I watched "The Haunted Mansion" tonight. As a friend of ours might say, it's charming. The plot is a little thin but the movie makes up for that in set, costumes, effects, and set. The movie is based (very loosely) on the Haunted Mansion, one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. It contains many of… Continue reading

If you like fast-paced action movies, especially if you like fast-paced martial arts action movies where Good triumphs over Evil, you should like Bulletproof Monk. The movies stars Yun-Fat Chow (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as the likeable "Monk without a name" (and this time the hero survives the movie!). Continue reading

Having purchased the DVD a couple of months ago, we finally watched Shaolin Soccer last night. It was a good night for mindless entertainment. This is one of those fun, must-see, good bad movies. It's silly, it's inane, it's very funny. The subtitling is pretty bad (which adds to the fun). Continue reading

I have been listening to mostlyclassical.com during the day. They play a lot of orchestral pieces, occasional opera bits (Der Felgenfische 😦 and, with some regularity, Loreena McKennitt. The first time I heard one, I thought the piece was lovely. I checked the artist and title and made a note. The second time, I did… Continue reading

I've fallen in love with Daisy, the Little Duck with Big Feet, and her little brother, Pip. Daisy, Pip, and their friends and relatives appear in a series of books for younger children and adults with a love of whimsy and delicious illustration. Every page of Daisy's adventures is richly painted. I feel like I… Continue reading

Fast Women is another "must read" book by contemporary romance author Jennifer Crusie. You'll feel that the characters are people you know well; you won't like all of them, but then, that's to be expected. The dialog is brisk and fun to read. Riley McKenna, in particular, exhibits a dry sense of humor I really… Continue reading

Faking It, by Jennifer Crusie, combines elements of art forgery, burglary, con artistry, and contemporary romance in a very enjoyable plot. The story line is interesting, the dialog is brisk and funny, and the characters are delightfully loony. These are the sort of people I like best to meet in books; they're people that I… Continue reading

Spouse and self enjoy classical guitar music (that means music where the guitar plays the melody, not just a few chords). Some favorite artists include Leona Boyd, Sharon Isbin, Chritopher Parkening, Celadonio Romero, Andrés Segovia, and John Williams. They play Bach, Beethovan, Mozart, and much more, with and without orchestral accompaniment. For more novel interpretations,… Continue reading

BookCrossing.com – Make the whole world a library. Continue reading

A friend of mine wrote to me … Clare Turlay Newberry – one of my all time favorite authors of children's books/illustrator of cats. She wrote and illustrated Pandora, the book from my childhood. … I finally, after many years, have purchased Pandora and am looking forward to receiving the book. As a child, I… Continue reading