2006 Oscar Roundup:
(Ziyi Zhang)
Normally this time of year would find me posting about the Oscars, or at the very least Oscar fashion. But quite frankly I didn’t watch this year. There was just no draw for me. I had not seen most of the movies nominated and figured that most of the awards were a foregone conclusion. I found it interesting that Crash pulled the upset and won Best Picture and I was excited this morning to read that Peter Jackson has 3 more golden statues to add to his shelf for the underappreciated monkey-epic King Kong. From what I have seen this morning most of the dresses were hideous. I thought Ziyi Zhang’s and Nicole Kidman’s were okay. I was disturbed by the continuing trend of women in Hollywood losing weight to the point of being emaciated. Some body fat is preferable. If I wanted to see a woman’s skeletal structure I could take an anatomy class. So that’s it. Instead of great Oscar platitudes you get a much more boring story:
“How I Spent My Weekend” ~by Carl V.
Friday was gorgeous. It was sunny and the temperature was fantastic. Driving to work I had an epiphany…I did not much feel like working! Less than an hour into my day of servitude I politely informed my boss that actual work was not in the cards for me that day and I left.
The first order of events for this spontaneous vacation day was to do the unthinkable…I bought shoes. This may not seem like a monumental event to some but to those who know me best, shoes, or clothes for that matter, are items that I rarely purchase. Although I love the look and feel of new raiment I loathe spending cash on said items; especially when there are comics, computer games, books, movies, etc from which I obtain much greater enjoyment. š And I am not a shoe hoarder. I have one pair of good sneakers, several ratty pair for working around the yard, one pair of dress shoes that I never wear and my black boots (hiking, not cowboy). The aforementioned boots were a purchase I made in a Walmart store in Hawaii in October of 2003. For some time the back heel on each shoe has been separated from the sole…in my defense, they are comfortable. I decided on Friday, however, that I had actually gotten my full $16 out of them and so went and bought not one, but two pair of boots…one brown leather, the other black! I knew Mary would be proud so I phoned her up immediately to inform her of my derring-do. She was indeed quite happy with me. She is now trying to entice me into throwing my Hawaii boots away…I intend to hold onto them for work boots.
I then spent a little time in a used bookstore, found the PC Game Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory new for $15 at CompUSA (really liked the first two), and had a wonderful lunch with Pat at Panera. After lunch I met James for the first showing of Ultraviolet (review tomorrow, it was a stinker, yet fun).
Later Friday evening we had James’ and Jules’ daughter Jessica spend the night. We ate terrific pizza, watched Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and watched all the extras.
W&G was every bit as enjoyable on DVD and there are some really fun extras on the disc. I am excited that Wallace and Gromit won the Oscar last night as they really deserved it.
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Saturday we loaded up the family and did some more shopping. I continued my trend in trading old for new and bought two pair of Levi’s jeans (I’ve had one, and only one, pair for a long, long time and they are tattered and torn). Mary’s parents were very generous and offered to send us money to purchase a new washer and dryer, both of which we really needed. We purchased both items on Saturday though we didn’t opt for the front loading washer…all our friends are cool and have these…we’re still the squares of the appliance world. We also had enough money to purchase a new vacuum cleaner (also desperately needed) and a cordless phone for the office. Thank you Mom and Dad Russell! After dropping off Jessica we hit an antique store where Mary helped me find a few items for a project I am planning and I managed to find two paperback books in two of Harry Harrison’s trilogies that I needed: Deathworld 3 and Homeworld.
Saturday night we had our family night and we watched Pride and Prejudice on DVD. If you remember my review I really liked this new version but did have some complaints. It was so liberating watching it a second time as Mary and I both commented that this time we were able to watch it as its own movie and not compare it to the BBC version that we like so well. I gave the movie a 4 out of 5 star rating initially but would upgrade that now to much closer to a 5. My only lasting complaint is that I continue to feel that an added 20-30 minutes of story would help this version. I saw many things I did not see in the filming on my first viewing that impressed me greatly, especially in the way in which it was filmed. We also watched the extras. There are far too few in my opinion but what is on the disc is very nice. It was great to see how much the cast got on together and I was especially pleased to listen to Donald Sutherland talk about how much he enjoyed working with all the girls. If you have not seen it I still highly recommend it.
And the music is just wonderful. May have to get the soundtrack for this one.
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Sunday after church my brother-in-law Mike helped me transport and install the new washer and dryer. This would have been an easy task but for the fact that both are located in the basement and I had not one, but two washing machines that needed hauling upstairs in addition to the dryer. And then of course both new appliances had to be moved downstairs. I am extremely thankful that Mike offered to help as it was a very tiring affair.
Soon after I went off to work for the evening while Mary washed and dried clothes with reckless abandon. Would that the initial joy would last…I doubt as much enthusiasm will accompany laundry chores for any of us once a few days have passed.
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And that is all. In between all this activity I managed to fit in some enjoyable reading time including our first issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine that was a gift subscription from Mosker. Thank you Nick, I already got an idea for the bedroom!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and will have an enjoyable week to come.
I hear you when it comes to buying shoes and clothes. There is nothing I hate more than wasting money on them. I’m sure I need some new sneakers at this point, mine are also a few years old.
Congrats on your new washer and dryer. Keri and I still have the old style though so not everyone you know has upgraded already. š Sorry to hear Ultraviolet wasn’t good. I’ll be curious to hear your review.
I couldn’t get up to watching the Oscars this year either. I tuned in once, while watching Kung Fu Hustle – hilarious by the way, and saw Resse Witherspoon win and give an excellent acceptance speech ( she’s so classy ) and then I tuned in and watched the last 20 minutes and was very surprised to see ” Crash ” win. Here’s hoping for better movies in 2006.
Glad you liked KFH…I need to do a review on it, that movie was so much fun.
Thanks for watching Jessica for us while I was away. I am sure it made things much easier for James. It’s amazing how just taking one kid from the equation makes such a big difference.
I didn’t know I was cool for having a front loader! That’s good to know. Aren’t new appliances the best? For the last 15 years most of my appliances have come from auctions, garage sales, or used appliance stores. It’s sooooooo fun getting something brand new! I am happy for you guys. Oh and you got your top loader just in time, in a couple of years they will no longer be allowed to be sold. The government is banning sales of them due to water conservation.
Hollywood is becoming such a turn off for me. I’ve become very uninterested. The women are so skinny. REAL WOMEN EAT!
Oh and I know what you mean about clothes. They are sooooo expensive. I am so glad Walmart carries Levis. I bought half my summer wardrobe at the DAV thrift store Friday! It’s amazing what you can find if you do a little digging.
I had no idea Walmart (my least favorite store in the world due to all the annoying people I find there and the fact that the bigger stores frequently are out of whatever it is you need at the time) carried Levi’s until someone pointed it out the other day. Since we were buying the vacuum there it was nice and convenient to pick up jeans.
And yes Jules, you are one of the cool people who have the high tech laundry appliances.
I watched the Oscars off and on. I did get to see Salma Hayek and Reese Witherspoon’s dresses, which I thought were beautiful. I think both of these woman are very pretty. I was really happy that Reese Witherspoon won.
After we left your house and Sunday we went home, picked up Motley, and went to Petco. We used money we had won during our sinful night at the casino and bought him a wire crate, dog bed, new bowls, a placemat for his bowels, and some food for the cat. He loves his new crate as it is big with lots of room. Both him and Sunshine seemed very curious about the new contraption and both had to go in and check it out. After Petco we went to Shawnee Mission dog park, which is always a fun and entertaining experience. Motley got chased by a tiny little dog – which made everyone nearby laugh. For some reason he is scared of small dogs but likes to chase the big dogs. We walked all the way down to where the dogs have access to the lake but Motley stayed towards the top of the hill and waited for us because he is scared of the water and all the big dogs barking and playing together. Needless to say, he was very tired when we got home which is usually one of our main goals with him!
wish it was nice here this past weekend… it snowed. š
Sounds like a nice weekend! The Oscars didn’t do a thing for me, either, but I did really like Reese’s dress!
I am still holding out for one true, nice, heavy winter snow but it is looking less like a possibility all the time.
Abby: I need to know if you got a placemat for Motley’s “bowls” or his “bowels”. If it is indeed for his bowels then I guess I am living wrong as we don’t have anything near as fancy at our place.
I told Jeff that we will have to take their puppy, Piper and Razz and Motley and all go hit this dog park this spring.
You will have to excuse my mistake. I meant to say that we bought Motley a placemat for his bowls not his bowels. Although that would probably make for an easy cleanup.
I am all for taking the dogs to the park. Although I was quite scared when a Rotweiler(sp?) came up to Mike and I as we were resting on a bench. Motley ran and hid under the bench while the Rot smelled us. I’m sure he could smell my fear.
I didn’t mean to infer that those were the only nice dresses, but there were far more either too plain or way too ugly for my tastes…made me really glad I didn’t watch for that reason.
I did not watch the Oscars. I slept instead. It was marvelous.
Jason doesn’ t buy shoes much either, so I pick them up for him. Now he has over 20 pairs, and of course he is overwhelmed every morning and has no idea why he’d need that many…but I love shoe shopping, even if not for myself.
I did watch some of the Oscars – I liked George Clooney and Reese’s speech.
I wish we could go to the dog park – or, as we call it here, the DP (the dogs know the word dog park) – but Jager is still leash restricted for another 4 weeks. Ugh…
Isn’t it funny how animals can associate words with actions that please them. Our dog will get spastic if he hears the words “walk” or “milkbone”.
It was such a great weekend. I love having a new washer and dryer! Thanks for the help, Mike!
I was really pleased that Reese won. She did an awesome job.
I’m over the whole Oscar thing. I’ve stayed up to watch them live in the past, but now that Sky Movies have nabbed the rights we only get the “package” and it is no fun when you already know all the winners.
Course I’ve already forgotten most of the winners…