Posted by barb on Dec 26, 2003 in
Pictures,
Travels A testament to the hardiness of Minnesotans, during the month of December, there is a parade Wednesday-Sunday evenings down Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. It does occasionally get cancelled due to snowy, icy, or cold conditions, but that’s unusual. The Holidazzle Parade is marked by brightly lit floats and characters. Most of the floats are of storybook characters and settings. The princess and the pea (sponsored, this year at least, by a mattress company 🙂 is one of my favorites.
This year, Andrew and I were joined by Dave, Jen and Kira, Kevin and my parents. It wasn’t too cold out, though Andrew pointed out that earlier this month we got sick after a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Perhaps this would be reason to get sick on this trip. I took a few pictures, but they didn’t really turn out.
Afterwards we rushed up to the Marshall Field’s 8th floor auditorium. The display this year was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — each year they put up a display, usually based on a children’s book. The display was quite fun, though crowded as always (though in the past, it wasn’t nearly as busy after Christmas, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad).
Though, more fun that the display itself, was watching Kira. She was on Dad’s shoulders, and started to imitate some of the characters. One of the displays showed the winner of a golden ticket raising her hands above her head, so Kira raised her hands, too.
Posted by barb on Dec 25, 2003 in
Books by Jean Shepherd
Some of the stories from Shepherd’s books, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, were used to create the movie A Christmas Story. The relevant stories are collected in this volume.
Shepherd’s style is much like the move — funny, but not quite so absurd as to be unbelievable. This was a fun, quick read, and makes me want to check out the other collections for the other shorts written by Shepherd.
Posted by barb on Dec 25, 2003 in Uncategorized
We started with a quiet day, opening stockings filled by Santa Claus overnight. Santa left me a fun kirigami calendar, a Celtic knot barrette, and some bath gels. I must have been a good girl this year 🙂
Then we prepared the house to leave for a week. We were heading to Minnesota to spend some time with my family. This was when Andrew was supposed to meet my grandparents, but he met farm grandma earlier this month after grandpa died.
Our flight didn’t leave until 5 PM, so we didn’t have to leave the house until about 3 PM — it was the first time I actually planned well for a flight. Usually I book a 9 AM flight, thinking that it’s not too early, but I always forget that I have to arrive at the airport 2 hours earlier than the flight, plus parking time, plus time to get from the parking lot to the terminal. So then my nice, leisurely 9 AM flight turns into a gruelling 6 AM leave-time.
It was a quiet flight, and Mom and Dad were waiting for us at baggage class when we got there. We just kicked around home until bed time. Overall, a pretty good Christmas.
Posted by barb on Dec 24, 2003 in
Books by Harry Turtledove
This is actually the second book in an alternate history series by Turtledove, in which the USA does not win the civil war..er..the war of succession (pardon me). I haven’t read the first book, but it’s not necessary to understanding this one. The only important part is that there is now a USA and a CSA (Confederate States of America) occupying what we know as the USA.
Due to alignments made during the war of succession, when World War I breaks out, the USA is on the side with Germany, while the CSA is on the side with Britain, France and Canada. The war is fought in North America.
This novel follows the lives of several characters in both the USA and CSA during the first part of WWI. These characters range from soldiers to farmers, factory workers to political figures. The novel is formed out of small bits of each character’s life. I was worried when I came to page 50 and there had been no repeats in the characters, but the characters do come back, and we follow their progress through the war. Unfortunately, the war is still going strong when the novel ends.
All of the stories were captivating, but yet the book felt really, really long. I can’t say why exactly. Still, I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, but am a bit disappointed that it covers the European Front, since I would have liked to know what happens to the characters I’ve gotten to know on the American Fronts.
Posted by barb on Dec 24, 2003 in
Wedding I hate to say it, but the one company was the only coordinator to get back to us. I left messages (phone and through web forms) to four different companies, and Sagewood was the only one who got back to us. We’re guessing that the others took one look at our budget and decided that we weren’t worth their time. That’s nice.
At least we were both happy with our coordinator when we met with her a couple weeks ago. I’m looking forward to getting the planning underway.
Posted by barb on Dec 24, 2003 in
Movies 3.5/5 stars
In the 1930s, half-breed aboriginal children are taken from their homes and trained as domestic staff to save them from having to live between two worlds. Molly, Daisy and Gracie are three such children. However, Molly escapes with the two other girls in tow. They trek 1,500 miles across the Outback, following the rabbit-proof fence (constructed across Australia to keep the rabbits contained), since they know that the fence runs near their village. Mr. Neville, the legal guardian of all such half-breeds according to the government mandates, has a tracker and local authorities searching for the girls the entire time.
This was a good film, though somewhat depressing.
Posted by barb on Dec 22, 2003 in
Random Thoughts Christmas Carols Irk Czech Clerks
Labor unions in the Czech Republic demanded Monday that stores stop playing Christmas carols incessantly or pay compensation for causing emotional trauma to sales clerks.
My mom still thinks I hate Christmas carols, though I’ve actually grown to enjoy them again. I worked at a Kay-Bee Toy store from 1990 to 1992, and at a Hallmark store from 1991-1995, both at Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota.
Immediately after Halloween each year, the mall would start to erect it’s Christmas decorations — large lighted garlands and wreaths sprinkled through the hallways, and a gargantuan tree in the center of the mall with balls larger than my head. Long before Thanksgiving, Santa’s throne would be assembled and awaiting his royal arse. A few animatronic elves and reindeer surrounded his abode, nodding and wagging tails (respectively) to no one in particular.
Those quiet weeks before Thanksgiving would also bring the start of the Christmas music. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bell Rock would blare from the mall speakers, loud enough to overcome the large Christmas crowds, even though the Christmas crowds were waiting for the passing of Thanksgiving to converge on the mall. Occasionally Silent Night would play, just to taunt us hapless clerks.
By the time Thanksgiving came, and the crowds were large enough to drown out the music, I loathed the tunes. If I came home and Mom was happily playing a Christmas CD in the living room, I would retreat to my bedroom to turn on some Sting or Indigo Girls or Elton John or something with no ties to Christmas at all. Even in my first couple years away from retail, I had an aversion to Christmas carols — I would tolerate them better, but after a full CD would have to insist that something else be played.
Now I’m back to enjoying Christmas songs and the whole Christmas season. It took about three years out of retail for that to happen, though, so it’s no wonder my mom still thinks I hate the music. It will take about three more years to convince her.
Posted by barb on Dec 21, 2003 in
Movies 3.5/5 stars
I recently realized that I had never actually watched Planet of the Apes from beginning to end in one sitting. I’d certainly seen bits and pieces of it while dial-spinning on a Saturday afternoon, and I knew the basic story, but I wanted to put it all together.
I was surprised by how unlikable Charlton Heston’s character was in the beginning of the film. I also hadn’t realized that the original mission of the crew was to test relativity (i.e. the twins’ paradox), but thought their return to Earth two millennia after leaving was some kind of accident (I must have been mixing it up with Buck Rogers!).
Overall, it was entertaining, even 30 years later. I also think I agree that it’s superior to the recent remake starring Mark Wahlberg (though I quite enjoyed the new one, too).
Posted by barb on Dec 21, 2003 in
Movies 5/5 stars
I don’t know what I can say about this one. The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy upholds the excellent standards set by the first two. I must confess that I never finished reading the trilogy (I stopped somewhere in the middle of The Two Towers), so I don’t know how close the ending was to the books, but I was satisfied. I’d heard some complaints on the numerous “endings” to the movie — just as the screen goes white, the audience thinks the movie is over, and then another final scene comes up. I can see the point, but I was glad that all the ends seemed to be tied up. (You’ll know the ending is really coming when the screen goes to black instead of white).
Posted by barb on Dec 18, 2003 in
Saxophone I’ve been finding that I’m just not making much progress right now in my playing. It’s frustrating, but not unexpected. I just need to remember that I’ll get over this plateau, and start making progress soon. I just need to practice my way through it.
Instead of playing anything out of my books today, Fred had me try playing a few tunes by ear. We started with “The First Noel” in C major. Then I tried “Jingle Bells” in D major and G major. Finally I tried “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in F major. It was actually quite fun, and though some notes took a bit of time to find, I was able to play all of them with some success.