Lemon Tree

It's supposed to get well below freezing here this week for the first time this season, so I had to get my Grandmother's lemon tree into the house. The tree always gets too big for the house, so I lop it off every year before I bring it in.

But I waited too late to chop it this year, so it has only had time to put out some small leaves on top instead of the fully formed leaves that it usually would have.

Damn if it wasn't HEAVY THIS YEAR! We just got a lot of rain yesterday. I can already tell that my back muscles will be a bit sore tomorrow! At least I didn't get any thorn cuts this year -- I felt one thorn hit my cheek, but it didn't draw any blood.

Batting Zero My Hero

I am batting ZERO this week! My date last night was cancelled due to a family emergency. C did exactly what he was supposed to do -- called to cancel, explained, apologized, asked for raincheck, sent a text message after the fact to apologize again -- so he did what he was supposed to. But I was still disappointed. I had been looking forward to pleasant company (and truth be told, I was really looking forward to afterwards! Stop judging me, lol!)...

Tonight, I was supposed to go to a play, but the performance was cancelled due to injury! So, that friend is coming over so that we can pop a bottle of sparkling, while we plan which performance we will go to.

Whenever I shop for Christmas, I also usually buy stuff for myself also. Recently, I bought the DVD for that Star Trek movie that was in the theaters earlier this year.

There were a couple of extras on the DVD, including a gag reel. Really, not many bloopers, but this scene was cute (wonder how long this will last on Youtube before it gets removed?) --

Today was the first sunny day in a week! So, I got my butt out on a bike ride.

It was a good bike ride, but there were several hills that were hard -- the worst was the hill from the Huguenot bridge up River Rd to Cary St. I took a small detour there, thinking I might find an alternative to River Rd -- and the blue arrow shows the only place on the ride that I actually dismounted and walked the bike -- I was just too used up at that point to make it up the hill on Huntley!


http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3322627

Couple of pics from the ride...all the rain and then the wind lately caused some trees to fall. This one was across the road near the Pumphouse at Byrd Park.


View of the river from Riverside Drive --


***
Afterwards, I went to the Byrd to see a "Zen Horror" flick, lol! It was called Mantra. It was odd, no doubt. Very gory. But not scary in the typical horror flick fashion -- more like watching a nightmare. It was set as a bunch of campers attending a new age retreat -- all of them bringing some major personal demons afflicting them (like the wife of one had recently died, and another had attempted suicide several times). Throughout the film, this blue demon figure kept going around and making sure to tempt people with their desires -- sex, food, regret, etc.

I can't say that I could make heads or tails of it, except that people really are caught in their own desires like that...and they don't even know it. So, I'll leave this with a couple of verses from the Dhammapada that seem pertinent to this movie...

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it. (1:1)

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves. (1:2)
...
By oneself is evil done; by oneself one is injured. Do not do evil, and suffering will not come. Everyone has the choice to be pure or impure. No one can purify another. (12:65)

***
Tonight, I rounded up a couple of friends to walk over to Bev's in Carytown for ice cream. It was my reward for a hard bike ride!

Today was supposed to be pretty random and easygoing day. The first thing I was planning to do was to ride my bike. But I got it outside this morning, only to find that the front tire was completely flat. So, I took the front wheel to Performance Bike to get the flat repaired.

When I first found the flat, I used the "quick release" level to take the front wheel off. But here's the problem -- with a flat tire, the wheel came right off. But when I got back with a fixed and fully inflated tire, the tire would not fit back between the brake pads.

I had never dealt with this before. Turns out there is a catch that you unlatch to release the brakes, so you can get the tire between the pads. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that and instead, I used my Allen wrench to essentially "adjust" the brakes open. Bad decision, since it took me forever to get them back to being usable.

Anyways, I learned a lot about the brakes today! I'll test them out tomorrow -- hopefully, they will work properly, lol!

After that, I went over to help D hang pictures on his wall, then he and I walked to Carytown to get something to eat (I had never been to Weesie's -- the Mac and Cheese is pretty good), and then we saw the latest Harry Potter movie at Movieland. It was a nice evening!

Yesterday was the 3 year anniversary of this journal...I've enjoyed posting over the years...

***
I'm a sucker for Sci-Fi movies, especially when they make heavy-handed social commentary, lol! I'll probably definitely see District 9 when it comes out. It's directed by Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings fame.

There may be a couple of spoilers here!

I liked the new Star Trek movie! Some of the events in the movie made changes to the original series' storyline -- meaning, things are different now with this movie out than they were when the original series ended. I mean, whole planets that were there in the series are gone after this movie!

How cute was little Chekov! OMG...you just wanted to pinch his wittle cheeks, lol!

I totally believed Siler as Spock -- I was afraid I wouldn't. And I had no idea that Leonard Nimoy would play a role in this movie as well! But I couldn't get with Harold (as in Harold and Kumar) as Sulu.

And I'm really glad they updated the ship -- I had this horrible fear that it would look like the 60s series!

And we find out why his middle name was Tiberius! I don't think I had ever seen that anywhere.

They had this display at the theater --


We saw it in an iMax format. I'll probably go back and see it again in a regular movie format.

We ate at Edo's Squid tonight before seeing Chicago at the VCU theater. I had always intended to eat at Edo's and never had made it there.

The food was great -- particularly the broccoli raab on pasta and the eggplant parmigiana. Oddly enough, if you have more than 4 in your party, they will only bring 4 entrées and will serve it "family style," meaning you pass the entrées around. For a minute, I thought I would be the odd man out (being the vegetarian), but everyone else seemed happy to order several of the non-meat items. So, I had plenty of choices and didn't care about the one entrée with crab in it or the scallop appetizer.

The food was great! However, the coffee was terrible.

I would definitely go to Edo's again!

***
We had terrible seats for Chicago -- it was odd that there was an audience on 3 sides of the stage, yet the choreographer completely ignored where we were sitting! The actors played mostly to the center and a little to the other side, but never played to our side at all.

The seating was general admission -- we could have arrived earlier for better seats, but we really didn't think about it, and just hung out at the restaurant.

***
Before I left for the play tonight, someone's dog was roaming through my yard! I intended to go out and check his collar for tags -- until I saw him wallow in my muck of a pond -- see how filthy he got, lol?!! There was no way I was going near him after that!

It serves his owner right for letting him roam -- to have him come home covered in putrid muck, lol!

He was just the sort of dog I would like for myself! My first dog was a German Shepherd mut!

Just got back from seeing Il y a longtemps que je t'aime with I, Deege and a friend of his. We saw it at the new Movieland Theater on Boulevard.

I liked it! It actually had a happy ending -- something a lot of French films do not. The French films that I have seen are never action flicks -- they are always about what people don't say -- as opposed to what they do say -- the unresolved tensions between the lines -- what people hide or won't face.

And, lord knows, people hide all kinds of stuff...

In the film, Juliette was no longer absent -- she was finally there.


Finally, some snow in Richmond! We haven't had any significant snow in like years! This picture looks black and white, but I didn't set the color -- it's just what came of using the flash out the back door --

I used up the last of the bread I baked last week, so I did some more baking today. On a suggestion from Karibu, I tried "Grant Bread."

It's an easy bread to make because there's only one rising in the pan you're going to bake it in. It's not a bad bread, but I think that from a taste perspective, I prefer to have a second rising - not sure exactly why, but the lack of the second rising did seem to affect the taste.

The recipe called for a "large" loaf pan. I don't have that, so I divided the dough into my two loaf pans when I put it down for the first rising. I also used a bit more honey than called for in the recipe, just because.

All in all, it turned out well.



***
This afternoon, I went to a matinee with a friend to see The Wrestler.

Oh my gosh, it was so DEPRESSING! Why don't I just slit my wrists at the end of the movie? That would have gone along with all the blood in the movie!

I had to come home and listen to some happy music, lol!

Went with some friends to see the Pumpkin Pie Show at Firehouse tonight.

It's a set of short stories done as (mostly) monologues by, in this case, two actors. They randomly selected which short stories they would act out. The male actor was also the playwright and author.

It was interesting watching them go into character. The tales were often melancholy, or at least had a bit of a twist. It was a good show.

I was sitting here thinking that I had been a vegetable all day. But I started listing to myself what I did, and I did manage to get a few things accomplished!

I filed my tax returns. And I got a walk in (only 3.5 miles today, compared to 4.2 yesterday). And I did some job search networking. And I shaved my head.

***
Different subject -- here's a geek tip.

When you search Google images, you can specify the image size for your search results.

Example: go to http://images.google.com/, and in the search box, type trees imagesize:1280x1024 (where 'trees' is what you're searching for). Click the search button, and all of the results returned will be that size.

Tip came from http://garmahis.com/tips/how-to-search-with-google-for-specific-image-sizes/.

***
Last night, O and I made one of those "combo" dishes that we do so well, where I'll start with a basic thing, and each of us will add ingredients. It usually turns out great.

I started by baking a spaghetti squash, so I had the "noodles" that come out of the squash. Then, I added butter, salt & pepper, and some herbes de provence.

O sautéed some garlic and chili peppers and threw that in.

It turned out to be pretty tasty!

***
Star Wars re-told, by someone who has only seen bits and pieces of the movies.

We went to Kitchen 64 for dinner last night and then to the art opening at the Gay Community Center last night.

We bumped into friends at both places. I think it is a good idea for the GCCR to have an art gallery and to have openings. Last night, none of the pieces really stood out for me, although I did like a couple of items.

Afterwards, we rented the movie Burn after Reading. It's not a bad movie -- it kept me interested the whole time -- but it was not a great movie. I guess I would label it a black comedy -- I was amused, although I think I only laughed aloud once.


***
A friend sent me this link --> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/garden/15hongkong.html?_r=1&emc=eta1.
There is a slideshow at http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/garden/20090115_HONGKONG_index.html.

The guy lives in a 344 square foot apartment in Hong Kong. The apartment "transforms" (by way of flexible walls and hidden appliances) from kitchen to bedroom to steam room to living room, etc. It's interesting.

The smallest apartment (other than a college dorm) that I ever lived in was probably about 500 square feet. So, I could probably make it fine in 344 square feet -- especially if I could change the space around easily.

The yellow light that dominates the space almost has a Bladerunner look to it.

Seeing such a small space is interesting, but makes me appreciate my 1800+ square feet house and my 1/4 acre lot! What would be cool though would be to make use of the ideas and technology in this apartment to make some of my rooms do double time (instead of adding on more space).

Back from having coffee with one of the guys who answered my C/L ad for other gay Buddhists in town. He was a pleasant enough chap. I think we'll hang out again -- especially since I can practice my French with him :) He visited Ouen and Paris for like 3 weeks last year, I think.

***
Last night, O and I finally watched Soylent Green. It was okay. I think that knowing the "punch line" before hand sort of spoiled the movie a bit.

Of course, after we watched it, I changed the language to French so I could hear Charlton Heston exclaim "Le Soleil Vert, c'est de la chair humaine! (Soylent Green is people!)" lol!

***
Heading out again now to take advantage of the sunlight!

This morning I was up bright and early to get my blood drawn at LabCorp -- just for the standard set of tests you get with your annual physical. I don't mind going, but I hate sitting in the LabCorp waiting room -- it's always packed, and the guy sitting beside me today was one of those types who seems to have to talk, you know? I don't mind a little pleasant small talk, but that's about all I want -- this guy went on and on, completely ignoring my vacant eyes.

Nothing major on the agenda for today. O wants to go get another load from the bottomless pit (his storage unit), but I'm dragging my feet, not really wanting to do that today.

I received some more of what I call my "gardening porn" today in the mail -- magazines and catalogs with pictures of flowers and plants. I told O that he has his kind of porn and I have mine -- actually I like his kind too...but I digress. I'm not even sure why I look at these gardening catalogs because it's not like I have any more room in the yard. I need to buy bigger property, just so that I have more space to garden!

Cyrano

Last night, we watched Cyrano de Bergerac on PBS. It was surprisingly good. There's a clip of it at the link.

Kevin Klein did a great job as Cyrano. Jennifer Garner, well, not so much -- her acting was way too overblown -- it drew attention to her acting style instead of to the character of Roxane. Klein actually had tears in several scenes, which made it seem very authentic.

While we were watching the show (in English), I followed along in my French version of the play. Of course, the English version was a paraphrase, not a direct translation -- after all the original French version rhymes, so it would be hard to translate it directly. But the English was a good paraphrase nonetheless.

Lewis Ginter

I've continued my reading of that picture book about Lesbian and Gay Richmond that I talked about in a previous post.

I live over in a part of town where most of the land was a subdivision of Lewis Ginter's property. What surprised me was to find that Lewis Ginter and John Pope (Pope has a street in the neighborhood named for him) lived together for more than 20 years. They never sought the company of women and had a "most ardent affection" for each other. I don't know about you, but I know what that sounds like to me!

Pope was much, much, much younger than Ginter -- Pope was 16 when he went to live with Ginter. Ginter later adopted him.

It just reminded me of how it pisses me off that so much of gay and lesbian life has been (is) hidden.

Besides biking and hiking, one of the things that O and I like to do together is to watch cheesy Sci-Fi movies.

Earlier this week, we watched the original Planet of the Apes. Tonight, we might watch Soylent Green. When O was young, he had a crush on Charleton Heston (say it with me now...EWWW!!)...

Here's the Simpson's take on the Planet of the Apes (at least until the movie studios demand that it be taken off of Youtube!)

Tonight, we went to see the re-make of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was a "date night" for us.

It got bad reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and I agree -- it was pretty awful! I'm not sure that it is even worth watching as a rental!

Cardboard cutouts would have performed better as actors!

I liked some of the ideas, but I kept waiting, thinking that it has to get better. But it never did...

The robot, Gort, was pretty awesome -- very big and menacing. Maybe it's worth renting to see him and the spheres.

I was yawning during the movie -- which is never a good sign!

As a consolation, we had some Gelati Celesti ice cream...

***Party Cleanup

I spent the day putting the house back together after the party last night -- cleaning food particles, doing dishes, putting the furniture back in place. O was working today, so he couldn't help -- how very convenient for him, lol!

I really like how the tree turned out this year (see last pic in the previous post). And I still carried a nice feeling with me today, left over from last night.

Another nice thing about last night -- I got several pretty Christmas tree ornaments and several bottles of wine that I have never tried!

***Get your McCain Blackberry & Contributor Contact Info!

It seems that some of the Blackberries that McCain's campaign sold had not been erased and still had personal phone numbers and e-mails on them.

I can't get over it when that sort of thing happens. I don't expect everyone to be tech savvy, but doesn't everyone realize you have to erase electronic equipment before handing it to someone else? I mean, it's the same thing as just handing over your paper address book and a folder full of personal documents. It's the same thing!

One of the phones had 260 personal contacts on it including email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses to all sorts of McCain supporters.

So what’d they do? They started calling people. People like former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, who didn’t seem thrilled with the situation.

“It makes me quite uncomfortable,” he told the reporters, “It’s a matter of principle. I gave that information to McCain headquarters, and to have it sold is bothersome.”

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/12/14/buy-a-blackberry-and-get-john-mccains-number-at-no-extra-cost/

***Useful iPhone Tips

Here's an article with several good tips on using the iPhone. I already knew about most of them, but I did not know about tapping on the status bar at the top of the screen to scroll to the top of a website (tip #1).

http://www.taptaptap.com/blog/10-useful-iphone-tips-and-tricks/"

No, They Did-n't

Evidently, the new re-make of the classic movie The Day the Earth Stood Still DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PHRASE KLAATU BARADA NIKTO! WTF?? How can that be? I mean, I enjoy seeing a classic brought into the modern age. But there are some things you just cannot mess with -- and not having that classic phrase in the movie just seems crazy to me!

Sounds like the re-make is a flop anyways. Here are a couple of quotes from the Rotten Tomatoes site --

• "A boldly mediocre remake..."
  
  
• "The rumbling sound you hear that shakes the theaters playing The Day the Earth Stood Still isn't an awesome sound system. It's everyone involved with the original turning over in their grave."
  
  
• "Klaatu barada crappo"
  
  
• "The whole thing finally crashes and burns in an orgy of noisy and uninspired special effects that stands as a lunkheaded rebuke to the restraint displayed by the original film"

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/day_the_earth_stood_still/

The funny thing is that I will still probably see the movie anyways, since I like the classic so much.

When we rented the movie the other night, I also rented a copy of the The Exorcist because I had never seen the movie. (O saw the movie a long time ago, so he didn't watch it with me.)

Actually, after I watched it, I realized that I had at least seen parts of it because I recognized certain parts.

I did not find the movie scary at all. I guess that's so because the movie is 30+ years old, and the religious imagery profaned in the movie had no significance to me -- with me not being Catholic, Christian, interested in demons or anything like that. That being said, it certainly was not an uplifting movie, lol!

I did enjoy understanding the little bit of Latin in one part -- Quod nomen mihi est? -- without really having to translate it.

One thing I noticed was the subtle, religious admonitions in the film -- blaming the possession on broken families (this happened to a child of a broken home) or on playing with the occult (the child who had been playing with a Ouija Board).

A lot of the time when I watch an older movie, I wonder "where are they now?" So, I did some some searches on the guy who played the younger priest (Father Karras) in the movie -- Jason Miller. He looked young enough to still be alive now.

However, it seemed that he died of a heart attack in 2001 when he was age 62. He died on stage, so at least he was still working!

I wondered why he would die so young, but when you compare the 2 pictures below, you can see that he had put on a lot of weight. The first is from the Exorcist movie. The second is related to a movie in 1993.


http://flickr.com/photos/10567487@N07/2316035130/




http://www.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/cors028a.htm

The other priest (Fr. Merrin), who looked much older in the film but was only 10 years older in reality, is evidently still alive and in his late 70s.