Ramblings from the Gryphon Rose

Monday, July 25, 2005

Beaches, barbeque, and bimbos

But not all together. And not in that order.
This weekend was good. Lois met me up at my office Friday so that she could take a look at some programs (no, not swiping them, just checking out how they work) and then headed back with me. We hung out and ordered lunch and then watched Sky Captain on DVD with my daughter while my wife prepped for the game. Sky Captain was fun—great visuals, excellent recreation of that genre feel, plot holes you could fit that aerial platform through. Jude Law was very good in the title role, Giovanni Ribisi was great as the sidekick, Angelina Jolie was excellent in the small role as the tough-as-nails British officer—and Gwyneth Paltrow was predictably awful as the heroine. Half of that was her—someone later said “well, everyone was stiff in the original movies of that type” to which I replied “yeah, but this time it was just her”—and half was her character, who was the biggest idiot on the planet. I mean, we’re talking way beyond “hey, there’s a mad killer on the loose, let’s split up and search this old house” stupid. She’s carrying these items the mad scientist gave her right before his death (which they could have prevented if they hadn’t stopped to examine all his experiments on the way in) and she hides them from Sky Captain, even though she knows they’re what the bad guys are looking for and why they blew up his base and kidnapped his friend. Idiot. Though it was amusing to have Lois sitting there shouting “Die! Kill her! She deserves to die!” at the screen. My wife was pretty amused by this as well, and she was upstairs at the time. Then Mook and Peter showed up and we gamed, which was fun.
Saturday was quiet. We went to bed late and woke up earlier than we wanted. Didn’t do a whole lot during the day, though we did organize a little bit—we bought some plastic containers recently and so we sorted some old clothes and both cleaned out our closets, which is nice. I’d forgotten mine had a floor. Then after dinner and putting my daughter to bed we watched Shaun of the Dead, which I’d seen but my wife hadn’t. Entertaining film.
Yesterday was busy. My dad’s in town and was out at the beach this weekend, so I was planning to meet up with him out there around noon. But the weather was nicer than anticipated, so my wife decided to join me after all—we had thought it would be too hot for a toddler and a pregnant woman to hit the beach. We caught both busses (60 to 45) perfectly and got down there in a little over an hour, which is very good given the logistics and the distance. Then we spent a few hours hanging out, having lunch, and walking along the beach. My daughter enjoyed standing there and letting the waves wash over her feet until a bigger wave got her shorts wet as well—then she wanted me to carry her the rest of the time.
After the walk we hopped on the subway and went into Manhattan for our friend Brandy’s birthday party. Brandy’s got the right idea of these—for the past several years she picks an interesting restaurant and tries it out on her birthday. She’s got a good track record for finding fun, casual places with good food, and Mara’s Homemade was no exception. This place has Cajun, Creole, and Arkansas barbeque. I got the St. Louis ribs, which were excellent. My wife had the cranberry chicken, which she enjoyed. The sides were also tasty. Don’t get the beignets, though—they’re just zeppoli in disguise. About twenty people showed up, and we knew all of them as well, so it was a big, fun, noisy crowed. My daughter also had fun, both because her buddy Ray was there and because so many people were paying attention to her. Sorry, Brandy.
Then we went home and collapsed. And now it’s Monday again. Sigh.

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