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The Dawn of a New Day |
with this Samoan man and his beautiful voice. Wish he was releasing something new soon. The first video is of his original song. The second video is of two young guys, NP Melody, doing a cover of it. I must admit, they do a simple, but lovely version, too!
“Can’t Help Myself” – NP Melody
On this Mardi Gras, there’s nothing more appropriate than to be partying in the streets of the French Quarter down in New Orleans. Instead, I’m sitting at home, reluctantly blogging, thinking up more excuses not to go to the gym.
I’ve never really celebrated Mardi Gras. One year we had a company event, consisting of dinner and drinks, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It was beyond boring. My then-boyfriend (we’ll call him Bro Ho) saved the day/evening for me. When I called him from a payphone (long before my cell phone), he promised to be downstairs in a cab waiting for me within 10 minutes, which he was. We still didn’t celebrate Mardi Gras. We simply went back to his apartment, watched TV, drank some wine and went to bed. About 3 years ago, Mardi Gras fell on the same day as Women’s Day, which nobody seems to care about in the U.S., but which is highly celebrated in Italy and other parts of Europe. My Italian then-boyfriend (we’ll call this one Bozo) actually wanted to take me out – on a SCHOOL night!!! He didn’t give me a flower, which is apparently customary on Women’s Day. We went to Sheba Lounge on Fillmore, drank rum and Cokes, listened to some live jazz and managed to rustle up a few beads. We continued the evening at Rassellas, dancing wildly to some DJ. Bozo couldn’t dance to save his life, but he was trying to emulate what the young guys around us were doing – some break dancing-type moves and jumping up in the air. It was quite amusing actually.
Since I won’t be carousing tonight, this gives me ample time to consider what I’m giving up for Lent. That was pretty much already decided last week, though. My Lent sacrifices will be my usual sodas and potato chips, along with cupcakes and macarons. I’ve thrown in shoe shopping and clothes shopping for good measure. Friends and co-workers think that’s an awful lot to give up. Well, I’ve probably been extra bad over the past year, if you were to know the truth! My boy, A., and I had a little debate today about whether Lent lasts 40 days or 45 days. I say 45, but he says 40. Someone on FB posted that Lent lasts until Palm Sunday and that the last week is considered Holy Week. I always thought that Lent lasted until Easter Sunday. Can anyone help to clear this up? On the other hand, I did NOT give up those calorie-laden, artery-clogging sisig burritos from the Senor Sisig food truck. In fact, there’s a very good chance that I’ll be scarfing one down tomorrow for lunch.
Even though cruising the Greek Isles briefly crossed my mind as my major vacation for later this year, it would still be much more expensive than going to Southeast Asia. Thus, my plans are to return to Thailand (but NOT over-touristy Phuket) and, yes, to Bali. I’m willing to give Thailand another try – in Koh Samui and Bangkok. As for Bali, as much as I’ve tried to stay away, I miss it. So I thought it would be great to go to Thailand first, throw a week in Bali in the middle of the trip, then return to Thailand before flying back to the U.S. Who knew that planning this would cause me such a headache?! Getting 3 round-trip flights to sync wasn’t easy! I wanted to fly straight to Koh Samui for 6 days, then go to Bali for a week and finally return to Bangkok for at least 3 days the last part of October. My flight from the U.S. is direct to Bangkok. However, since my flight to Koh Samui is on a different airline (and I assume that I’ll have to get my luggage from the first airline and recheck it to the second airline), I have to allow myself enough time. To be safe, I’m giving myself about 3 hours between the connections, just in case the process in Bangkok moves along rather slowly. If not, then I’ll have time to relax a bit and check out the airport before jumping on that flight. There appear to be only 2 airlines that fly directly from Bangkok to Koh Samui, one of which is more expensive than the other. After 6 relaxing, sun-filled beach days in Koh Samui (hopefully), I’d wanted to fly directly to Bali on the same day. There’s no way that will happen. There’s only one affordable flight per day from Bangkok to Denpasar. Not only does it fly out of the smaller Bangkok airport, but it departs at 6:15 a.m. The earliest flight out of Koh Samui is at 6:00 a.m. That causes me to have to spend a night in Bangkok before the early morning flight to Denpasar. My other option was to fly another, more expensive airline. Though it departs out of the main Bangkok airport and I could make the connection, I would have to go through Kuala Lumpur and arrive in Bali at 2:30 a.m. Why don’t they make these connections easier? These are all popular places!
There’s already been a first for this trip. I used AirBnB to book my accommodation in Koh Samui. The process was so simple. I picked out a few places, sent messages to the owners confirming availability, then made the payment. Apparently, the payment is held until the day after I arrive at the destination, at which time it is then given to the owner. Choosing which beach in Koh Samui was another major decision. Chaweng is the main party beach; Lamai seems to be the second. Instead I chose Bophut, which is much quieter, seems to have quite an expat population (mainly French), has something called Fishermans Village and a Friday night market. The apartment I found to rent is perfect – beautifully decorated, on the 3rd floor overlooking the pool, on a hill overlooking the beach, has a rooftop gym, free WiFi, flat screen TV, cable, air conditioning, elevator and a full kitchen. The walk down the hill to the beach is 800 meters. The walk back up should provide me some daily exercise were I loathe to use the gym! The price? Less than $60 per night. Well, maybe after the AirBnB fee is added, it might be a little over $60, but still completely worth it. The best part? The owner can pick me up at the airport!
My hotel for my final 3 nights in Bangkok is about to be booked on AirBnB as well. The owner has already pre-approved my reservation; just waiting for me to make the payment. The studio in Bangkok is located in the Sathorn area, is close to the subway, has cable TV, internet, elevator, full kitchen, washer, doorman, game room, gym and a gorgeous rooftop pool. The price for THIS place? Less than $50 a night, even including the AirBnB fee.
I have a hotel in Ubud booked for 3 nights; one that I’ve stayed at many times before. My usual villino in Seminyak prefers that I book 5 nights if booking in advance; otherwise, waiting until 2 weeks before arrival to check availability. I hate leaving things until the last minute, so have looked on AirBnB for a place in Seminyak as well. One woman has already pre-approved me, but I’m waiting to hear from a certain man, as his studio has a plunge pool. Both places are well situated, but a plunge pool really comes in handy when you’re in a hot, humid climate! Apparently, I can simply put my credit card info in for the studio with the plunge pool. If he accepts the payment, then there’s nothing further I need to do. If he doesn’t accept the payment, for whatever reason, then it looks like the other one!
My final dilemma is what to do about the one night in Bangkok en route to Bali. I could probably stay at the same studio that I’ll be staying at for the final 3 days or find another one. Either way, I’ll end up paying for 1 night, plus 2 taxi fares. If I wanted to be crazy, hang out at the main airport the entire day, then take a cab in the middle of the night to the smaller airport, it would only cost me 1 taxi fare. Even if I rent a studio/apartment, I won’t get much sleep. For an international flight that leaves at 6:15 a.m., I’d need to be there at 4:15 a.m. Depending on traffic in Bangkok, which they say is madness, I might have to leave for the airport around 2:00 a.m. What to do?
My plans for Koh Samui? Other than laying by the pool and/or on the beach daily, eating inexpensive and spicy Thai food and taking pictures? Nothing really. I could ride an elephant for the 3rd time, although I read somewhere that I could bathe baby elephants, which would be incredible! Of course, watching more Muay Thai matches is high on my list!
In Bangkok, I MUST see the Grand Palace. I’d also like to see the Temple of Dawn, the Reclining Buddha and the Emerald Buddha. Plus, I’d love to have a drink at that rooftop bar/restaurant that was featured in “The Hangover 2.” I hope 3 days is enough to see all of those things and get around easily in Bangkok.
Bali will be my usual – daily massages and facials, hanging out at the high end open-air bars/restaurants and shopping for silk dresses and silver jewelry.
If I spent 17 days in Greece, I’m sure it would cost me twice as much (probably even more) than my trip to Thailand and Bali. We all know I’m about getting the biggest bang for my buck!
Here are some previous pictures of Thailand (Phuket) and Bali:
Food Vendor
Alright, lovebirds, Valentine’s Day weekend officially ends at midnight tonight. Before that happens, I have a question for you. What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you? Then, what is the most romantic thing that YOU have ever done for someone else? Inquiring minds want to know!
Off the top of my head, the most romantic thing someone ever did for me was to send me a telegram! That’s right, one afternoon back in West Hollywood, a telegram delivery person knocked on my door and handed me a mimeographed sheet with a lovely poem written on it. The poem wasn’t a “love” poem, but romantic in the sense that it filled my head with beautiful images. The telegram wasn’t addressed to me by name nor was it signed. A few days later, my secret admirer revealed himself when he knocked on my door. He happened to be living in the building next door to my apartment building. He would see me out walking my Chow Chow all the time. What’s funny is that the telegram was delivered to the wrong person the first time. They mistakenly delivered it to the same apartment number of the apartment building on the OTHER side of him; thus, an elderly lady received it. He must have made her day!!! He still made mine, too. Said guy, whose name I don’t recall, was a cute, nice guy, though we didn’t have much in common. He came over a couple of times to hang out and talk to me. He also took my Chow Chow on long walks a few times as well. Other than that, we never went on a date or anything.
The most romantic moment that comes to mind was in Venice, Italy. A very handsome Italian man had taken me to dinner and drinks. We were standing beneath a full moon in front of the Bridge of Sighs while he sang snippets of “Wonderful Tonight” to me.
The cutest moment? My ex-husband used to call me “Bunny Butt” or “Bunny” for short. Don’t ask me why. On one trip when I landed at the airport from Italy, he was standing there with a sign (like all the drivers do) that said “Bunny.”
Another cute moment? A boyfriend had just bought a beautiful sapphire ring for me. He let me choose it, but wrapped it up and said that I couldn’t have it until Christmas. Then he proceeded to tease me with another, nearly identical box saying that it was similar to the ring. On Christmas Day, the “mystery” box was the first one I opened, of course! It was jewelry alright – a pair of wooden candy cane earrings!
The most romantic thing that I ever did for someone? Hmmm… A boyfriend used to complain about walking home from his accounting or statistics class once a week. He’d walk to a certain point, then wait there awhile in hopes that a cab would come by, which eventually happened. He was really grouchy about it all the time, though. One evening I went to some little hole-in-the-wall Chinese place and bought a bunch of food, then walked to that intersection and sat there waiting for him. He was surprised and happy. We still had to wait for a cab, but he had me to keep him company and hot food to eat when he got home.
Other than that, well, I wrote a love poem to someone, which they really liked. I had a surprise birthday party for my ex-husband, though that’s not terribly romantic. Strangely, I can’t think of anything else, though I know there are other things. I’ll have to get back to you on that!
My Valentine’s Day actually began on Thursday, February 13th. My favorite food truck, CupKates Bakery, was advertising Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes as their special for 3 days, in honor of Valentine’s Day. I picked up 3 of them – one for my boy, A; one for my female boss, C; and one for myself. A. wasn’t at his desk, so I took a pink post-it note, wrote “Will you be my VALENTINE?” on it and placed it in front of his computer with the cupcake. When he got back to to his desk and saw it, he came over to me and asked “Did you leave that cupcake at my desk?” “Of course!” (C. and I always feed him.) He then gave me a big hug and said “Of course I’ll be your valentine! Thank you!” As a little follow-up, C. enjoyed the Strawberry Shortcake cupcake, but said that it wouldn’t be one that she’d order all the time. A. loved it, especially the fresh strawberries in the middle of the shortcake. I liked it as well, but felt about the same as C.
Later that afternoon, I had the misfortune of tearing my left contact lens. It had been bothering me. As I was trying to take it out to rinse it off, it flew out of my eye and onto the floor. While looking for it, there’s a very good chance that I ran it over with my chair ’cause it was most definitely ripped when I found it. I was joking with A. that I was going to devise an eye patch out of a cracker and some duct tape. He suggested that I use the pink post-it note I gave him that said “Will you be my VALENTINE?” For some reason, that reminds me of the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the girl writes “Love You” on her eyelids and keeps batting her eyes at the instructor!
When I got into the office on Friday, I was disappointed to discover that A. was on a business trip to Seattle with one of the VP’s. What? He’s two-timing on me already?! CupKates cheered me up once again. Believe it or not, I follow several San Francisco food trucks on Twitter. When they’re in the FiDi neighborhood around lunch, I inform everyone and we go stand in line! CupKates advertised strawberry and Nutella macarons on Valentine’s Day. I LOVE macarons – Laduree ones and others in Paris, Chantal Guillon ones in San Francisco. (IMHO, the ones from Miette are horrible!) Since A. was out of the office, I wandered over to C.’s office to see if she was interested in having a macaron. She wanted a Nutella one. At the truck, they informed me that the macarons were being sold in a packet of 2, one of each, for $4. I picked up 2 packets. I left one on C.’s desk and kept the other for myself, I was really only interested in the strawberry one. It was of a decent size and quite flavorful. My intention was to give the Nutella one to another analyst, M. However, M. took so long on his lunch break that I gave in and ate it. OMG! I wasn’t in the mood for hazelnut, but that Nutella macaron was amazing! It didn’t taste like hazelnut to me, but more like an extra luscious, extremely decadent chocolate. I regretted not buying yet another packet.
Much like last year, my friend, T., and I made reservations for Valentine’s Day dinner at E Tutto Qua. I truly like their food, but T., who’s gay, enjoys checking out the waiters. Ok, I admit it; I enjoy checking out the cute Italian waiters, too. T. is aware that I know a fair amount of the waiters and bartenders from places in North Beach that I used to or currently frequent. When I walked in, the host gave me a huge hug and said that he hasn’t seen me in awhile. He gave me a table downstairs, as he knows that I don’t like to sit upstairs. T. showed up a few minutes later. We settled on the seared scallops appetizer, the burrata with arugula and cherry tomatos, the paccheri golosi (for me) and the swordfish (for him). We shared the two appetizers, which were delicious. I can never get enough of their paccheri golosi, which is large tube pasta stuffed with prosciutto, porcini mushrooms and truffle oil in a cream sauce. T.’s swordfish, however, was underwhelming for him. He found it dry and flavorless. I’d suggested to him to have the sea bass instead, but the waiter kept trying to push the swordfish. Oh well. T. chose the affogato, gelato topped with espresso, for dessert. I didn’t have any. Beings this is supposed to be my gym period, I’m definitely not supposed to be eating dinner at night, anyway, unless I’ve already been to the gym. Of course, we won’t mention the two glasses of Sangiovese that I had! Conversation-wise, we had a very funny chat about getting massages in different countries. For our visual entertainment, T. and I both agreed on the same waiter, as well as one of the guys behind the bar, as being the two hottest guys in there. One of the waiters had come up to our table and said that I looked familiar. I admitted that I used to frequent E Tutto Qua from about 2006 to 2009, but go there infrequently now. I’m sure that T. and I can think up excuses to go back at least once per month to check out those two particular guys, though!
After dinner, we went to Panta Rei and had drinks. T. is planning on spending some time in Sicily in September. He’d asked if I knew any Italian guys from Sicily. There used to be 2 Sicilian guys at Panta Rei. Of course, neither were working when we arrived. Then I suddenly remembered that L, the bartender, though Italian-American, had lived in Sicily for awhile. I asked L. where in Sicily he’d lived (Palermo), then informed him that T. was planning a trip there and would like some information. T. asked him several questions and they bantered back and forth. When we left, L. hugged me and told me not to wait another 3 months to come back.
Thus, my Gay Valentine and I had a nice Valentine’s Day – good dinner (for the most part), hot Italian guys, drinks and information on Sicily. I was going to post photos of our dinner. Unfortunately, I took the photos with my camera phone. When I try to E-mail them to myself, they don’t want to download. Sorry! I’ll use my real camera in the future.
Well, the needle drama was just that – drama, on my part. The lab at California Pacific Medical Center opens at 7:00 a.m., but there was no way you’d find me there at that time. My doctor had said that an appointment wasn’t necessary, so I strolled in around 8:30 a.m. last Thursday. To my surprise, they were already quite busy. I turned in my form, answered a few questions, then sat down to wait while listening to music on my Android. The wait was around half an hour. When they called my name, the person performing my blood test was a somewhat older Filipino woman. She needed two vials of blood. When she showed me the vials, I gasped and said “Those look kind of big!” I explained that I was deathly afraid of needles, though she was probably wondering about the large tattoo on my inner right wrist. As I admitted to being extremely nervous, her response was something like “I’m here to do my very best to serve you.” Somehow that did NOT reassure me in any way. She told me that she would use a small needle on me and proceeded to get it out. I didn’t want to see the needle at all and covered my eyes. She mentioned that my veins are good, so it should be easy going. Oddly, every time I’ve had a blood test, the practitioner comments on how nice/good my veins are. Apparently, I’d be an excellent candidate for intravenous drug use – if only I weren’t deathly afraid of needles!!! Let’s be honest – I barely felt the needle going in and the process seemed to take about 10 seconds. As she withdrew the needle, I asked “Was that enough blood for both vials or are you going to stick me again?!” She assured me that she had enough blood. She wiped off my arm with alcohol (or whatever it is), bandaged me up and admonished me to leave it on at least half an hour, if not more. Her parting words were “Next time, don’t be so afraid!” Easy for HER to say! She’d also asked if I’d like some juice, which I declined. Are you kidding? California Pacific Medical Center is within walking distance of that purportedly French boulangerie on Pine Street. I walked over there with intentions of loading up on sugar to reward myself for such an arduous (!) ordeal. About 10 minutes after entering the boulangerie, I walked out with a slice of galette des rois, a chocolate chip madeline, a slice of pistachio pound cake and an olive baguette. No, they wouldn’t give me a doll/charm/kewpie/crown or anything with the galette des rois; explained that I’d have to buy an entire galette for that. Don’t tempt me! I went back to the office and scarfed down the slice of galette des rois immediately. I shared half of the madeline with my boy, A. He thought it was delicious and asked what it was. Since he’s having a weight loss contest with one of his roommates, he didn’t feel as guilty about having only half of a madeline. (He’s not even overweight, but thinks he needs to slim down and tone up.) The pistachio pound cake survived until the next day, as did the olive baguette. Loved the pistachio pound cake. The olive baguette was fine, but pales in comparison to the olive bread that they serve at Campton Place. Yet the best olive bread I ever had was from a bakery in Venice, Italy. The olives weren’t sliced or chopped, but whole olives. I remember taking it back to my room and downing it with fresh pears and some random Italian cheese from a farmer’s market in Padua. The moral of the story is: I’m a big baby and will use any excuse to reward myself for good behavior!
Now that the weather in San Francisco has gotten slightly colder the past day or so, I’m craving sunshine and the beach again. And since I’ve skipped Musical Monday for a few weeks now (possibly more), here’s your song for this week.
Aghi is the Italian word for needles. The reason I was thinking of that word is because I remember having a conversation with an Italian guy and used the word “needles.” Can’t remember why. His response was “Oh, like the Chinese food!” That made me laugh. He obviously thought I was referring to “noodles.” I corrected him and looked up the Italian word for needles on my nifty English-Italian translator on my Android.
There are two reasons I’m mentioning needles. The first is that because, after nearly a year and a half, I’m thinking of getting another tattoo. My last tattoo was in Bali in October of 2012. What was meant to be a small Polynesian-influenced cross on my right inner forearm (to “match” with the fleur-de-lys on my left inner forearm – a Christmas gift from my ex-husband AFTER we were divorced! He was French and the fleur-de-lys can stand for both France and Italy; two of my favorite places) ended up being something unexpected My tattooist in Bali, who’d last tatted me in April of 2009, drew up a couple of designs and asked my preference. To make a long story short, the Polynesian-influenced cross ended up being more centered in the middle of my forearm, when my fleur-de-lys is more towards my wrist. He said that it’s more painful when it’s closer to my wrist. There was truth in that, as that fleur-de-lys had swelled up like crazy. Also, the tattoo artist insisted on making the cross MUCH bigger than I’d anticipated; his explanation being that it needed to be bigger to show the detail. I ended up with what I considered to be a “gang” tattoo, which took me quite awhile to get used to. It didn’t help when my friends would glimpse it and comment “Wow, that’s HUGE!” I got over it after a few months and am now completely comfortable with it.
My tattoo history began in September of 1996, the Labor Day weekend that I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco. My then-boyfriend and I went down to Venice Beach several hours before my flight to San Francisco and took the plunge. We’d talked about it for months; that was our last chance to do it before I left L.A. We both picked Chinese symbols; mine for “happiness” and his for “good luck.” I wanted mine on the top of the back of my right shoulder; he wanted his in the same spot. I decided to go first. If he went first, I might have chickened out altogether! In truth, for me, the outlining of the design always hurts more than the filling in. I now have 3 Chinese symbols on the right side of my back, 3 flowers on the left side of my back and a somewhat large Polynesian-style one of sting rays on my lower back (yup, the tramp stamp). None of the flowers are stupid roses. The first is a lotus flower from some guy in Bali, the second is another “artsy” flower from a design in Bali and the third is a Polynesian-style flower; not hibiscus, possibly tiare. The flowers ended up being bigger than the Chinese symbols, though, so I’ll have to get 2 more Chinese symbols eventually to even out my back! As for the sting rays, I actually cried when getting that one. Once they tattooed over my kidneys, I thought I was going to pass out! I started crying quietly. Another tattoo artist sitting across from me saw, came over, hugged me and said “Don’t cry; it will be ok.” Then he told the guy tattooing me that I definitely needed a little break to mentally prepare myself to finish it. That makes a total of 9 tattoos. Aside from getting 2 more Chinese symbols to even out my back, I wasn’t planning on getting any more. I don’t want any on my outer arms or outer forearms, lower stomach, anywhere near the breast area, neck or any of those places. I’ve thought about getting a tattoo around my ankle, but hear that it’s very painful. What made me contemplate getting more tattoos, and I’m NOT referring to the Chinese symbols, was my most recent trip to Hawaii. I saw several designs for Polynesian-style fish, octopus, more sting rays/manta rays, Hawaiian war helmets, flowers and those triangle ones. So my idea is to take some of those designs into a tattoo studio and have them draw something up which they can ADD to the one of my lower back. Of course, they’ll have to price it out for me as well, so it can’t get too crazy.
My second reason for writing about needles is that I have to go get a blood test next week. I’ve probably had my blood drawn 2 or 3 times in my life. It freaks me out every time. Having someone tattoo my back (or even my arm) where I either can’t see it being done or can avert my eyes is one thing. Having someone stick a long needle into my arm/vein and TAKE blood out of me is another thing completely! I can avert my eyes, but it’s pretty difficult.
It’s actually funny to me that, whenever I get a tattoo, the sound of the electric needle makes me break out in a sweat. Yet when I see a big needle that’s going into my body, I practically hyperventilate! The dentist always has to cover my eyes when they’re getting ready to shoot me up!
In closing, I’ll let you know if I pass out next week. The blood test is something that my doctor really wants me to do. It’s nothing to worry about (i.e. no diseases or anything life threatening). In fact, I don’t absolutely HAVE to do it, but I really should. As for the tattoo, that could take awhile. Maybe by the end of the year; maybe sooner. Whenever it’s done, I’ll post a photo!
On my most recent trip to Hawaii, I’d purchased a gift certificate from AMC Theaters for one of my friends there. Come to find out, there are NO AMC Theaters in the Hawaiian Islands, only Regal and Consolidated. I’ve never even heard of Consolidated, but those are the main movie theaters in Hawaii. Thus, I, in fact, ended up buying MYSELF some AMC movie tickets! Another friend gave me a gift certificate from AMC Theaters for a Christmas present, so guess what I’ve been doing lately? You guessed it – going to movies.
The first one I saw using the AMC certificate was “Out of the Furnace.” That movie, starring Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson, was about a guy (Christian Bale) whose younger brother (who was also an army vet) disappeared while boxing in an underground circuit run by Woody Harrelson. The movie was slow and not nearly as interesting as I’d hoped.
Next up was “American Hustle” with Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper. The premise didn’t exactly appeal to me – a con man (Christian Bale) and his partner (Amy Adams) who are forced to work with a crazy FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) in an effort to bring down some kingpins. The con man’s wife (Jennifer Lawrence) might unknowingly give everything away. This movie was MUCH better than I’d anticipated with a little twist at the end. The cast was superb.
The draw for me to see “Lone Survivor” was Mark Wahlberg. He’s actually a very good actor in many different genres. The movie was good, but didn’t blow me away. What bothered me most was the actual/real survivor of that battle. Hearing him describe what he went through, all in an effort to save his “brothers” and himself kind of got on my nerves. Who was really there to see what happened other than himself, since he was the lone survivor? My intentions are not to downplay the military in any way, as all 3 of my brothers were in the military, though none of them saw battle. Yet something about the real survivor irks me in some way; something about him doesn’t seem real or earnest to me. However, go see the movie by all means. It’s worth the cost of admission. Since it states that the movie is “based” on actual events, I thought the part about the villagers helping him was probably not true. Finding out that it WAS true was the best part!
I went to see “47 Ronin” out of sheer boredom. Unlike Mark Wahlberg, I do NOT think Keanu Reeves is a good actor across many different genres. In my opinion, he’s been good in a few movies, but mostly he’s mediocre to me. “47 Ronin” was rather cheesy, yet enjoyable. I certainly enjoyed it more than that stupid “Samurai” movie that Tom Cruise was in. Also, I learned the meaning of “ronin” and found out that the 47 ronin were actual men defending their master’s honor.
This past weekend I went to see two foreign films, but neither were at an AMC theater. On Friday night I went to see “La Grande Belleza,” which had been either the opening or closing film of the Italian Film Festival back in November. It was the movie I’d most wanted to see at that festival, but was unable to. There was only one showing, which just happened to coincide with the day that I was going to see Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna” with a friend. Toni Servillo stars as Jep, a novelist celebrating his 65th birthday. He wrote one novel at least 30 years ago and lived off of that glory ever since. He partyed and seduced his way through Rome in his following years. His 65th birthday coincided with an event that made him very reflective of his life. Parts of the movie were funny and other parts were sad. The cinematography was gorgeous. His reflections on his life made me very nostalgic about mine. (Hey, I partyed and seduced my way through Los Angeles in the 80’s and early 90’s, but don’t regret any of it!) I absolutely loved the movie, even though it made me sad on my way home. I actually would like to see the movie again. Seeing those scenes of Rome made me want to go back. I’ve been to Rome three times, but was never a huge fan. The first time, I hated it. The second time, I sort of liked it. On my third trip, I based myself in Rome for 9 straight days to figure out my true feelings. I left realizing that I like parts of Rome and certain things about Rome very much, yet will always choose to go to either Venice or Florence over Rome, if given the option. Even so, all the scenes of the nuns brought back memories of my time in Rome; seeing nuns in Trastevere, waiting for the bus, etc. The opening scenes of the Janiculum reminded me of the afternoon that I walked the Aventine Hill, one of my favorite days. I loved that walk on that beautiful afternoon. At the top of the hill, you can see the dome of St. Peter’s framed perfectly through the keyhole of a door. I never believed it until I saw it; so perfect. Of course, my camera couldn’t get the shot, which will make a good excuse for a return trip. I was also reminded of a hot Sunday morning when I tied my hair up, put on a light top, a skirt, some slippers and, rather than crossing any of the bridges, walked the perimeter of Rome, all along the Tiber River, to get to Porta Portese; another of my favorite days there. “La Grande Belleza” showed me the beauty of Rome again and makes me want to walk those streets again with a new perspective.
St. Peter’s Dome Through the Knights of Malta Keyhole
This afternoon’s movie was “Blue is the Warmest Color,” France’s winner of the Palme d’Or. It’s the story of a young high school girl who falls for an older lesbian. They have an intense and passionate relationship, evidenced by the various long, explicit sex scenes! The movie is well acted, though I honestly don’t find much attractive about the actress who plays the high school girl. Bear in mind if you’re going to see the movie, that it’s basically 3 hours long! Of course, it ends in that quizzical French way (i.e. you ask “Is that it?”) So many French movies seem to leave unanswered questions at the end.
That leaves me with a few more AMC movies to see. If something good starts this week, you’ll be getting an update soon!
Back at the start of October, as I rushed down to the Tenderloin to pick up some authentic banh mi for my bosses & a few other people in the office, MUNI had their transportation officers all over the place. As I descended the bus in the Tenderloin, they asked to check my Fast Pass. While other passengers were obviously avoiding the transportation officers by arguing with them about letting them see their Fast Pass or simply running madly across the street, I handed over my Fast Pass, assured that everything would be fine. The officer told me that I had NO money on my Fast Pass, so she issued me a citation for $105!!! I told her there must be some type of mistake, as my Company pays half of my transportation costs and always sends the money to MUNI 7 to 10 days before the end of the month to cover the cost of the following month. She informed me that I could protest the citation if I wanted. I went back to the office, printed out the E-mail from my company stating that my “commuter benefits order” had been fulfilled, along with the E-mail from MUNI telling me that it had been loaded (on the FIFTH of the following month), wrote a letter to MUNI stating that it was their fault for not adding the money before the grace period was up (I believe the grace period is the first 3 days of the month), then went down to their offices and dropped it off with a copy of the citation. A few weeks later, I received a letter from MUNI saying that the citation was just in their eyes, but I could further protest it if I wanted. However, if I wanted to further protest, I’d have to send all of the information, ALONG WITH A CHECK FOR $105.00, to a certain address. The letter said that, if MUNI was found to be wrong, my money would be returned to me. Wouldn’t you know it? MUNI cashed that check within a week, but I heard nothing further from them. Now that it’s January, the Bozos send me another letter, once again saying that they found the citation just. They said that I had said the money was loaded on the card, but it had NOT been loaded on the card. Idiots! I did NOT say that the money was loaded on the card. I said that MY COMPANY SENT them the money well in advance of the start of the following month. THEY (MUNI) are the ones that didn’t load in a timely manner! Of course, no one addressed that issue at all. When I looked back at all of my E-mails, I realized that MUNI ALWAYS loads it anywhere from the 4th to as late as the 10th of the month that the Fast Pass is for!!! At this point, I could care less that they cashed my check. What pisses me off is that they had the balls to write me yet another letter stating that they found the citation just, stating that I had said the money had been loaded (which I did NOT!) and that I could still protest it, but I’d have to set up a hearing date and pay a $25 filing fee. Really?! Do they think I have any more time to waste?! I’m going to write them another letter letting them know that I could care less if they took my money, but… they still did NOT answer my question as to why MUNI loads the money onto the card so late. I’ll also attach a copy of the letter(s) I originally sent them, so that they can see that (if they could read English properly), I did NOT say that the money was already loaded onto the card. Lastly, I’ll attach copies of every E-mail from my company last year letting me know when they’d send the money to MUNI, as well as the E-mails from MUNI telling me when they’d actually loaded it. I hate stupid people!!!
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now.
