Atlantis Launched

There is a scene in the 1995 Tom Hanks movie Apollo 13 that always makes me a little bit sad. It shows the astronauts in space aboard the Apollo 13 shuttle on that fateful 1970 mission and the astronauts are goofing around for the camera because they assume-- incorrectly-- that everyone back on earth will be amazed by the flight into space and will be fascinated by the video. However, the movie depicts a public that's bored with what is perceived as routine space travel.

I have no idea if that exact scene took place or not aboard the actual Apollo 13 shuttle. But I do know that here, in the year 2009, we would not air constant footage of a space shuttle taking off during prime television viewing. The idea of blasting into outer space no longer astounds the majority of the American public. We've been sending men and women into space since before I was born. What's novel about that?


Today the space shuttle Atlantis launched at 1:28 p.m. CST. It's on its way to the International Space Station to restock it with supplies. The kids and I huddled around my computer to watch the live feed and, later, turned on Fox News to watch it there as well. I haven't watched a shuttle launch in long while. I'm a guilty member of the "it's commonplace" group.

But not after today. Today I saw the launch through Madeleine and Hank's eyes. As they fired question after question and let out more squeals and excited yells as the countdown clock neared zero I realized that there is nothing routine or commonplace about traveling into outer space. Both kids imagined what the astronauts, three who were experiencing their first mission, were thinking as they flew into the earth's atmosphere. They discussed what their kids, their spouses or their families left on earth were thinking about and feeling. They were astounded at the shuttle's quickening speed and the release of rocket boosters and their descent back to earth.

It was an exciting moment to share with my kids, and I'm so thankful they could remind me there is nothing routine about traveling into outer space, no matter how long man has been doing so.

If you're so inclined, check out NASA's website and view the launch there. It is pretty incredible!

Quick Escape

After Joe and I dropped Madeleine off at camp, we treated ourselves to two nights at the Northernaire in Three Lakes, Wisconsin.

Joe had two words in mind when he found out we were headed to northern Wisconsin: supper club. How can I explain the concept of a supper club to those from out of state? Wikipedia does an average job, but still, there are aspects lacking on the Wiki page. And Joe, growing up in northern Wisconsin, is much more adept than I at spotting a real, live Wisconsin supper club. So Sunday night we found a place up in Eagle River that identified itself as a supper club and we both had decent steaks (quintessential supper club fair) and Joe had a whiskey old fashioned and, luckily, the supper club was well situated with a dining room full of windows overlooking one of the area's many lakes.

Monday we explored Three Lakes and Eagle River a bit more on foot but by noon we were out in a 14-foot Mirro Craft with a 25-horsepower outboard motor (in other words a small fishing boat w/one of those motors you steer with your hand, not a steering wheel) exploring the twenty-eight lake chain. We did not make it to all twenty-eight lakes. In fact, I think we only made it to seven or eight of the lakes, but we had such a fun afternoon. Straight away we ran into some loons floating around one of the lakes and they seemed completely unphased by our arrival, no matter how close we got.



Of course we cruised on over to the lake where Madeleine's camp is located and tried to spy on our little girl but, while we saw campers, we didn't see our camper but, still, I was able to snap some shots of the camp from the lake view.





At some point we stopped to eat our sandwiches in one of the lesser-traveled channels though, to be honest, most of the lakes were pretty empty in general.





Later that evening we sampled another supper club, though this one was far and away more the sort of thing I always envision when I hear the term supper club. Maybe that's because, in my mind, I'm still stuck on the idea that supper club=1985, so I'm always a tad disappointed to see the modernization of an old-fashioned supper club. This second supper club was, in all respects, still serving its clientele of the eighties and Joe and I were able to satisfy our supper club craving for the next two, three years (or more!). After that we saw Public Enemies (not very good, but fun since it was filmed in Wisconsin) and then back to our hotel to fall asleep to the sounds of loons out on the lake.

A very peaceful and much needed escape!

Titanic: A Confession

I am embarrassed to admit this, but when Titanic was first released in movie theaters back in 1997 I saw it more than once. More than two times, even. Actually, I can't remember how many times I paid to see it when it was in the theaters, although the number five sticks in my head. The real answer though is way too many.

But it gets worse. Eventually it was released to video and I bought a copy. And watched it. Again and again and again.

Somehow I got it all out of my system (or, more probably, I met and married Joe and he refused to watch it) and my copy got shoved to the back of our video cabinet. I had not watched the movie in eight, almost nine years until last night. Last night TBS (or was it TNT?) was playing the movie and since Joe was busy pouring over legal paperwork I decided to watch it and see if it still held the same magic it once did to my college-aged self.

In a word, NO! Oh my goodness-- what was my college self thinking? That movie is just awful! The acting was decent, but the scriptwriting! Ew, ew, EW! Who thought it would be a good idea to write lines like "A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets..." or "They've got you trapped, Rose, and sooner or later that fire that I love about you..."? And what possessed Winslet and DiCaprio to utter such trite, poorly written words? And the writing of the characters; could they possibly have been more stereotypical? Ooooh, the rich fiance who is selfish, mean and controlling, or how about the poor boy trapped in third class without one flaw to mar his character. How groundbreaking!

I remember being annoyed with Hollywood that year for sneering at Titanic and for holding their noses when its director James Cameron accepted his award for Best Picture at the Oscars. Now I can only sympathize with them and hold my nose right along with them.

The only upshot of last night, besides prompting me to confess my ridiculous obsession to all the world and see the error of my ways, is that now I can finally clear out some space in our video collection.

Quick Post

I apologize for my lack of posting.  The reason?  It isn't even because I've been particularly busy with anything beyond the typical never-ending tower of laundry (I swear the kids change thirteen times a day), reading (The Painted Veil was a notable read of late, though this is a rare case where I think I liked the movie more than the book) and meetings and a couple of nights out with family (Diana and Cloence one night) and neighbor friends.

Surely I could cull something to blog about from my recent experiences, but I just don't quite feel like it right this second.

But I'll be back to regular posting shortly. 

Movie Review, XI

I read and liked The Kite Runner so I was pretty excited to see the movie version, even though its reviews weren't terrific.

I actually ended up enjoying the movie much more than I thought I would, based on its reviews.  It wasn't incredibly great, but it was very engaging, visually very pleasing and there were also a couple great acting performances, most notably Ahmed Khan Mahmidzada, who played Hassan, the main character's servant and best friend.

Though the book was better, I liked the movie and appreciated, generally, how true to the book it was.

Easter Recap

We started the day with a sunrise service at church, which means being out the door by 6:15 a.m. We were dressed and ready pretty much on time, so I had a few minutes to snap some pictures.

Nothing outstanding, but you get the idea.

Like last year, the early hour becomes too much for Elisabeth.

Church, as every other Easter morning service, is glorious. Focusing on Christ's resurrection and singing all those alleluias after a restrained Lenten season is so perfect, each and every year.

During the children's sermon, our pastor asked the kids what three special things they noticed about Easter and Hank's hand knowingly shot up with the answer.

"Yes, Hank?" Pastor asked,

"We get to get up at the crack of dawn!" was Hank's well thought out response.

Not quite the right answer, but it did earn Hank some chuckles from the congregation.

After church and a sumptuous breakfast at our church, we return home. Ah ha-- the Easter Bunny has come and gone in our absence. The kids search for their loot.


After opening, Joe reads to the kids from a lovely edition of Aesop's Fables that the Bunny left for Elisabeth.


After that, we sit down to a heated game of Qwirkle (which the Easter Bunny brought our game loving Hank). Very, very fun game, even though Superdad is the victor. And Hank takes second place, which means I lose (does it count as a loss if I helped Hank with more than fifty percent of his plays?). A picture of the matching victors.

Soon after, guests begin to arrive. We eat our traditional Easter feast: Borscht (brought by Super Grandma), lamb, oven roasted potatoes, ham (brought by Diana), scalloped potatoes, green beans, Paska (brought by Super Grandma), a fruit salad (that Madeleine "made"), a tossed green salad and Jello. Diana made a fantastically delicious trifle for dessert.

And then, after dessert, coffee and chatting everyone departs, including (drumroll, please) all three kids! Thanks, Dad and Diana! Superdad and I don't quite know what to do with ourselves with no kids in the house, so we quickly decide, tired or not, we better go do something we can't ordinarily do. We go see a movie. A sort of fun, very underwhelming The Other Boleyn Girl. The movie has, however, excited some interest in Anne Boleyn and I have been enjoying a few nonfiction books about her life in my remaining time without the kids.

All in all, an excellent Easter day!

Christmas Eve Recap

A lot of disjointed posts today. The house is getting cleaner and more organized, and so is my computer; 2008 will start out right!

This post, in and of itself, and notwithstanding these first two introductory paragraphs, will not be entirely disjointed since its sole purpose is to recap our Christmas Eve celebration, it's just that everything I've posted here today has been out of order, and this follows that pattern. But, who cares. It's still 2007; I can be organized and logical in 2008.

Christmas Eve kicked off our Christmas festivities. Dad, Diana and Alex (QV) joined us here for an early afternoon feast of roasted beef tenderloin, Mrs. Butland's potatoes, Pioneer Woman dinner rolls, glazed carrots with pecans and grapes, fresh green beans tossed with fresh garlic and tarragon and a tossed green salad.

Here's the table before the meal...


and during.


A five o'clock church service beckoned us after our meal and, with the children's assistance (Hank as a sheep and Madeleine as a reader) we celebrated the birth of our lord.

Here are the two older children in the church basement, readying themselves for their awaiting performance, Madeleine pensive and nervous, Hank excited and brimming with naughtiness with the prospect of sitting through the entire service relatively unsupervised.

Of course, all goes off without a hitch. Well, relatively. During the service a quick thinking parishioner near Hank snatched his bell when it hit the floor after he'd spent half the service serenading the congregation. When asked later how, if he wasn't playing with his bell that it managed to hit the floor Hank, ever the master of quick explanations, was stumped.

After, all head to our house for eggnog, punch and cookies.


And, for the three children, a Christmas Eve gift of...

fleece pajamas; blue with a white polar bear for Hank and light and dark purple stripes for the girls.

Shortly after the kids are anxious to get to bed so that Santa is sure to stop and the evening, full of excitement in its own right, but also brimming with anticipation, comes to a close as guest say good-bye and children say good-night.

Move Review, X

Superdad and I were lucky enough to watch two great movies this past weekend. Saturday night we watched The Aviator. Since this movie has been out on video for eight million years and anyone who wanted to see it has already seen it, I'll spare you my thoughts and simply say that if you're as lame as Superdad and I are about seeing movies promptly and missed this, go see it. It's good.

Oh, and if you're wondering, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio before he visibly hits puberty; in fact, I think it was his last role where he looked bizarrely adolescent despite his adult age.

Friday night we watched another moving starring the lovely Leo (post-adolescence-- look at that-- real facial hair!) and Superdad and I both loved it.


I went into the movie knowing very little about diamond mining or the civil war in Sierra Leone in the nineties and I came out knowing very little more, but feeling like I did and I was ready to swear off all future diamond purchases (not like I'm in the market very frequently anyway). I've since learned a lot more and was happy to realize a lot of the problems shown in the movie have been addressed and some even dealt with.

But oh, such a well acted, moving film. I was absolutely engrossed in every second of it.

Movie Review, IX

I feel so on top of things; I mean, really, seeing a movie less than a year after its release date. I am positively cutting edge!

After months and months (I initially had double digit wait list placement at the library), I finally got the call that Notes on a Scandal was in. The acting was incredible and the story engrossing, albeit sad. And did I mention the acting? I can't decide who was better: Cate Blanchett or Judi Dench.

Following is the trailer, just to pique your interest.

Movie Review, VIII

Superhero movies is one category of movie that Superdad and I almost always both enjoy. They're, usually, fun and exciting and don't require much emotional or intellectual investment.

The other night we finally got around to watching Batman Begins and we both really enjoyed it. Out of all the Batman movies that have been released over the past ten, fifteen years, this was the best.

Movie Review, VII

After finishing Jane Austen's Persuasion in April I immediately logged onto my library's website and ordered a copy of the movie starring Amanda Root as Anne Elliot and Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth. It took awhile for them to track down an available copy, but this past week they succeeded and I received my email from Library Elf informing me that my long awaited movie selection was finally available.

Last night Superdad joined me in a mid-week movie night and we settled in. I, for one, loved the adaptation. No, it's not eighteen million hours long, like the adaptation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice that I so dearly love, so it doesn't do the entire story justice and there were a few aspects that made more sense to Superdad once I told him a bit more of the back story (i.e. Lady Russell is much more one dimensional in the movie than she is in the book; one doesn't really get any sense of why Anne would respect her opinion as much as she does) but the movie was charming. Beautiful acting, lovely sets and scenery and a wonderfully told tale.

I'd advise reading the book first, but if you're not an Austen fan or just plain don't like reading, I still would recommend not skipping this movie.

Movie Review, VI

Are you getting a sense how behind I am on my movie watching? I believe this movie was originally released in 1999. It's actually a convenient defect though because the library is chock full of movies everybody wanted to see eight years ago. I may not be able to speak intelligently about the current cinematic landscape now, but just as today's popular movies fall of the public's radar you can be sure I'll catch up.

Snow Falling on Cedars is a well-known book and, from everything I read, critically acclaimed. I never read it. The movie came out and I transferred all the praise I'd heard about the book over to the movie and decided I wanted to see it. Someday.

Sunday night was this night. I'm quite sure Superdad, while reading this, is feeling like he dodged a bullet by being out of town and missing my most recent movie selection. I put the kids to bed, popped some popcorn and settled in alone. Gloriously and blissfully alone.

The best parts of the movie were the popcorn and the solitude. Otherwise, there wasn't a lot to write home about. The acting was better than average, especially Youki Kudoh's performance, and it was a very visually pleasing movie, but something about it all just didn't connect. There wasn't enough passion, save some forlorn looks every so often, to make the love-of-a-lifetime storyline plausible (for me, anyway) and some parts moved a little bit too slowly to hold my somewhat wavering interest.

Overall, it was a decent movie and decidedly better than something as brain-numbing Talladega Nights but I'd hoped, that after waiting eight years to see it, that it would be better. Oh well.

Movie Review, V

Another movie Superdad and I watched recently. I remember wanting to see it when it first came out (years ago!) but always forgot about it when at the video store. The other day I was racing past the video section at our library, only focused on herding the kids to the check-out desk and just getting out of the dang library when I glanced up and saw this movie.

It seemed to call out to me from the shelves. "Rent me, rent me," it chanted. I did.

What a fun movie! It was unique, tawdry without being uncomfortable and funny. It's one of those movies that just absorbs you from the first moment and never really lets go.

Recommended!

Movie Review, IV

Another weekend, another rented DVD. You might assume Superdad and I don't get out much. You'd be right.

It's a sweet movie, centering on the lives of Irish immigrants trying to make it in America. More than that though, it's a movie about a family; one that's been torn apart by the death of a young son and the aftermath of dealing with that loss. It's a poignant tale and although I liked it I won't say I loved it.

The acting is top-notch; even the young girls, who have to be the two cutest actresses I've seen (and they're sisters in real life, too!) are superb.

Movie Review, III

Another movie weekend, one Friday night the other Saturday night. Yes, yes; aren't Superdad and I exciting creatures?

Fun movie, full of exciting visual effects and a decent story. Brandon Routh, the new Superman, was a decent Superman, although his resemblance to Christopher Reeve is almost uncanny and one can't help but wonder if he was cast in the role because of that resemblance instead of his acting ability. The highlight of the movie was Kevin Spacey's villainous portrayal of Lex Luther; every scene with him was riveting. Overall, fun movie, but so far I prefer the old batch with Christopher Reeve.

What a wonderful movie! Terrifically acted and thoroughly entertaining and captivating. Superdad and I both enjoyed it immensely.

Movie Review, II

For last Friday night's entertainment Superdad came home with The Departed, which won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Picture.

We both expected to like it, but neither of us expected to love it. The movie was extremely violent and the language extremely salty, two criteria that don't usually attract me to a movie, but in the closing minutes of the film I found myself not wanting the movie to end.

The acting was fantastic and the movie was constantly moving, the story regularly changing and the characters continuously keeping you guessing (Is he a good guy? A mole?)

Movie Review

Just before leaving for NYC last week Superdad and I did something we hadn't done in eons: we rented movies. We're so behind that we didn't know where to begin, so I just ran through Hollywood Video and nabbed three that looked interesting.

So, here's what we watched:

Superdad and I both really enjoyed this movie. Eric Bana was terrific and made some slower scenes watchable. I don't have any insightful commentary, but I would recommend the movie, though make sure you watch it on a night when you're fully awake and alert.

Hil-arious. Even Superdad enjoyed it . It was a very pretty movie to watch, doesn't require much thought (OK, any) to keep up and I've heard and read it pretty accurately describes the behind-the scenes of the fashion industry.

I thought I'd read good reviews of World Trade Center. Upon proudly showing the rental to Superdad his less than enthusiastic face temporarily tamed my excitement.

"What?" I asked.

"Why'd you rent that?"

"What! It's supposed to be really good. Isn't it?"

"No, Cate, it's not."

"Oh."

And he was right. Pretty dull stuff.

Golden Globes

I need to get out more.

I have always loved movies and considered myself pretty "up" on what was out when and what was supposed to be good.

Today the nominations for the Golden Globe Awards were released. Not only have I not seen any of the movies, I've never even heard of most of them.

But I can, however, tell you that a new, live action version of Charlotte's Web is being released tomorrow and I know the names of the songs in High School Musical well enough that I can search for them on You Tube.

Oh, for shame.

High School Musical

I first heard about this movie while in New Jersey over Thanksgiving. My cousin's daughter, Catharine, loves this movie and apparently it's all the rage in Boston with the third grade set. We rented and watched it one night and all had a fun time (mostly watching the kids, led by Catharine, dance and sing along).

I thought the movie would be forgotten after getting back to Wisconsin.

Nope.

We have a fourth grade girl on our block that loves the movie. And a second grader. High School Musical is a countrywide epidemic and all young girls have been infected.

Madeleine ran in last night singing all the songs and was delighted with the videos we found on You Tube. Despite myself, I find that I'm tapping my foot and singing along.

So, these are for you, Catharine and Madeleine: