I am happy to report that Friday I once again went through my "pants of historical sizes" box and got out some more trousers which now fit, one of which I wore to church. The belt I've been wearing is now on the last hole - hooray! (I have some smaller belts of historical sizes, too.)
As I've posted before, if you want to lose weight and if you have a smart phone, counting calories via the MyFitnessPal app is a great way to do it. My wife points out that Weight Watchers, the popular calorie counting program which works, charges $50 a month for its website. MyFitnessPal is about the same thing for free. It's very easy to keep a running count if it's a simple matter of pulling out your cell phone and noting it.
Saturday yard sales video. I passed on the Billy Bass Christmas Edition.
Have you heard the newest Weird Al Yankovich CD, Alpocalypse? I really like CNR, about Charles Nelson Reilly. Only Weird Al could combine Charles Nelson Reilly, the White Stripes and Chuck Norris into a song. Brought to you by the peerless animators at JibJab (who allow you to appear in it yourself, if you want).
I watched four films over the weekend:
The Village (2004) - M. Night Shyamalan's flick about villagers terrorized by creepy forest dwellers, Exhibit A in the "What year is this supposed to be?!?" film genre. As my kids saw this film (they weren't impressed) and I knew what the inevitable M. Night gimmick was behind it, I wasn't impressed, either; I'm fairly sure I would have guessed it anyway. He got away with one in The Sixth Sense (1999), but post-Twilight Zone audiences are sophisticated and on the lookout for plot tricks. Old movies used to be advertised with tag lines like, "You'll scream with fear at the spine-chilling conclusion!" and "You'll gasp at the ending!" This one might have had, "You'll do a face slap and cry 'd'Oh and the lame conclusion!" Still... got to give M. Night credit for trying, I suppose.
The Last Royals (2005) - A Natty Geo production examining whether or not the current crop of kings and absolute monarchs will be the final ones in our increasingly democratic world. They didn't come to a conclusion - how could they? I do give the documentary makers credit for acknowledging that, in an almost mystical fashion, a king or queen can represent a modern state in a way that elected officials cannot. Whether this is indispensable or not is another matter! The footage showing the monarchy of Uganda and Nepal was interesting, and I am pleased to note that now-deposed the King of Nepal, Gyanendra, knows how to use the phrase "white elephant" correctly in a sentence, defining a king as possibly being a white elephant. (See comments about colored elephants in Friday's blog entry.)
A Matter of Size (2009) - An Israeli comedy about Jewish sumo wrestlers(!) It was funny and my wife and I both enjoyed it. I liked the way the Hebrew characters did sumo moves and grunts during the title sequence. Recommended.
Never Trust a Gambler (1951) - A film noir starring Dane Clark. Steve Garry is a reformed gambler and on the run from the law. Can his ex-wife trust him? No, she can't - the title gives it away. Not a bad noir, but not an especially good one, either. "Workmanlike" is the word that applies, I think.
Cari and I visited the Eastern Market in D.C.; we saw it on Rick Sebak's flea markets video and thought, "Hey, how come we've never been there?" It was a fun Saturday excursion! Later on I was committed to help move some furniture.
A friend of a friend (folklorists call these "FOAFs") died from a heart attack and was brought back to life via electrical paddles the other day. He was younger than my friend or I. This is causing my friend to get back on the MyFitnessPal regimen to lose weight. Back on the wagon! Nothing like the chilling breeze in the wake of the Grim Reaper to cause one to reflect upon one's health. (Interesting Alexandria tombstone on that very subject.)
And with that I shutt the scene.
1 comment:
Appreciation for great content. I’m certainly glad I had taken the time to learn this.
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