get to Northern Exposure, without it being Northern Exposure. Brothers and Sisters - I like it. I really like it. Desperate Housewives - It's another guilty pleasure.

Oh my goodness - I am filling my head with mind garbage! Should I be worried? Ahhhhhhh....no.

There's been some of this type of stuff going on:


















I have to say that no matter how October starts, or what happens in the middle, it always ends on a good note. I love Halloween - It's definitely one of my all-time favorite holidays. Last night, I watched Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Today, I baked my Halloween treats. I had my bowl of candy ready at 5:30. The husb carved the pumpkin and I had it out with it's candle lit at 6:30. I forgot to take a picture. (I'm still so new at this blogger thing. Sorry.) It never ceases to amaze me though...In the last 5 years or so, Trick or Treaters have shown up between 6:30 and 8:30, and I have about 8 groups of kids come. This year was no different. I had 8 groups. That's it.

Here's the first group. They happen to be my favorite kids in the whole world.


















And here's a little treat for you.


















Merry Karma out.