Cats & Dogs

Flooding, drizzle, rain, thrumping rhythmic monotony....

That is our environment here in grand old Greater Boston. Its been about a week of rain now. In my little piece of beantown there has been sewage backing up, closed roads, and even some evacuations. For most people I imagine it isn't too bad, just a bit of a downer. As the new week begins, it appears that we are in for even more rain.

I had a slow going weekend. Saturday morning I got up early and made my way down to the JFK stop on the redline for my 5K in south Boston at Carson Beach. I ran in a torrential downpour, making care not to slip or get too feisty. I finished I think around 26:10 minutes with my feet squashing, & I was cold and wet. Luckily I had a change of clothing which I had stashed under Millennium's table in the sign up hall. The Orange line had a shuttle for construction (of course) and I always dread the bus commute that is excessively long, rough, and unpleasant compared to the train. I attempted to burn time by getting some lunch in Quincey Market. I went to the noodle company and sat in the Quincey Market rotunda with my mp3 player. It is always interesting to watch people.

Saturday night Kate came over. I ordered some buffalo wings and pizza, which I almost exclusively ate. Actually pretty much the entire pizza save two slices was left over for breakfast because I filled up on Wings. Saturday Night Live was the best I've seen in a while. Elaine (Julia Louise Dryfuss) from Seinfeld hosted and plugged her new show "The New Adventures of Old Christine". Chances are I'll never watch it, although I guess it has had good reviews. There was a cameo from Jason Alexander (George), and Seinfeld himself. Paul Simon gave a surprisingly good performance with new material. The songs were more spoken than sung, but well written and the band was excellent. Simon's voice has suffered the past couple times I've seen him on television. Definitely not the same Paul that harmonized with Garfunkle.

I had a couple Netflix films to watch. I caught 5 easy pieces (Jack Nicholson) which was really good. I hadn't heard very much about this film, so I was quite taken by surprise on just how good it was. It has become one of my favorite Nicholson flicks if not my favorite, which is saying a lot.

Sunday Kate and I watched Elizabethtown which was done by Cameron Crowe. From such a respected artist, writer and director (Almost Famous) this movie was appallingly bad. It was incredibly slow, the acting was horrible, and the plot bordered at times on the ridiculous. Kate commented that she looked forward to my review, and initially I thought that reviewing this movie wasn't even worth my time... But on second thought, I have to warn people. Don't waste your time, unless you are completely smitten with Kirsten Dunst or Orlando Bloom, this movie will lessen your opinion of both of these thespians if anything. This movie tries to be clever and artistic, but the narration lacks wit or depth, and this is simply a movie posing as a "thinker's film" for people who don't like to think. The best parts of the film were a screaming kid, a flaming paper mache bird, and a vomit inducing cheesy montage based on a little project put together by Dunst's character... who apparently must have not slept in order to put it together in the hand full of days this movie spanned.

Anyway, I should get to bed I suppose...